Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is another school shooting and another round of folks pulling nonsensical reasons out of their asses. As usual lawyer Jack Thomson popped up again barking about the horrors of video games and how they cause ordinary people to become slobbering nutters, as he wipes the drool from his own lips.
The man may be a blow-hard with no imagination and even less of a sense of humor but at least he is dependable. And that's what we like in this country, things that can be counted on to distract us and keep us from focusing on the actual problems and, god forbid, do something about them. I have a sneaking suspicion that the situation is much the same in other countries but, as I have yet to have the opportunity to travel anywhere outside the
Now, we have the same conclusion coming from another source. Dr Phil "look-what-I-just-pulled-out-of-my-butt" McGraw decided to pop up on an episode of Larry King Live and spout the same distracting sewage. Now, I am sure that the comments made caused the entire Oprah-worshiping population to immediately rush en mass to his way of thinking, as they seem to have no discernible thought process of their own, but it still doesn't change the fact that this argument has no actual basis in reality.
On the show, Dr. Phil makes this statement:
DR. PHIL: "...common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high."
There are may flaws with the good doctor's conclusions. Let's start simple, shall we? First, he seems to suggest that the video games are the instigating factor in these and other killings. This conclusion is completely ridiculous. Humanity has been killing each other since the beginning. We are very good at it, it is what we do. Doubt that? Can anyone tell me the name of that video game, you know, the really violent one that Hitler played to set him off?
The good doctor suggests that when you mix a psychotic or sociopathic personality with a violent video game you can create in them the urge to kill. This is both ridiculous and true. While the urge to kill can be sparked by a video game it can also be sparked by something as as benign as a dog as was the case with the "Son of Sam" killings. David Berkowitz received the impetus to kill from his neighbor's dog who, according to Berkowitz was a "demon dog". While I freely admit that
As much as the doctor would like for it not to be the case, people are not numbers. Numbers do not change, they do not have quirks, people do. In the human equation A + B does not alway equal C. This is what happens when people of limited imagination and reasoning capability go questing for the "magic bullet" of human behavior, if you'll pardon the phrase.
I ask you this: Does anyone really believe that the "Son of Sam" murders would not have been commit if there were no dogs? Should dogs be banned because one was there? Will ever psychotic be set of by a dog? These people are sick and need help but they are no less human no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that they are not. And people kill. We kill for all kinds of reasons both noble and ridiculous.
For some, video games offer a cathartic release. It is a safe place to take out the rage that dealing with other humans invariably creates. Millions of people across the world enjoy violent, graphic, bloody games. Why haven't they killed? Why is it that according to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics the rate of violent crime has actually been decreasing since 1994. I'll say that again: Violent crime has decreased. Have the games become less violent? Less graphic? I would suggest that the opposite is true. Assuming that I am correct in my assertions, what happens to the "magic bullet" then?
But hey, who am I? Video games are an easy answer, and we like easy answers. It is certainly easier than actually thinking about all the causes that can contribute to homicidal behavior. It is easier to have a bad guy you can point to and say "that's it! They are at fault." The fact however is that video games to not kill people nor do the cause them to be killed, neither does music, nor television nor do movies. Remove those factors, and the killing will still continue. It is what we do. It is a primal instinct that must be fought against. Hiding our heads in the sand may make us feel better, all smug and cozy, but it doesn't actually fix the problem. In the long run, it makes it worse.
Rant Over... For Now
