3 ms·

> So what is it about video games that have absolutely zero negative impact on impressionable and unstable minds? And unlike movies and advertising, video game

> So what is it about video games that have absolutely zero negative impact on impressionable and unstable minds? And unlike movies and advertising, video games require active participation. Yet they somehow have zero training effect while passively watching advertisements is seemingly universally accepted to be a form of brainwashing. It’s bizarre. FPS are mass shooting training simulators. Full stop. Does everyone who plays FPS become a mass shooter? Obviously not. But find me a school shooter who didn’t obsessively play FPS. It’s nearly impossible.

pjc50 3y ago
The actual radicalization of most US mass shooters, plus a couple of international ones of the same ideology, has been through far-right propaganda. It turns up again and again in their manifestoes and target selections, such as Anders Breivik. Conversely much of Europe's really nasty political violence pre-dates video games. Europe is probably more peaceful now than at any time since .. 1914? (There have also been Islamist mass murders in Europe; it's the 18th anniversary of the London Tube bombings. However that seems to have finally fallen off? I would love a good analysis as to why)
- brandonmenc 3y ago
  > political violence pre-dates video games I'm talking more about things like school shootings, which were pretty much non-existent before the invention of the FPS.
  - pjc50 3y ago
    School shootings are also quite often political violence, it's just that there's a conspiracy to not recognise them as such. As well as to ensure the continued mass availability of weapons in the US. Example of political school shooting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massa... Example of non-political school shooting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre ; resulted in the handgun ban and no more school shootings.
  - red-iron-pine 3y ago
    they're still pretty much non existent in Europe, outside of a few big outliers like Brevik. they happen in the US all the time because you can get an AR-15 for $400 and little scrutiny. video games are just as popular in europe, they don't have the tools to make it happen.
senectus1 3y ago
>Does everyone who plays FPS become a mass shooter? Obviously not. But find me a school shooter who didn’t obsessively play FPS. It’s nearly impossible. so what. that is by no means ANY weight to the argument. This is a utterly ludicrous argument and a facile way to present an argument.
pas 3y ago
it's a complete non sequitur. even if there's a non-zero effect of FPS games radicalizing young people, the causality is absolutely suspect. and you know, there's also airsoft, paintball, and ... watching actual combat footage. oh, and ... who knows, maybe the effect is actually negative, as in FPS is a way to let the steam off.
- brandonmenc 3y ago
  > FPS is a way to let the steam off We would all be horrified if it were suggested that say, rape simulators functioned as a release valve to divert energy away from real life sexual assaults.
anthk 3y ago
>FPS are mass shooting training simulators. Full stop. Full bullshit. So, when I'm playing an RPG I'm simulating witchcraft? Also, I'm from Spain. Both Franco's regime and ETA predate video games, even microcomputers, by decades.

pjc50 3y ago

The actual radicalization of most US mass shooters, plus a couple of international ones of the same ideology, has been through far-right propaganda. It turns up again and again in their manifestoes and target selections, such as Anders Breivik. Conversely much of Europe's really nasty political violence pre-dates video games. Europe is probably more peaceful now than at any time since .. 1914? (There have also been Islamist mass murders in Europe; it's the 18th anniversary of the London Tube bombings. However that seems to have finally fallen off? I would love a good analysis as to why)

brandonmenc 3y ago
> political violence pre-dates video games I'm talking more about things like school shootings, which were pretty much non-existent before the invention of the FPS.
- pjc50 3y ago
  School shootings are also quite often political violence, it's just that there's a conspiracy to not recognise them as such. As well as to ensure the continued mass availability of weapons in the US. Example of political school shooting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massa... Example of non-political school shooting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre ; resulted in the handgun ban and no more school shootings.
- red-iron-pine 3y ago
  they're still pretty much non existent in Europe, outside of a few big outliers like Brevik. they happen in the US all the time because you can get an AR-15 for $400 and little scrutiny. video games are just as popular in europe, they don't have the tools to make it happen.

senectus1 3y ago

>Does everyone who plays FPS become a mass shooter? Obviously not. But find me a school shooter who didn’t obsessively play FPS. It’s nearly impossible. so what. that is by no means ANY weight to the argument. This is a utterly ludicrous argument and a facile way to present an argument.

pas 3y ago

it's a complete non sequitur. even if there's a non-zero effect of FPS games radicalizing young people, the causality is absolutely suspect. and you know, there's also airsoft, paintball, and ... watching actual combat footage. oh, and ... who knows, maybe the effect is actually negative, as in FPS is a way to let the steam off.

brandonmenc 3y ago
> FPS is a way to let the steam off We would all be horrified if it were suggested that say, rape simulators functioned as a release valve to divert energy away from real life sexual assaults.

anthk 3y ago

>FPS are mass shooting training simulators. Full stop. Full bullshit. So, when I'm playing an RPG I'm simulating witchcraft? Also, I'm from Spain. Both Franco's regime and ETA predate video games, even microcomputers, by decades.