🚀 go-pugleaf

Justin, I don't have time to fill out the whole survey but thought I'd share
this.

violence in media linked to violence in life.

every time in history this last century when their has been a new
technology, said technology has been blamed for problems in society at that
time.

During the elisabethan period the theatres in london were considered a
public menace displaying lewd and licentious conduct to the people.

early cinema was considered a corrupting medium for impressionable women.

rock and roll was considered a bad moral influence on youn gpeople in the
50's.

Punk rock was ditto for the 70's

accessibility to video nasties ditto in the 80's

computer games in the late 80's early 90's

internet ditto in the late 90's

see what I'm getting at. rather than take responsibility for their actions,
society like the blind sheep that it is transfers these fears and worries on
to an easy target whatever that may be as a means to alleviate fears and
responsiblity.

How many people see on TV, criminals saying I watched a video nasty, or I
blame my life on my parents. all the time is this overriding background
mentality to transfer responsibility onto someone or something else and
therefore shift blame from themselves.

In an MTV society, playing the victim is becoming more commonplace, even if
you are the perpertrator.

blmaing something instead of yourself is purely weakness in character.
everyone is aware of what is right and wrong and using some device to
explain your actions only serves to weaken moral standards as enforcing such
standards becomes less commonplace.

how many nuts say god told them to do something? you don't see moralists
rushing out saying we should be banning the church and all things associated
with it. it's a double standard. if someone says that you right them off as
a nut, if someone said the same thing about a particular computer game
they'd rush to ban it.

example the school shoutout this year. it coincided with the matrix in the
cinemas. suddenly warners have to back pedal and decide not to release the
film on video in case they get blamed for it's content in relation to any
crimes in 'I'll sue you blind if you sneeze' USA.

in the 70's priests said that if X heavy metal bands records are played
backwards they contain a message from the devil. now that's load of
bollocks. how many people would ruin a perfectly good record and record deck
stylus to play a record backwards in it's entirety, yet because the heavy
metal bands represent a form of music and advocate an alternative lifestlye
to what the puritanical hypocritical church want they attempted to discredit
it, the same thing is happening today with the internet and computer games.

(now I realise a lot of church people do a lot of good but how many have you
found who are completely infelxible to alternative lifestyles and
viewpoints. The bible preaches tolerance yet it is rarely practised.)

at a base level it is all about control. Mass media, computer games, videos
are relatively uncontrollable. access is there to anyone who wants it.
therefore if it can't be controlled then it must be a corrupting influcene.

because more than ever the majority of people choose to remain ignorant and
not to think for themselves, it allows a small minority to impose sanctions
and controls on something that does not need controlling.

just like a rifle, computer games by themselves are not the threat. they are
merely a tool. A rifle can kill if it is used incorrectly. a statistic can
be made to prove any point if the question that created it is pointed
enough. this in itself is not enough.

jhuman self determination is the one thing that is uncontrollable and the
enforcing of law is the only constant.

until the 1880's and the victorian era there was no such word as
pornopgraphy in the dictionary yet the word is still in use and used to
describe something that was defined during a period of stringent moral self
loathing for personal delectation. the definition has never been adjusted to
reflect changing social moral standards yet we allow it's definition to
remain.

just because computer games or violent films exist in no way makes this era
of society more violent. because we live in a world of mass media then
crimes become more immediate because they are immediately reported, but I
would bet you that a close look at statistics would show that this era is no
more dangerous than any other.

crimes happen, thats a fact
humans are infallible thats a fact

anything else is just veneer as an excuse to shift repsonsibilities from the
infallibility of man to something rarely in a position to defend itself.

for reference I am

English
over 25
a university graduate in Ancient History and Religious develpment
a graphics design artist working full time
I enjoy flight sims, doom type stuff, god sims, racing sims, strategy sims

Justin Liew <jzl...@NOSPAMsfu.ca> wrote in message
news:3828A73E.F31EEE2F@NOSPAMsfu.ca...
> Hi all,
>
>  I am a fourth year Computing Science student at Simon Fraser University
> with the intention of working in the video game industry in the near
> future.  Because of this, a topic that greatly interests me is that of
> violence in video games and its effect on society.  I am currently
> writing an anthropology term paper on this topic, "Violence in Video
> Games", and would be interested in your input on this topic.  If you'd
> rather not participate that's perfectly all right and I'll understand.
> You have a choice to use your name or remain anonymous.  If you choose
> the latter, please indicate a nickname to be used if I reference any
> facts or statements you contribute.  Thank you for your time.  Please
> reply to this email and answer the following as you wish.
>
> List your 5 favorite games, and reasons why they are your favorite.
>
> Describe each game in one sentence.
>
> What factors do you think make games so popular? ie. What factors would
> persuade you to buy a certain game?
>
> Would you let your children play your 5 favorite games?  Why or why not?
>
> How does the perception of the impact of violence in games differ from
> that in other mediums? (ie. TV, movies, music).
>
> Do you think violence in computer games affects children/teenagers, and
> to what extent?
>
> Do you think violence in computer games affects adults, and to what
> extent?
>
> Any other comments.
>
> Thank you for your time,
> Justin Liew (please respond via email, and remove NOSPAM)
>