On the Internet, you can find videos of games in which you can run
around as a mass shooter and shoot dozens of people.
For example this guide to a game: (google: youtube gta 50 headshots)
… shooting people on the head … all you are doing here is driving around
from place to place in the town finding people on the street…you know… you are
stopping, point your gun on the head, then getting the head free shot… he shoots, the man
collapses … you know… you drive around, you have not to leave the car, you
can shoot him from inside the car … he shoots, the man hits the ground …
it may be easier …
You can also shoot police officers, drive over as many pedestrians as
possible, turning them into mud, shoot victims in the stomach with close-ups
depictions so that the intestines squirt out ...
Nevertheless, there are psychologists, who in scientific studies reach
the conclusion that “violent video game engagement is not associated with
adolescents' aggressive behavior”
The link above redirects to an often quoted study by the University of
Oxford. This study may call itself scientific, but it does not even begin to
meet the requirements of scientific or medical research. It is likely that it’s not even possible to
conduct scientifically accurate studies with humans in this field.
Pharmaceuticals require a randomized double blind placebo controlled
study. This study was not at all randomized, because a thousand 14- and
15-year-olds were chosen who signed up and were thus most likely already
strongly influenced by games that glorify violence. Hence 500 young people were
missing who so far had hardly had any access to games like these. These,
however, would hardly have received permission from their parents to expose
themselves to videos glorifying violence for hours in this experiment.
The teenagers surely also had a tendency to answer the questions in such
a way that they were allowed to continue playing all games, thus negating all
scientific validity.
There is no need for such studies, because common sense tells anyone
(except some psychologists) that violent games reinforce aggressive thoughts
and reduce empathy. A powerful game industry that is well organized exists. It would be
naive to assume that these companies would not try to finance this kind of
research.
Up until the 1980s, the cigarette industry financed studies on the
(un)harmfulness of smoking and financed (covert) articles in which non-smokers
were urged to show tolerance towards smokers. And it worked, because no one
wanted to be intolerant.
Gamers don’t want to lose games that glorify violence and fight back: “And
when you consider that millions of people play such games, then the world’s
streets should be paved with corpses every day. I think that you just have to differentiate and separate games from
reality”.
If you think about aggression, you almost inevitably come across the
bloody gladiator fights of the Romans. When Emperor Trajan celebrated his triumph over the Dacians, the “Games”
are said to have lasted 123 days. 10,000 fighters and 11,000 exotic animals
ensured that the Colosseum’s ground turned red. After that, the massive slaughters then stood for the
annihilation of all enemies and the gladiator fights for the legions’ bravery
and lethal courage.
Rome needed legionaries with great potential for aggression. The games usually lasted the entire day, split into three parts. The
animal hunt kicked off the program. It was quite a colorful affair, as the
point was to offer the audience a display of the world Rome ruled. During a
single session of Emperor Nero, 400 bears and 300 lions are said to have been
killed. The mass slaughters
at midday, when hundreds of convicted criminals and prisoners of war killed
each other, represented the extermination of all enemies.
Once one of the gladiators died, the duel was over. Whenever an injured
gladiator fell to the ground, the decision was made regarding the life or death
of the defeated. “Kill him” or “mercy” would ring out from the audience. In a
way, they entered into a dialog with the organizer of the Games. And he was
well-advised to join the crowd’s judgment.
With 3D video games everything becomes more realistic. At least they are
not reality, in contrast to the Romans’ gladiator fights. The Romans looking on
could call “kill him” but could not kill themselves. When it comes to games, I
think it is scary that people don’t watch as others are killed, no, you
actively kill by pulling the trigger virtually!
Even Donald Trump is against games that celebrate violence. He said:“We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This
includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is
too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that
celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this, and it has to
begin immediately. Cultural change is hard, but each of us can choose to build
a culture that celebrates the inherent worth and dignity of every human life”.
If a woman falls in love with a young man who plays games that glorify
violence, she shouldn’t be surprised if her boyfriend or husband then beats her
later.
If you live in a group that supports violence, or have been the victim
of violence yourself, you tend to become aggressive yourself. In cultures where vendettas are part of customary law, all humiliated
male members must regain honor, or face being marginalized as inferior.
Most people want to live in a peaceful culture. We need to stand up and ensure that violence and aggression are
rejected. Tolerating aggressive behavior - in daily life, too - must be
condemned.
Aggressive behavior is also common-place in traffic. Driving too close
and tailgating are a normal part of traffic on streets.
When you drive a car, protected by a metal body, you become anonymous.
If you want to elbow your way ahead in any other situation, you would have to
make eye contact. Whenever someone tailgates me too closely, I think: Is he gay
or what does he want? (Sorry, in any other case I actually like gays).
40% of all accidents are rear-end collisions. Some drivers need to always drive the limit. When they encounter a
driver who wants to travel at a reasonable speed, they tailgate to show that
they are capable of going faster.
Surveys show: Eight out of ten people have experienced what it means to
be harassed, intimidated or provoked by others in traffic. Traffic becomes hectic and the majority of
drivers lose a bit of their quality of life.
