There has yet to be a study that can find any solid link between violent video games and people committing violent acts. So do video games really make us more violent? Youth violence often gets blamed on video games, but not other violence. In fact, violent video games may even reduce aggressiveness by acting as a safe outlet for anger and stress.

The battle over violence in video games has been going on since the 1970’s, when a game called Death Race was released. The purpose of the game was to run over “gremlins” that many claimed looked too much like humans. Ironically, people protested by dragging Death Race machines out of arcades and burning them, that is violent in itself. Almost every time there is a major violent crime, the blame is placed mostly on video games, especially when youth are involved. There have been many attempts to pass legislation against violence in video games, with few being successful. In 1994 the video game industry voluntarily established the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to try to avoid government involvement. As video games continue to become more realistic, so does the concern of the effects of such graphic violence.

One of the biggest concerns most people have about violence in video games is how they affect youth. Parents are concerned that children are playing video games that are too violent for their age. Whether violent video games effect teens and adults or not, many fear that younger children may be more easily influenced by the violence. If this is true, it should be the parents’ choice and responsibility to decide what they allow their children to play. Letting your child play with knives may not be in their best interest either, but there is no specific law against that. It is just common sense that the parents would not give knives to their child. Since there is little research that effectively decides if violent video games affect us, it is the parents’ choice to make. Video game historian Keith Feinstein notes that: “the Columbine shooters played with pipe bombs in their basement and no one stopped them from playing Doom. But no one stopped them from building pipe bombs in their basement, either”. As for the rest of us, we will not be turning into mass murderers anytime soon. Research has found some negative effects of video games pertaining to violence and aggression, but these effects are minimal, and are comparable to many other sources of violence in our society, “some media-violence researchers recently published an article suggesting that reading passages from the Bible with violent content increases “aggression” in much the same way that video games supposedly do. So if video games have to be restricted from children, apparently so do at least some portions of the Bible”, “And, of course, videogames aren’t the only pastimes that could lead to aggression: dodgeball, paintball, and a bad beat in Texas Hold ‘Em can heighten arousal, too. Dr. Vincent Mathews, a radiologist at Indiana University who has studied the brain’s response to violent video games, suggests that the effects of these other activities would be comparable. “I would think that paintball or dodgeball would show similar results,” he says. “But no one is calling for these games to be banned””.  We are surrounded by violence, so why pick on one source that is no worse than the rest?

There has been a lot of research done to try to prove violent video games do make us more violent. Many claim that their results show this is true. However, most studies have produced varied and inaccurate results. Publication bias is a huge issue, “Admittedly, publication bias (the tendency to publish articles that support a hypothesis and not publish those that do not) is very likely a widespread problem in the social sciences and is not unique to video-game studies”. In my own research I found it more difficult to find articles defending video games than I did articles that accused video games of more than just making us more violent. Publication bias can also be linked with over exaggeration, “social scientists may be too prone to make big and frightening pronouncements from weak results”. Other studies have been flawed due to factors like using outdated video games, “Reading the fine print in the Dill and Anderson study, for example, reveals that the researchers used outdated, mismatched games and required an absurdly brief amount of actual playtime from the subjects”. In addition, for some reason there has been very little long term research done. How can we possibly determine the effects video games have on us if we do not conduct studies that last for more than an one or two hours at a time? If there were to be any drastic effects of playing violent video games they would not all be instant. Dr. Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois said “You can’t study people for 20 minutes and know what’s going to happen to people in society 10 years later”. Another obstacle that hinders any research done is the inability to replicate or allow for actual acts of serious violence. Although it would be effective, we can’t give test subjects a loaded gun and see what they’ll do with it after playing a video game for 10 minutes.  ”We can’t have people assault, rape, or murder someone” in the lab, says Dr. Brad Bushman, a University of Michigan psychologist who studies the effects of media violence. After sorting through all the studies that have been done, and take the above issues into consideration, there remains no significant proof of any link between playing violent video games and becoming more aggressive or violent, “My meta-analysis concluded that there was no evidence to support either a causal or correlational relationship between video games and aggressive behavior”.

            If video games have been accused of making us more violent for many years now, and no one has successfully been able to prove it, why are we still worried about it? To fully understand where this fear of violent video games came from, you must first understand who the people that have this fear are. Looking back in history, there has always been something that parents of a certain generation were afraid of because they thought it would harm the youth of that generation, “Like Elvis in the 50s, or Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s, videogames are still viewed as the dangerous scourge of youth culture”. It is mainly the last generation, who are unfamiliar with video games that blame them for the youth violence they see on the news. Many are intimidated of video games because they do not understand them and the complex culture and effects that surround them; “when people are frightened, oversimplifying a complex problem becomes attractive as a quick, easy fix to an otherwise imposing cultural barrier”, “it is the underlying technology that frightens older generations who can’t comprehend the fast changing mechanics shaping the way the world interacts”,”They do not understand the modern language. They become frightened of what they do not understand.” says video game historian Keith Feinstein. What a lot of people have forgotten is that it is not just youth who are playing violent video games. Many people in their twenties and thirties have grown up with video games and continue to play them. However when there is a violent crime committed by an adult, no one questions if video games are to blame, “We are for some reason more interested in violence when it is committed by young people. But we didn’t ask what kind of music and video games Tim McVeigh [the Oklahoma City bomber] was into” said Sociologist Karen Sternheimer, specializing in pop culture and youth at the University of Southern California. This is the perfect example of how we can blame video games for our problems without looking at the bigger picture. Violent video games have essentially been stereotyped.

One thing I have found odd about all this video game controversy is that we have overlooked our own intelligence. If we are smart enough to conduct studies about their effect on us, then are we not smart enough to know when a game is a game, and not to try to relive it in real life? “Video games, like the rest of the media, form a faceless specter that we have called into being with our own internal desires for sex and violence, yet can turn against when we need a straw man to blame for our own recklessness”, maybe we need to stop blaming video games, and take a look at ourselves: “people who had previously filled out questionnaires reflecting an even-keel personality were less aggro after playing a violent game. Those who had a more aggressive disposition were more susceptible to these heightened emotions”. So there is hope for our intelligence yet, it seems that violent people are more affected by violence in video games. Thus one can assume that people who commit violent crimes are just violent people, not mindless killers brainwashed by Grand Theft Auto. So what does that make the rest of us who play video games? Normal, “The British Board of Film Classification conducted a survey that found that “the violence helps make the play exhilaratingly out of reach of ordinary life…. Gamers seem not to lose awareness that they are playing a game and do not mistake the game for real life.”.

            What if we have this backwards? What if, instead of thinking violent video games causing us to replicate that violence in real life, replicating violence in video games actually stops us from committing said violence for real? It is not a completely absurd thought. Maybe when we are angry and feel like punching the next person who says something to us, we can go blow someone’s head off in a video game and that will take the anger away. Although it probably depends on the type of person you are, I fully believe that taking your anger out on video games is very effective, as well as safe. I personally can relate to this. I also find playing all video games relaxing regardless of the level of violence in them. Now some people may agree with this, some may not, but there is one thing that may support this actually being true, “The numbers do not lie. Violent crime is down, but violence in video games is up”. Violent crimes have been going down over the same time period where video games have been growing more popular and more violent. No one knows if this is because video games help prevent real world violence or if the two facts are unrelated and just a coincidence, but how can video games be making us more violent if the facts prove the opposite? “Could you imagine how far the debate on global warming would have gotten if the earth’s atmospheric temperatures were decreasing while pollutants were being released?”

            With all the research that has been done, it is still unclear if video games do make us more violent. What we do know is, if there are any effects at all, they are minimal. Since it remains a matter of opinion, the only thing we can do individually is make our own personal decision on what to play, and what to allow our children to play. Researcher Craig Anderson, chair of Iowa State University’s Department of Psychology said it best in my opinion, “It’s society, not science, that must decide how to deal with the negative effects of violent video games”. Is this going to stop me from playing video games with violence in them? No, so if you don’t mind, I will now go back to peacefully playing Call of Duty.

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The media, specifically visual and audio media, has desensitized children to appropriate ways to act and speak. When they are bombarded with images of people acting irresponsibly and violently, even if the message is to NOT act this way, they understand that other people…famous people…rich people…are.  I’m not going to lie and say I’ve never been drunk in public, or worn trashy clothes, but the choice the magazines, newspapers, and television shows and programmers make in the content they allow in their media is appalling in some instances. I remember when the naughty shows were on late at night, and the boring political shows were on around dinner time.  The news didn’t always contain negative images of people and events, and violence and sexual nudity were censored.  Music videos contained music and instruments and sometimes dancing.  Some censorship of content and advertisement needs to be allowed in order to help children gain an idea of what’s acceptable behavior.  The first ammendment is there to protect people, not harm them in the long run.  Children learn best though positive reinforcement and modeling of correct behavior. Not by demanding, “Do what I say, not as I do.”  

The Internet media has also added to the distanced attitude of kids, teens, and adults today because there is a lack of accountability for what they say and do in the world of the web.  Although many personal and public websites contain censors, and if you want to create your own websites, there are crawlers that check to make sure your content is correct, there is still not another person with you reacting to the things you’re saying or doing on the Internet.  There is no immediate negative reaction for wrongdoing. The internet has also spread the ability to view violence, sex, drugs, and a variety of other questionable content.  When I was in my teens, I had friends that would try to find pornography on the internet and be unable to bypass the content and age limits.  Today, however, you can Google the term pornography and just by clicking a button, “promise” you’re of age.  Not only can anyone any age witness sex being run as a business, they can do it seemingly without anyone knowing they’re doing it! Although there are many advantages to the Internet, such as convenience, information, and communication, the instant gratification and lack of accountability people today feel when they use it only snowballs with the rest of the media influencing our culture.  

What do you think?

-video-

“Some will be so brash to ask if we believe that all who hear Manson tomorrow night will go out and commit violent acts.

The answer is “no.”

But does everybody who watches a Lexus ad go and buy a Lexus? No. But a few do.”

Does anyone know where that excerpt is from?

Hello and good morning everyone, my name is Ophelia*,

And my name is Jessica*.

And we are going to analyse Michael Moore’s interview with Marilyn Manson.

How is Michael Moore Trying to position his viewer in this scene?

We will begin by talking about filmic techniques used in “Bowling For Columbine”.

The cuts between the Marilyn Manson interview and the speech by the anti-gun lobbyist (also known as the guy in the blue shirt talking about buying a Lexus at 15:20) create bias against the people who so strongly believe that it was Marilyn Manson who caused the shootings at Columbine, solely because the killers listened to his music.

One could say that the killers drank water. Even Adolf Hitler drank water. And, therefore, by the logic of these people, water should be prohibited.

In other words, it makes those people appear illogical, seeing as Marilyn Manson, daresay, has some good, insightful points compared to the people essentially claiming that: “Marilyn Manson is the bane of all society” through the notion that his music promotes hate, violence, and, well, Columbine-like behaviour.

While what Marilyn Manson is saying is deep, enlightening and wise; however, the way he is shown, and the way he presents himself (i.e. one leg on the couch) contradicts this. This could be identified as a juxtaposition.

Again, the eye-level shot, as shown here, accentuates Michael Moore’s attempt at trying to make you, the viewer, relate with Marilyn Manson; to humanize him, and make him seem more real. It doesn’t alienate the reader, like the scene with the camera looking up at the blue-shirted guy: this, in a way, makes the anti-gun lobbyist look like an antagonist.

A voice-over was used to create a sense of irony: scenes of innocent children eating apples (and looking cute in general) are played whilst Michael Moore talks about how dangerous and vile children truly are, and how menacing they are to society.

BIAS:

Does this scene create bias?

Needless to say, Marilyn Manson is notorious for being a bad influence on society in general – especially children.

Through this interview, one can tell that Marilyn Manson is not, in fact, the maniac that his style of music (and the media in general) make him out to be – Marilyn Manson is a human, not a monster. This part of the documentary seeks to make people not stand for Marilyn Manson, however, it seeks to make the viewer understand him and make him more relatable.

The entire set-up of this scene is to make it emotive – while the scene appears to be objective, and tries to place the viewer in a position in which they are indifferent; we are human. Most of us would veer towards the side of Marilyn Manson, who is very articulate, and offers some insightful points on the reasons as to why Columbine happened – the irony of how people blame him, rather than someone far more influential; such as the president.

In some sense, Marilyn Manson is right; the killers in Columbine weren’t cared for: they were not seen – their voices not heard. If people had listened to them – if they had their troubles heard, and their opinions expressed, then maybe the tragedy at columbine wouldn’t have happened.

Michael Moore is very effective at making his documentary seem objective, when they are, in actuality, pumped with loaded connotations and subtle or maybe not so subtle meaning.

I hope you enjoyed our presentation, thank you for listening.

Power does imply strength and control and furthermore we have already witnessed what power can do which is to ‘suppress’ the poor and the commoners.

Don’t we struggle hard each day to earn our hard earned money but ultimately where does all of this go? All of these should go into the government’s treasury but sorry not for developmental purposes but for looting people in a number of ways ranging from increase in price of essential commodities like bread, vegetables, milk which has been increased from Rs3 as instead of an increase of (Rs.5 an increase which was demanded by the KMF authorities) to a hike in water and electrical tariffs which would be gifted to as New Year Gifts in the coming months, increase in tolls and also in our taxes which we pay to the government. We pay our hard earned money as taxes for developmental purposes and not for watching ‘Porn’ films by the Ministers as we have already witnessed that too which is regarded as a high institute as a ‘Public Office’ where serious business is being held.

Don’t we now know how our money is been spent? To watch movies, films, blue films and to party with young pretty girls and to increase their loot for themselves, for their family and for their children. But for us ‘We’ ourselves cannot make our ends meet and therefore we are unable to give our children a good and a secure future, leave out our family in here as we know we all struggle hard including our family to earn a decent living to have a secure future for our family and children.

Don’t you think the government is trying to exploit us in various ways from increasing prices of essential commodities to levying tolls and by increasing taxes wherein the Government goes all out towards the people to inform them to pay their taxes in time!!! Should we even pay them a ‘Pie’ from our hard earned money?

The Congress has been submerged in scams and is still holding out to a straw while we have also seen what the BJP government also could do by been submerged in a lot of incidents ranging from mining to various others including spreading rumours of Congress leaders getting arrested over the issue of black money stacked overseas in order to influence the people and to attract more voters towards their party.

Now it’s left up to you to decide which Party you would like to go in for-for these parties or for a New party or for the JD (S). Just look through the puzzle and who do you feel has been quite active. Though you would surely say the BJP by always been in the news, the JD (S) has been fighting from behind the screen whereas the Congress has not been that active as it was before. Do you want the Old people back in the hot seat over the age of 65 -80 years or do you want to see some youngsters in the age bracket of 20 years and beyond) occupying the hot seat in the future and providing us with a stable government and a secure future for our Motherland India and by freeing us from the political turmoil we have seen almost everyday!!

It’s your choice and your decision but make it count seriously as possible while going to a polling booth as we do have a ‘Right’ given to us and that is indeed the ‘Right to Vote’ which we should use it as ‘Judiciously’ as possible.

Let the KBC show Begin!

Yes, it is also a ‘Kind of Kaun Banega Corepati Show’ indeed!!

Do hope most of you would make the right choices.

Welcoming all of you to cast your Votes in Large numbers during the next election to reach to at least 85 -90%.

Don’t you want to see your city entering into the Guinness Book of World Records!!

 Therefore be sure to come and vote in large numbers during the next Elections!!

Image via Wikipedia

The GOP has worked overtime in the last two years to stygmy any progress to be made by the Obama administration, even at great expense to both the economy and the growth (restoration and development) thereof. Of course, the reasoning behind this is simple enough – anything they can do to discredit the “First Black President of the United States of America” would be a plus, but more important is that they unseat the Democratic Party in the next presidential elections.

It hurts when celebrities and public figures use thier popularity the wrong way – big names such as Matt Damon and Donald Trump whom one would expect to know better tend to speak with minimal information. The Donald’s attacks on Barack Obama’s viability as president was uncalled for, especially considering that the United States is essentially and literally a nation of immigrants. Matt Damon, whom I love on the other hand, is obviously speaking out of impatience in his desire to see changes made. True, change has been slow and The President does seem to take his time on some issues, but there is no denying the fact that the change experienced in the American economy has both been real and measurable over the past four years. Well, at least, Jason Bourne clearly has a passion for his country -  wonder what the real estate mogul really has to show for… anything, that is, besides a woeful credit score.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s the hypocrisy of democracy, simply enough. It has little to do with the flight of the American people, but more to do with how long either party can hold on to the Oval Office and influence policy to please other wealthy people and make themselves richer! Only America can wake up and make matters right; too bad history shows that the majority is usually wrong, while an informed minority is informed enough to make the right choices. Too bad history shows that the ignorant majority tends to win the vote while the informed minority is silenced by overwhelming unpopularity. Way to change the world, America.

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Figure 1 shows the four friends gathered around the table at the diner.  The teenagers are dressed in a hoodie, vest, leather jacket, and track jacket.  Figure 2 shows the teenager sitting on the bench.  gets on the bus forgetting her purse. The teenager runs around the corner, and appears to have evaded the police. It then shows the woman exiting the bus and the teenager handing her the purse. This is another stereotype because people think that teenagers steal all the time.  The police call the teenager over and give him a donut as a reward.  The police having donuts in with them are another stereotype against the police. These two advertisements show that teenagers do drugs and steal which is a stereotype within itself because they steal in order to get money to do drugs.  In the Above the Influence commercial, the logos appeal is that most teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure and often times make poor decisions.  The teenager in the video got rewarded, but at an expense to the diner.  The Honesty commercial pathos appeal was surprise when the teenager stole the purse, then confusion due to so many logical fallacies.

To read the full article, please go to the author’s website.  This article has been moved do to copyright concerns.

Figure 1 shows the four friends gathered around the table at the diner.  The teenagers are dressed in a hoodie, vest, leather jacket, and track jacket.  Figure 2 shows the teenager sitting on the bench.  gets on the bus forgetting her purse. The teenager runs around the corner, and appears to have evaded the police. It then shows the woman exiting the bus and the teenager handing her the purse. This is another stereotype because people think that teenagers steal all the time.  The police call the teenager over and give him a donut as a reward.  The police having donuts in with them are another stereotype against the police. These two advertisements show that teenagers do drugs and steal which is a stereotype within itself because they steal in order to get money to do drugs.  In the Above the Influence commercial, the logos appeal is that most teenagers are susceptible to peer pressure and often times make poor decisions.  The teenager in the video got rewarded, but at an expense to the diner.  The Honesty commercial pathos appeal was surprise when the teenager stole the purse, then confusion due to so many logical fallacies.

To read the full article, please go to the author’s website.  This article has been moved do to copyright concerns.

Aristotle was a philosopher, and also a famous writer, so many references to his work.

Aristotle has a lot of expertise, and provide many contributions as the basis of historical development.

Aristotle, a pupil of Plato, and learn a variety of knowledge with Plato, he even criticizes Plato.

He has a number 47 of the works that still survive. And also considered the first biologist.

Thoughts on logic as a science is providing a lot of views, and reviews about him. In fact he made ​​the basis of the scientific method, and menghasilan write a lot of activity in other sciences.

Also mentioned, Aristotle was the teacher of Alexander the Great, and have influence in Catholic education, and theology.

            According to Albert Bandura’s social learning theory aggressive behavior is, “learned observationally through modeling,” (Cherry, n.d.). In American History-X, Danny learns through the example that Derek sets. After having lost their father to being shot by an African American while trying to put out a fire Derek becomes Danny’s primary source for influence. Early in the movie a group of whites and blacks are playing basketball when the game gets heated. Derek places a bet, blacks against whites and the winner keeps the basketball court. After a victorious win, the group of whites celebrates and Danny observes as this act of racism and hate gets rewarded through Derek.
            Another scene shows Danny showing off his DOC gang tattoo which represented his official place in the DOC to Derek as if it were something to wear proudly, which before Derek was released from prison he very well would have been proud. Danny also sought Derek’s approval for a paper he wrote on Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. This depicts Danny trying to get his older brother’s approval which the new Derek did not give. Danny was subjected to countless accounts of Derek’s racism, discrimination and acts of violence. There were countless opportunities in which Danny’s eye witness accounts could have molded his thoughts and beliefs about races other than his own.

            Danny also becomes a subject to conformity through Derek’s recruitment speech to a group of young white kids with Danny at his side listening to every word his older brother says. Derek was influential enough to get these kids to follow his ideals and as he was recruiting them he was spreading his word into the mind of Danny. Derek had successfully persuaded the whole group into his neo-Nazi way of thinking.

            Another scene depicts the obedience of Seth and Danny toward the neo-Nazi gang’s leader, Cameron Alexander. Seth wants Danny to tell what he’s learned in his time with the DOC. He asks Danny who he hates and Danny replies, “Anyone who isn’t white protestant.” He then says, “Some of them are alright, I guess.” Seth then corrects Danny by saying, “None of them are fucking all right,” and asks him if he remembers what Cameron said. This shows the obedience that Danny and also Seth have by following Cameron’s directives.

            The social influence theory would also apply to Danny’s situation. Once Derek started recruiting for the DOC it was no longer just Derek who held influential power over Danny. The group as a whole was in the position to further incorporate Derek’s beliefs into Danny. After Derek was sent to prison he was no longer the primary source for Danny’s corrupt way of thinking. Members of the gang took Danny in and continued the cycle where Derek left off.

            Although the theme of this paper has been to point out Danny’s trail to destruction and corrupt thinking, Bandura’s social learning theory once again comes into play later in the film. After Derek tells Danny of his time in prison and how that experience changed his way of thinking towards blacks, Danny too comes to the realization that his Nazi mentality is also flawed and it is portrayed symbolically when he and Derek remove all the Nazi memorabilia out of his room.

            American History X is an excellent resource for the application of social psychology. Through the many personalities featured in the film there are endless theories that can be applied in relevance to the film. It brings to light the power of negativity and influence and it also depicts a story of racism and hate which is something we still fight to ward off today. In many ways, American History X has brought the old psychology text to life.

Sources

American History X. Prod. Michel De Luca. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton, Edward Furlong. DVD. New Line Cinema, 1998.

Cherry, K. (n.d.) Social learning theory: An overview of Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. About.com. New York, NY. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm