the dead

[_huckelberry]

People learn from what they play. Many people spending significant time with games pretending to kill piles of people increases the likely hood that some people will make the play real.

[_quaker]

Or did things of a similar nature happen before games?

Or do they happen more frequently because there are more people?

Or do they seem to happen more frequently because everybody hears about them instantaneously, while they are happening?

If the medium is the message thinking holds true, the content/subject matter of television or a game is of little consequence to trend that results in this type of behaviour. Perhaps it's a more fundamental shift that causes people to act this way, if there is infact an increase in these types of atrocities. Or maybe the efficiency of the people who rage out in such a manner is just increasing, making each more notable?

[_just me]

So Hitler played lots of video games? (yup, I totes Godwin'd the thread!)

[_Fence Sitter]

deleted.

Just saw the news.

[_huckelberry]

So Hitler played lots of video games? (yup, I totes Godwin'd the thread!)

I am quite sure that human violence is not created by games. We have a long history of many kinds of violence for our human family. Humans suffer from violent emotions from frustrations and desires. Generally as people grow up they collect ways of processing crazy emotions into nondestructive locations. If there actually is a connection between games and certain kinds of violence it lies in the introduction of a lot of practice in the worst sort of processing.

I am sure that games do not prevent people from doing healthy processing of destructive emotions. But it may be my respect for the power of art and play that inclines me to suspect that games have power to shape how some people process their crazy emotions.

Those of you who do not like this observation may continue to watch hours of televised hand wringing about parents and people not feeling a part of society. I am sure there is no one shot solution to what is very clearly an expanding problem. People might consider limits on some types of weapons.

[_Tobin]

So Hitler played lots of video games? (yup, I totes Godwin'd the thread!)

I am quite sure that human violence is not created by games. We have a long history of many kinds of violence for our human family. Humans suffer from violent emotions from frustrations and desires. Generally as people grow up they collect ways of processing crazy emotions into nondestructive locations. If there actually is a connection between games and certain kinds of violence it lies in the introduction of a lot of practice in the worst sort of processing.

I am sure that games do not prevent people from doing healthy processing of destructive emotions. But it may be my respect for the power of art and play that inclines me to suspect that games have power to shape how some people process their crazy emotions.

Those of you who do not like this observation may continue to watch hours of televised hand wringing about parents and people not feeling a part of society. I am sure there is no one shot solution to what is very clearly an expanding problem. People might consider limits on some types of weapons.

I'm very disappointed in the president. I would think this tragedy would be an ideal opportunity to make the very reasonable point that weapons that can kill so many so easily should be restricted and kept out of the hands of people like this.

[_just me]

A man in China knifed 22 kids and an adult at a school today (or yesterday?). Was that because of gaming?

I mean, I hate video games, for the most part, but I have yet to see data that proves there is causation between gaming and school shootings.

[_just me]

I'm very disappointed in the president. I would think this tragedy would be an ideal opportunity to make the very reasonable point that weapons that can kill so many so easily should be restricted and kept out of the hands of people like this.

People like what?

People under age 25? People with any form of mental illness from anxiety to depression to bipolar disorder? Should there be a mandatory mental health screening (done under lie detector testing) in order to be approved for a gun license? People that are men? Or perhaps anyone with any type of disability should be barred from keeping a firearm.

I'm a fan of tighter restrictions on guns, but I think we should think long and hard before we start to selectively discriminate against certain populations.

[_huckelberry]

A man in China knifed 22 kids and an adult at a school today (or yesterday?). Was that because of gaming?

I mean, I hate video games, for the most part, but I have yet to see data that proves there is causation between gaming and school shootings.

I was thinking of influence in some cases. That is a significantly different thing than causation. The patterns of primary causation of violence I think are much broader than games and have been with the human family from its beginnings. I was trying to think about how people and societies learn to control and deal productively with the emotions which lead to violence.

[_harmony]

His mother bought the guns. Entirely legal acquisition.

My heart hurts.