Do computer games influence voilence within society?

hey guys, I have recently changed my subject for my investigation and would appreciate your comments. The question is do you think computer games have/has influenced and increased voilence within society?

Computer games are no different from any other stimuli.  Depending on your natural temperment, certain things will have larger influence on your general mental state.

If you have a higher tendancy for murder in your genetic coding, yes, playing violent video games may influence you to murder more people... but then again so might cooking anything with a red sauce (resemblance to blood).  It all just depends on how psychologically bent you are in that particular direction.

In other words, the weak minded and psychologically faulted will be influenced by many things; in particular those things that amplify their genetically coded nature.  Does that mean we shouldn't allow video games to be violent b/c somewhere in the world someone might be more prone to murder you today as opposed to tomorrow?  Only if you think we should outlaw tomato sauce.

I do think that violent computer games do influence violence. Many of these games encourage players to plan and act out simulations of violent behaviour, and I do think there is research evidence linking them to violent behaviour (although don't quote me on this, I'm not familiar with the studies). Certainly there is evidence linking viewing of violent TV shows to aggression. Whereas TV is quite passive, computer games encourage and reward action, which I think is of concern.

higgo wrote:

hey guys, I have recently changed my subject for my investigation and would appreciate your comments. The question is do you think computer games have/has influenced and increased violence within society?

Not as much as Forum-style messaging systems!

Not all computer games are violent. Does anyone recall that game, about 30 years back, where you had to manage a village: decide spending on rice, allocate villagers to water barriers, defence against bandits, and so on. It was called KINGDOM, I think. I learnt practically all I know about conflict resolution from that game.

You'd be a fool for thinking that video games increase violence in people. There is no proof that it does.

I want to murder Jack Thompson... :P  

Anyone share my feeling?

(if you don't know, wiki or google his name).

agentofchaos wrote:

...I do think there is research evidence linking them to violent behaviour...

there is maybe as much evidence of this as there is evidence that cigarettes lead to cancer. that is, cigarettes can lead to cancer, but so can a bunch of other things. therefore, to say there is a direct correlation is a bit of a stretch (i.e. cigarettes necessarily lead to cancer; video games necessarily lead to violence).

are video games influential? of course. all forms of media are. is there a direct link between video games and violence (which omits all other possible aspects). obviously no.

artfizz wrote:

higgo wrote:

hey guys, I have recently changed my subject for my investigation and would appreciate your comments. The question is do you think computer games have/has influenced and increased violence within society?

Not as much as Forum-style messaging systems!

Not all computer games are violent. Does anyone recall that game, about 30 years back, where you had to manage a village: decide spending on rice, allocate villagers to water barriers, defence against bandits, and so on. It was called KINGDOM, I think. I learnt practically all I know about conflict resolution from that game.

Romance of the III Kingdoms

There have been many studies conducted on this topic.  Aside from some studies done in the United States (which were quite slanted toward the opinions of the funding groups), almost all such studies have shown no link between electronic gaming and violent behavior.  On the contrary, many studies have shown positive effects on the development of normal children.  I recall one study in particular which concluded, among other findings, that even games wrought with gore and violence help to form a normal and healthy mind, much like the gore laden fairy tales of old.

by the logic of video games lead to violence

chess would lead to war

I think Hitchcock said something like horror movies actually have positive influence to our psychology, because they satisfy the darker side of us, so that we dont use it in regular life..same with the computer games i guess..and ofcourse all computer games arent violent too

Some studies have shown that video game violence is linked to high scores.

Seriously, there will always be a scapegoat for violence in the youth. I'm not sure if you've ever heard of the book Seduction of the Innocent by Frederic Wertham, but it's about comic books and how they warp childrens' minds. He thesis revolved around Batman being a gay pedophile,Wonder Woman being a S&M lesbian and Superman replacing Jesus.

I agree that certain people are more susceptible to violent stimulus, and it worries me when video games become more realistic. To me, the video game violence issue relates more to control: if you spend most of your life in a video game where you can, with practice, essentially control everything, you get used to it. Then when you have to leave your sad, cold basement for school or work and someone insults you, you've trained yourself to take control of the situation, and thus, you might react in a negative way.

I would probably make the same argument for pornography's affect on sexuality. Do I think it makes more perverts? No. But do I think it gives those perverts a psychological justification for some of the horrible things they do.

The lack of a sound moral base is the cause of most violence. Computer games don't help but are not the real cause. 

Marinox wrote:

by the logic of video games lead to violence

chess would lead to war

Win!

i dont think so they lead to voilence. it depends on the maturity of the players.. a person above 20 years olde playing for e.g COD4 or any other shooter will not be influenced by voilence.. but of course an 11 year old will be

It is my belief that video games are violent because the world is violent.  It's important to understand that all play is supposed to teach you skills and thought processes that could be important in adulthood.  If kids don't play computer games how are they ever going to learn the necessary skills to create computer programs.  Sports are another great example of kids learning teamwork and planning.  You learn your place in a group.  You learn the concept that wanting it the most does not make you the most qualified.  Violent video games in particular teach time management, getting it right the first time, accuracy in high pressure situations, being able to function when your heart rate is up, and hand eye coordination.  All these things are probably particularly important if you join the military, especially the military of the future which will probably look more and more like a video game.  I think Americans are more violent than some other countries and we have more violent video games as a result not as a cause.  Remember correlation is not causation.  But I'm not an expert and I'm probably wrong.

Anthony

seems 2b athing thing goin on this day of age.everybody is blaming everything on everybody it.l b the same story 100yrs from now.if its not the parents its the goverment.so in my eyes its every individual for them selves