Whoa, your neighbors get dragged away by the men in black?
Consumption of whatever (for example, entertainment) is already your right, or at least the parent's. You have a right to look or to look away. I seriously doubt that the legal state of video games will keep big brother out of your home one way or the other. What we've got here is a small bug that is getting the blame for the big epidemic, which was present long before it hatched.
Um, and since you brought it up, there is 'spanking' and then there is 'beating the sh** out of your kid', or 'psychologically torturing them'. I'm sure there a few here that can relate. Laws against child abuse allow us to punish sick wankers that kick their kids, but do they really stop you from delivering a judicious slap on the bum?
I can't resist -- if we don't house the pre-existing crack addicts, then they will live on the streets and die. Trades one problem for another. Again, treat the problem, not the symptom!
This post got long. It's my first, though, so please don't flame me too hard.
The proposed legislation appears to me to be an alarmist short-term solution to the increasingly violent nature of world. Instead of treating the "problem" (discussed below), it seeks to single out a black sheep for slaughter, which undoubtedly will appease.... someone(I just can't relate). A paralell example from my own field is introducing non-native fishes to eat or control some bug or plant, instead of addressing the problem of how the bug or plant got there in the first place. Such solutions (like banning some games but not others) are usually economically driven, and the long-term effects on the ecosystem are usually detrimental.
Shoot-em-up games reflect 1) a society that inhabits an overcrowded world full of problems and differing viewpoints, 2) entertainment mimicking reality (NOT vice versa - carjackings existed WAY before Atari even hit the streets) and 3) the core motive of human beings, in general.
Haven't we noticed that violence is an inherent social norm? Violence is the world's favorite pasttime! I mean, I've seen Rugby matches that make GTA look like Bubble Bobble - are you gonna ban that because people get beaten up over the game? No, because we like to watch it, it gets our blood going, and we live vicariously through the bits of gore that fly across the field. From a very early age, kids are exposed to violence manifested as toy guns, cartoons (Bugs Bunny, as you recall, was mostly funny because Elmer got blown up in various ways), contact sports, etc. etc. etc. The classic 'Good vs. Evil' theme is all about one side kicking the other side's ass.
And where does this violent urge stem from? Kids mimicking adults. Back one step, from society. Back another step, from mankind's tendency to consume and acquire. Over one step to the left, it comes from our biological nature - the means to achieve breeding, feeding, and finding shelter (the three fundamental directives of any living creature) usually involves kicking some other living thing's ass, or killing it.
That's right - killing is 'fun' because it satisfies a biological urge that society deems inappropriate (and rightly so, I might add). Watch young animals play - they practice fighting.
No laws or banning of products will ever change the fact that humans enjoy violence. If you weed all the dandelions out of your garden, blackberry comes up instead. With video games, banning them will only encourage piracy and bankrupt all but the most powerful game companies (and if I don't see Fallout 3, I'll be pissed), but more importantly, it will force the hand of the next technology that allows us to feed our inner beast.
IS video game violence a 'problem'? OR is the real problem that we are inching closer to killing each other off, and society is reflecting this reality, and old, white men who have become afraid are taking short-sighted steps to prevent it?
Thanks for listening.
Slashdot Mirror
Lemon Curry ????
Whoa, your neighbors get dragged away by the men in black?
Consumption of whatever (for example, entertainment) is already your right, or at least the parent's. You have a right to look or to look away. I seriously doubt that the legal state of video games will keep big brother out of your home one way or the other. What we've got here is a small bug that is getting the blame for the big epidemic, which was present long before it hatched.
Um, and since you brought it up, there is 'spanking' and then there is 'beating the sh** out of your kid', or 'psychologically torturing them'. I'm sure there a few here that can relate. Laws against child abuse allow us to punish sick wankers that kick their kids, but do they really stop you from delivering a judicious slap on the bum?
I can't resist -- if we don't house the pre-existing crack addicts, then they will live on the streets and die. Trades one problem for another. Again, treat the problem, not the symptom!
This post got long. It's my first, though, so please don't flame me too hard. The proposed legislation appears to me to be an alarmist short-term solution to the increasingly violent nature of world. Instead of treating the "problem" (discussed below), it seeks to single out a black sheep for slaughter, which undoubtedly will appease .... someone(I just can't relate). A paralell example from my own field is introducing non-native fishes to eat or control some bug or plant, instead of addressing the problem of how the bug or plant got there in the first place. Such solutions (like banning some games but not others) are usually economically driven, and the long-term effects on the ecosystem are usually detrimental.
Shoot-em-up games reflect 1) a society that inhabits an overcrowded world full of problems and differing viewpoints, 2) entertainment mimicking reality (NOT vice versa - carjackings existed WAY before Atari even hit the streets) and 3) the core motive of human beings, in general.
Haven't we noticed that violence is an inherent social norm? Violence is the world's favorite pasttime! I mean, I've seen Rugby matches that make GTA look like Bubble Bobble - are you gonna ban that because people get beaten up over the game? No, because we like to watch it, it gets our blood going, and we live vicariously through the bits of gore that fly across the field. From a very early age, kids are exposed to violence manifested as toy guns, cartoons (Bugs Bunny, as you recall, was mostly funny because Elmer got blown up in various ways), contact sports, etc. etc. etc. The classic 'Good vs. Evil' theme is all about one side kicking the other side's ass.
And where does this violent urge stem from? Kids mimicking adults. Back one step, from society. Back another step, from mankind's tendency to consume and acquire. Over one step to the left, it comes from our biological nature - the means to achieve breeding, feeding, and finding shelter (the three fundamental directives of any living creature) usually involves kicking some other living thing's ass, or killing it.
That's right - killing is 'fun' because it satisfies a biological urge that society deems inappropriate (and rightly so, I might add). Watch young animals play - they practice fighting.
No laws or banning of products will ever change the fact that humans enjoy violence. If you weed all the dandelions out of your garden, blackberry comes up instead. With video games, banning them will only encourage piracy and bankrupt all but the most powerful game companies (and if I don't see Fallout 3, I'll be pissed), but more importantly, it will force the hand of the next technology that allows us to feed our inner beast.
IS video game violence a 'problem'? OR is the real problem that we are inching closer to killing each other off, and society is reflecting this reality, and old, white men who have become afraid are taking short-sighted steps to prevent it?
Thanks for listening.