"I didn't lose you because you didn't understand." Are you sure that wasn't a Freudian slip? Because I don't think you do understand what I am saying, because you keep changing it about in your mind, to make an argument that is not there.
So I will say it again and emphasize the points you need to understand. People who play video games and watch violent films become DESENSITIZED to violence and guns. (to make indifferent, unaware, or the like, in feeling)
They DO NOT BECOME PSYCOPATHS.
"Sorry but the analogy for military isn't very good"
Its not an analogy, its fact.
http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/01/better-simulation-could-save-military-millions/104172/
"Video game playing doesn't have a good correlation to gun violence or else you'd be seeing something like a zombie horde come out on the street with each release of Call of Duty."
I did not say this, I said , IT DESENSITIZES PEOPLE, it makes it more acceptable to people.
"The problem with commonly accepted theories like this and the gateway drug theory for cannabis is that the relationship between the purported causal factor and the purported result has very poor correlation and small sample size. Teeeeensy number of mass shootings to millions of video game players and you claim there is a relationship."
No I said, IT DESENSITIZES PEOPLE, its another straw on the camels back, that makes it generally more acceptable/normal for people to see.
"I'm not saying video game playing might desensitize people to fantasy violence they may also see in the cinema. I'm just saying practically all of people who play video games or the millions more exposed to violence on TV and in movies are able discriminate between what is fantasy and what is real real. We have 10's of mass shooters in the US every year and you point to millions of video players. I guess some psychiatrists are just bad at statistics."
You are making assumptions here, that everyone thinks like you and has the same personal reality as you. They don't, so you cant say what, they do or do not experience when watching films and playing video games.Practically all is not everyone, the ones who are not included in practically all, could POSSIBLY experience it as something more real than most and become more DESENSITIZED than most other people playing them.
"I guess some psychiatrists are just bad at statistics."
I take that you are referring to me, not accepting your "study" argument. I would agree, psychiatrists are bad a lot of things, not just statistics.
I was a psychoanalyst, not a psychiatrist, they are different.
"Myself, I'm not a video game player nor am I a fan of shoot'em ups, slasher movies or other blood and guts movies. For example, I actively avoided seeing even the trailer of Silence of the Lambs, not because I think it's a bad movie but I'm unwilling to allow those images in my head. You completely miss my reasoning and assumed bias. No more true was your belief that there is a reasonably good relationship between video games and mass shootings."
Good for you, you are actively trying to stay sensitive to violence, one less DESENSITIZED person to worry about.
You should try playing computer games, especially first person shooters, you might get a different perspective on my argument.
I used to play Battlefield 3, sometimes competitively for clans, before my injury stopped play. I think I have about 3,000 hours logged just on BF3. I was really good, usually placed in the top 5 players on any server I played on. I enjoyed the psychological aspects to it as well as looking into an opponents eyes before sticking a knife in his chest lol. The first time I played it, I lasted 20 minutes before I had to stop, because I was shaking so much from the adrenaline and anger at dying very quickly. Sitting in front of a 42 inch high def tv, 3 ft in front of me, with a high performance gaming rig and surround sound headphones on. It took me about 3 hours to calm down. I tried playing it again 2 weeks later, after the ptsd subsided, still got the same adrenaline rush and frustration with the weapons, I wasn't used to using. Every time I played I DESENSITIZED myself further to the sounds and emotions I was experiencing, so I could focus on my targets more easily. Yes I understand the difference between virtual and real reality, no it would not consciously make me a killer. At an unconscious level it was part of my personal reality and did DESENSITIZE me to violence at a conscious everyday level. My buddy who had never had a driving accident, hit 2 parked cars and put his car in a ditch 40 yds down the rd after leaving my house after playing Driver for 3 hours. He said he just got in the car and started to drive like he had just been doing on the computer game.
"Guns are the problem, not video games."
No, video games, like a lot of other things, are a part of the problem, why people in the USA, accept and make it easy to access guns. Guns are the biggest part of the problem.
