I realize cavepeople is probably the more appropriate term, but at the risk of being PIc, I didn't think it had as nice a ring. Anyway, I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about how there is still a part of the human brain that does not realize what you are watching on television or at the movies isn't real. Evolution can be slow that way. It certainly lends credence to the argument for quality media. When reading the Turkle excerpt, I found myself longing for the days when violence on TV involved the A-Team creating some machine that could launch lettuce at the "bad guys," and violence in video games was limited to eating ghosts or shooting big squares with smaller squares. Today, kids are rewarded for stealing, killing, raping, and any other deplorable act of which, sadly, man will always be capable (I'm always willing to turn the PIc back on myself). If the connection we make with video games and other violence-laden media is just as deep-seeded and, perhaps, unconcsious, as Turkle and others have suggested, I fear things will get worse before they get better.
I spent the better part of my morning looking for the previously mentioned article online, but to no avail. If anyone else if familiar with the article or the study associated with it, please feel free to respond and add a link if you find one. Thanks.
Jake
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3 comments:
I can't help thinking of the recent 60 Minutes tv program which showed as one example the game "Grand Theft Auto" which glorifies killing policemen. The debate rages on whether this game encourages killing police(persons?) and what to do if the game (and others) encourage this behavior.
I have a 16 year old son who's really into many of the games. I have not purchased any of the Grand Theft Auto games or allowed him to play them at home. I know he's got friends whose parents don't care about their boys playing them and my son plays them there. I'm not sure if it's coincedence or not that these boys regularly verbalize their intent to hit, kick, etc anyone who's not agreeing with them.
Luckily my son if more interested in Runescape, an online game set in a medieval timeframe. He's also into the Worlds of Warcraft games and the Halo games. His interest in these has also led him to reading books based on the games. I've found this a great side benefit for a boy who hates to read! It will be interesting to see research in the future about the effects of gaming on todays kids and adults who spend many hours each week playing games.
Yes, I really wonder about the true effects of the games. An unbalanced diet of any sort--even technology--can be unhealthy. So are the games (or any questionable electronic media) in and of themselves the problem or is it the result of how much one consumes these things?
Remember when the lyrics of songs played backwards were a problem? Remember when the first man and woman were seen in the same bed together on TV? These were big deals years ago. As society keeps moving forward, new things will be confronted and challenged, but if priniciples, boundaries, or values (insert the word that works best) are in place, will this keep the domino effect of violence linked to media to minimum?
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