Ratchman
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Posted - 2009.06.16 15:22:00 -
[1]
I have to say, Dungar, you have used a lot of florid language and references to back up your argument, but it is still as spurious as any tabloid argument stating the same.
The argument seems to assume that we are morally empty vessels by the time we are exposed to violent media, and that we just let it fill us up without any questioning. By the time people have the ability to perform complex tasks, like the playing of a violent computer game, they will be far from empty, and will already have a well-defined value set based on experience. If a child is going to be influenced by violent imagery or interaction with a computer, then the capacity for violence was already there.
Trying to blame violent computer games for violent acts is trying to fit the whole of human experience into a nutshell, and it can't be done. We are defined by a lifetime of experience, not by a few simple vectors. If it was so simple to 'corrupt' a person, I would be one of the worst, having spent an entire lifetime watching violent films and playing violent games. Unfortunately, for your argument, I had a perfectly decent upbringing, and was taught many of the skills required for survival in our society, whilst maintaining a healthy set of ethics, which has been reinforced by my own exposure to life experiences.
There is also the fact that violence is ingrained in the human animal. It's the way things are. We have to possess the capacity for violence in order to survive. If we didn't, then we would just fall victim to the first predator that came along. This is also why a utopia is a dangerous concept, because it would only last as long as we didn't come into contact with another species with a differing set of values.
Violence is a part of life, and we will never be free of it, because it is necessary. But, as some people have already stated, we live at the safest point of human history. There is less violence now than there ever has been, per person. Yes, a lot of violence does go on, but compared to the population, it is only a small percentage.
I am more of the opinion that violent media acts as a catharsis. By allowing ourselves to 'act out' our dark desires, we can quench them before they ever get to be a problem. These things allow us to feed the animal within, ritualising it, even taming it. |