Sci-fy, gun control and video games

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The debate has research into the sci-fi world:

http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/will-th...erson-shooters

A pretty good summary of a vast literature. Their take away point is what many have found. The games have a short lived effect on laboratory substitutes for aggressive behavior (such as honking horns at people, or giving them more hot sauce). The effects if found (debated) are very short in time. The same argument has been made for presentations of weapons (images, simulated guns) - do they make you hurt someone. Same answer.

There is a slightly different take that video games make you a better shooter and thus make the rampage killers better killers. Grossman makes this argument. It is true that we use simulators to improve performance and that's a real effect.

It also seems the case that weapons exposure influences juries (which makes some people nuts on the Internet).

These last two are different from just having a gun makes you become a killer.

There is also discussion that if you have a violent culture like in gang riddled communities, presence of guns increases the chance of violence against people who are not the gang member but related (like kids, involved women) as the distance of using a firearm makes the violence easier to commit. That can be debated as we certainly see blade related genocides and stabbings in places were gun are are to get.

That's the lecture for today.

[Chance]

I'm curious if the emergence of accessibly priced VR equipment is going to change the calculus any. Games can be pretty engrossing, but you're still just looking at something, rather than "being" in the middle of it.

With that said:

The other thing to consider here is feelings from game consumers. Will we see more non-shooters or different sorts of games going forward? “Game developers are always looking for ways to connect, reflect, and add commentary by infusing it into their games. They may not come to the same conclusions we all personally hold, but I do believe we're going to see many new perspectives join in," Morrow added. "Social commentary is all over gaming.”

Christ is that ever true, and it's irritating. People can't even review games without commenting on the game's commentary. Pretty much every review of Far Cry 5 I've read says something along the lines of, "The game doesn't make any statement about the current political climate."

Good. I don't fucking want to hear anything about the current political climate. I want to escape the current political climate. Pretty soon, people are going to be lamenting the fact that Candy Crush doesn't make any statement about childhood obesity.

[TAZ]

I hate that every aspect of life is supposed to make some political/social commentary. IMO that is a HUGE negative. If everything you do, from
watching the NFL to playing games, has political/social commentary when can we get the MUCH needed break from the “issues”. If people can’t relax and unplug for a bit of time they WILL be overwhelmed by the goings on. This is far worse than having people “uninformed”. I can see people going crazy with all the stupid talk and the incessant force feeding of commentary.

IMO the effects of constant commentary will be far more negative than what these idiot SJW types envision. The constant rhetoric will create more division and very likely lead to more violence.

But what do I know.

[TheNewbie]

I hate that every aspect of life is supposed to make some political/social commentary. IMO that is a HUGE negative. If everything you do, from
watching the NFL to playing games, has political/social commentary when can we get the MUCH needed break from the “issues”. If people can’t relax and unplug for a bit of time they WILL be overwhelmed by the goings on. This is far worse than having people “uninformed”. I can see people going crazy with all the stupid talk and the incessant force feeding of commentary.

IMO the effects of constant commentary will be far more negative than what these idiot SJW types envision. The constant rhetoric will create more division and very likely lead to more violence.

But what do I know.

I'm with you . I love politics and world events but even I want a break. That used to come in the form of NFL games but no more.

[RevolverRob]

The one thing that isn't clear to me, currently, is not what the damage of the graphic content of these games is (I feel its minimal), but what the damage - socially - is to the obsession with them and media in general.

Case in point, my nephew, who turned 6 recently, only wanted an Xbox and Grand Theft Auto 5 for his birthday (he got neither, instead he got some cool, rubber band powered hot wheels). The exposure to these kinds of things via social media (Youtube was the culprit in this case) really had him obsessing over the game (combined with the fact that he can't have it and he doesn't understand why).

In the end, I turned all grandpa (well, Godfather, really, since he's my godson) and had Youtube and other streaming services without regulated content outlawed in his house, grandma's house, and aunt and uncle's house. He may be able to see some of that content elsewhere, but it won't be normalized for him. And this really irritated me, because the games are regulated content (to a degree) and rated. But idiots making videos of themselves playing these games are EVERYWHERE and that content is completely unregulated and unfiltered.

And I can't help but wonder if our social obsession is a real issue. In this case, I'm going to be working to break my godson of technological addiction. He isn't interested in virtually anything that doesn't involve a screen. So, I think it's about time he learns to race go-karts or mini-bikes. Something that's dangerous, requires full concentration, and is a bigger adrenaline rush that GTA5 can ever be.

[Robinson]

I'm not sure there is any truth to the theory that playing FPS games makes one a better shooter in real life, but if it does -- so what? I think everyone who can legally own a gun should, and should try to become a better shooter. But I think it takes real practice with real guns to have any real effect.

I guess I can see how if a game puts the player into a role that rewards wanton killing/murder it could have some psychological effect on some people. Even that is probably be a stretch.

I'm currently playing FarCry 5 and so far I'm pretty impressed with how the game treats the concepts of armed citizens, tactics, and gun handling. Now, no video game is realistic and this is no exception. But while the antagonists wield lots of guns including ARs etc..., so do the good guys and the player. And the game actually rewards things like using cover/concealment, managing ammo/reloads, etc... There were expectations that because of its story line the game would paint all rural people with guns as fringe whackos, but it doesn't. And so far the SJW types are the ones confused by the game's content.

I find some video games quite distasteful but I don't think games are the big problem some make them out to be.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I did have to deal with a student who was so fixated on some game, he wouldn't come to class or leave his room. He was shipped back home. Would some other problem surface if the games didn't exist. Who knows?

[Robinson]

I did have to deal with a student who was so fixated on some game, he wouldn't come to class or leave his room. He was shipped back home. Would some other problem surface if the games didn't exist. Who knows?

That is more of a real problem than the game content itself I think. It goes back to personal responsibility and character.

[will_1400]

I'm not sure there is any truth to the theory that playing FPS games makes one a better shooter in real life, but if it does -- so what? I think everyone who can legally own a gun should, and should try to become a better shooter. But I think it takes real practice with real guns to have any real effect.

I guess I can see how if a game puts the player into a role that rewards wanton killing/murder it could have some psychological effect on some people. Even that is probably be a stretch.

I'm currently playing FarCry 5 and so far I'm pretty impressed with how the game treats the concepts of armed citizens, tactics, and gun handling. Now, no video game is realistic and this is no exception. But while the antagonists wield lots of guns including ARs etc..., so do the good guys and the player. And the game actually rewards things like using cover/concealment, managing ammo/reloads, etc... There were expectations that because of its story line the game would paint all rural people with guns as fringe whackos, but it doesn't. And so far the SJW types are the ones confused by the game's content.

I find some video games quite distasteful but I don't think games are the big problem some make them out to be.

In my experience playing FPS games like Call of Duty, it tends to make people throw tactics and cover out the window (I see this when doing airsoft and laser tag on occasion where I'm basically the only guy using cover, concealment, and maneuver) in favor of "looking cool". I wish I was exaggerating, but it never ceases to amaze me how people equate how "good" the are at video games translating into their real life "skills" to the point to where even an Air Force intel puke like me is in a weight class well above theirs when it comes to tactics and marksmanship.

[Chance]

That is more of a real problem than the game content itself I think. It goes back to personal responsibility and character.

It's a much bigger issue than personal responsibility for some people. There are in-patient rehab facilities, like reSTART, for treating addiction to video games and other technologies

We're literally learning how to engineer addiction. Anyone interested should read this:



I talk about this a little with my intro students. The subject is actually pretty alarming when you really sit down and look at it.