5 ms·

Correlation ins't causation of course, but not one mention of video games in the article: https://66.media.tumblr.com/6e0d3c2533b37df820432f5e6d929c83/tumblr_in

Correlation ins't causation of course, but not one mention of video games in the article: https://66.media.tumblr.com/6e0d3c2533b37df820432f5e6d929c83/tumblr_inline_mx9peioujI1r7b0fw.png https://66.media.tumblr.com/6e0d3c2533b37df820432f5e6d929c83... I have always though video game especially violent ones were an outlet for aggression and could actually curbs those tendencies, not make them worse, it sure seemed like that way for me growing up, playing Doom and Carmageddon later Battlefield and GTA. Time line matches up pretty well with violent crime decline.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago
If nothing else you can’t be out engaging in violence if you are at home playing games.
- jimmy1 8y ago
  This is the real reason. Heck even real drugs were less appealing to the rush I got completing a raid with my clan back in the day in WoW.
throwaway6766 8y ago
I think the most important thing here is whether or not the person consuming the violent media has fantasies of violence. Purely anecdotal, but in my own life, I'm convinced certain types of media have pushed me over the edge from fantasy for reality. For example, ever since I was a young child, I found smoking women to be sexy. I fantasized about it in my adolescent years. Then I discovered smoking fetish pornography and that really got me going and I started to think maybe I should actually date smokers. Then I did and I started to think it might not be to badd to try smoking myself. I doubt I would have made it this far down my current road had I never taken that initial jump from purely in my mind to consuming smoking fetish media. In other words, I think the smoking fetish media helped me take a harmless fantasy and turn it a ruinous reality. I wonder if the same could happen for other people with other (not even necessarily sexual) fantasies.
- chaostheory 8y ago
  Opposing data to your anecdote. The rise of porn's accessibility has supposedly reduced the occurrence of rape https://slate.com/culture/2006/10/proof-that-internet-porn-prevents-rape.html https://slate.com/culture/2006/10/proof-that-internet-porn-p... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/201601/evidence-mounts-more-porn-less-sexual-assault https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/201601...
  - sandworm101 8y ago
    And many of the biggest porn companies are in SF.
  - hopler 8y ago
    Rape is a bit of a different category because there is the component of ejaculation which has a substantial affect on short term desire for sex.
- r_smart 8y ago
  Maybe, but you sought it out on your own. The porn was a convenient pit stop on the way to living things out, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't have ever gone down that road. All you would've needed was to screw up the courage to make a pass at a receptive lady you saw smoking.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  For example, ever since I was a young child, I found smoking women to be sexy. I fantasized about it in my adolescent years. Then I discovered smoking fetish pornography and that really got me going and I started to think maybe I should actually date smokers. Then I did and I started to think it might not be to badd to try smoking myself. I think the chain stops at the point where you started dating smokers, and you should think of this as a success! (Depending on whether the relationships themselves are ruinous or successful on the whole.)
pixelrevision 8y ago
I'm going to bet that technology in general has a whole lot to do with it. I remember all the trouble people got into because they were just out and about with nothing to do. Having a cellphone gives you instant access to something you are interested in regardless of what it is and can be used acceptably if there is any downtime.
- nostromo 8y ago
  I agree. Phones are now the opiate of the masses. I remember how I used to get anxious or annoyed or bored waiting for the train or waiting for the ATM or in line at the grocery store. Now I just pull out my phone and drone out on Instagram.
  - stcredzero 8y ago
    Phones are now the opiate of the masses. Outrage mobbing might well be an application of this metaphorical "opiate" for a large minority of the public.
- matthewdgreen 8y ago
  It’s true that the second major dropoff (especially in the SF numbers) appears around the time smartphones came along. But the real peak and initial descent started in the 1990s, which is long before smartphones, and even very early for dumbphones (which don’t seem like they’d prevent gang violence, in any obvious way anyway.) There’s a similar peak and plunge in the 90s for virtually every type of violent crime, nationwide.
  - groestl 8y ago
    So, PCs?
    - derefr 8y ago
      The type of people who commit major crimes are the least likely to own a computer. Especially back in the 90s. So that wouldn't help explain much.
martindbp 8y ago
I used to think this as well, but the model of the human mind as some kind of steam machine that "builds up pressure" and needs to "let off steam" are leftovers from a view of psychology stemming from early industrialisation. Our language is still littered with expressions like this, which I think affects how we think the mind works. I do think video games might have an impact though, but only as a distraction. They are so compelling that other activities are crowded out, including bad ones.
- meruru 8y ago
  It has nothing to do with modeling the mind after steam machines. These expressions exist because of beliefs about how the mind works, not the other way around. Feelings would still get "bottled up" and you'd have to "release" them somehow, even without knowledge of steam machines. Yes, it's the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis all over again.
everdrive 8y ago
I've never felt that Video Games are truly an outlet for anger. In particular, it's not clear that the Freudian idea that anger can somehow be "built up" and then "released" is valid in any context, let alone video games. However, I do strongly believe that video games reduce violence, but only for the same reason that smart phones and the internet do: less socializing, less physical exercise, less kids hanging around bored and looking for trouble.
watwut 8y ago
People who just finished playing are not calmer after they play, especially in online games. They quite often end angrier less patient and more frustrated right after session. One would expect people calmer after outlet for aggression.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago

If nothing else you can’t be out engaging in violence if you are at home playing games.

jimmy1 8y ago
This is the real reason. Heck even real drugs were less appealing to the rush I got completing a raid with my clan back in the day in WoW.

throwaway6766 8y ago

I think the most important thing here is whether or not the person consuming the violent media has fantasies of violence. Purely anecdotal, but in my own life, I'm convinced certain types of media have pushed me over the edge from fantasy for reality. For example, ever since I was a young child, I found smoking women to be sexy. I fantasized about it in my adolescent years. Then I discovered smoking fetish pornography and that really got me going and I started to think maybe I should actually date smokers. Then I did and I started to think it might not be to badd to try smoking myself. I doubt I would have made it this far down my current road had I never taken that initial jump from purely in my mind to consuming smoking fetish media. In other words, I think the smoking fetish media helped me take a harmless fantasy and turn it a ruinous reality. I wonder if the same could happen for other people with other (not even necessarily sexual) fantasies.

chaostheory 8y ago
Opposing data to your anecdote. The rise of porn's accessibility has supposedly reduced the occurrence of rape https://slate.com/culture/2006/10/proof-that-internet-porn-prevents-rape.html https://slate.com/culture/2006/10/proof-that-internet-porn-p... https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/201601/evidence-mounts-more-porn-less-sexual-assault https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/all-about-sex/201601...
- sandworm101 8y ago
  And many of the biggest porn companies are in SF.
- hopler 8y ago
  Rape is a bit of a different category because there is the component of ejaculation which has a substantial affect on short term desire for sex.
r_smart 8y ago
Maybe, but you sought it out on your own. The porn was a convenient pit stop on the way to living things out, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't have ever gone down that road. All you would've needed was to screw up the courage to make a pass at a receptive lady you saw smoking.
stcredzero 8y ago
For example, ever since I was a young child, I found smoking women to be sexy. I fantasized about it in my adolescent years. Then I discovered smoking fetish pornography and that really got me going and I started to think maybe I should actually date smokers. Then I did and I started to think it might not be to badd to try smoking myself. I think the chain stops at the point where you started dating smokers, and you should think of this as a success! (Depending on whether the relationships themselves are ruinous or successful on the whole.)

pixelrevision 8y ago

I'm going to bet that technology in general has a whole lot to do with it. I remember all the trouble people got into because they were just out and about with nothing to do. Having a cellphone gives you instant access to something you are interested in regardless of what it is and can be used acceptably if there is any downtime.

nostromo 8y ago
I agree. Phones are now the opiate of the masses. I remember how I used to get anxious or annoyed or bored waiting for the train or waiting for the ATM or in line at the grocery store. Now I just pull out my phone and drone out on Instagram.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  Phones are now the opiate of the masses. Outrage mobbing might well be an application of this metaphorical "opiate" for a large minority of the public.
matthewdgreen 8y ago
It’s true that the second major dropoff (especially in the SF numbers) appears around the time smartphones came along. But the real peak and initial descent started in the 1990s, which is long before smartphones, and even very early for dumbphones (which don’t seem like they’d prevent gang violence, in any obvious way anyway.) There’s a similar peak and plunge in the 90s for virtually every type of violent crime, nationwide.
- groestl 8y ago
  So, PCs?
  - derefr 8y ago
    The type of people who commit major crimes are the least likely to own a computer. Especially back in the 90s. So that wouldn't help explain much.

martindbp 8y ago

I used to think this as well, but the model of the human mind as some kind of steam machine that "builds up pressure" and needs to "let off steam" are leftovers from a view of psychology stemming from early industrialisation. Our language is still littered with expressions like this, which I think affects how we think the mind works. I do think video games might have an impact though, but only as a distraction. They are so compelling that other activities are crowded out, including bad ones.

meruru 8y ago
It has nothing to do with modeling the mind after steam machines. These expressions exist because of beliefs about how the mind works, not the other way around. Feelings would still get "bottled up" and you'd have to "release" them somehow, even without knowledge of steam machines. Yes, it's the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis all over again.

everdrive 8y ago

I've never felt that Video Games are truly an outlet for anger. In particular, it's not clear that the Freudian idea that anger can somehow be "built up" and then "released" is valid in any context, let alone video games. However, I do strongly believe that video games reduce violence, but only for the same reason that smart phones and the internet do: less socializing, less physical exercise, less kids hanging around bored and looking for trouble.

watwut 8y ago

People who just finished playing are not calmer after they play, especially in online games. They quite often end angrier less patient and more frustrated right after session. One would expect people calmer after outlet for aggression.