Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior • Hacker News Board

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#181

Post by eeZah7Ux » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:12 PM UTC

giantg2 wrote: post #112

Ensorceled wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think kids have more ability to self regulate than we typically treat them as having. This "kids need adult supervision" is a relatively new thing, we used to be sent out to play as kids for HOURS (be home by dinner) and ran the woods and parks or played murderball (soccer with tackling) and other forms of roughhousing, all without serious mayhem. Parents would let us "work it out" if there was a fight.

'Parents would let us "work it out" if there was a fight.' And now days the school calls the police for minor fights and kids end up with records that can drastically alter their lives in a negative way. I almost wonder if this zero tolerance mindset creates an all-or-nothing mentality in kids when they realize they aren't allowed to defend themselves. And if this mentality (equivocating criminal record and expulsion…

You are mixing 2 different topics. Ramping authoritarianism and policing is one problem.

> "allowed to defend themselves"

> "punching my bully"

...and this is what most bullies would say. No, bullying cannot be solved by the victims, otherwise it would not be a problem in the first place.

Bullying needs to be stopped by the school - and without calling in armed bullies to stop the bullies.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#182

Post by tobylane » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:12 PM UTC

fortran77 wrote: post #17

I wonder if there's a similar "no link" between 'educational' video games and improved education.

I believe there’s a very narrow link between the specific thing you practise in the game and any real life use of that. Nearly every game is gamified too much to be useful in this way. The n-back games may be an exception.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#183

Post by yters » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:15 PM UTC

Otoh there are studies carried out by Stanford, iirc, demonstrating the opposite. I guess the studies that support the conclusion I like are the correct studies.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#184

Post by scotty79 » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:16 PM UTC

afandian wrote: post #148

vlunkr wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that in most games, the violence is not the goal, just the mechanics. You're either competing with other players, trying to fulfill a quest, surviving the zombie apocalypse, etc. Very few games are really "murder simulators" and when they do come along, even if they are meant to be satirical or something, they are usually controversial.

I'm not necessarily suggesting that the participant in the simulation is trying to do nothing more than commit acts of violence. But if the goal is predicated on committing violence, and can't be achieved without it, then I don't think it's logical to dismiss the violent aspect. To transpose the argument to reality, a serial killer may see the act of killing as a neutral act pursuant to a goal they consider important…

I think that games with optional violence are more contentious. If violence is the only way, you are putting yourself in soldier mindset pretty quicky. You kill to defend yourself or your objectives. And this makes everything ok because our culture sucks and if you have to kill because that's the rules, suddenly everything is ok and you are absolved.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#185

Post by dr_orpheus » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:18 PM UTC

vlunkr wrote: post #136

afandian wrote: post #117

I'm one of those people who is entirely bemused by violent videogames and films (I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be bemused by my pastimes too). I'm not trying to argue to stop anyone doing it, but I would really like to understand it better. Many video games are essentially simulators of things that we're prevented from doing in reality, because of the laws of nature or society. Whether that's dropping…

I would argue that in most games, the violence is not the goal, just the mechanics. You're either competing with other players, trying to fulfill a quest, surviving the zombie apocalypse, etc. Very few games are really "murder simulators" and when they do come along, even if they are meant to be satirical or something, they are usually controversial.

I would also echo this as well. I play quite a few violent video games, but not all. I do not necessarily seek out a video game because it is violent, but there are mechanics that I enjoy more than others. I like shooter games (Halo, COD) more than I enjoy fighting games (Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur). Does that indicate that I have a violent desire is to go out and shoot people? Absolutely not.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#186

Post by dfxm12 » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

afandian wrote: post #117

I'm one of those people who is entirely bemused by violent videogames and films (I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be bemused by my pastimes too). I'm not trying to argue to stop anyone doing it, but I would really like to understand it better. Many video games are essentially simulators of things that we're prevented from doing in reality, because of the laws of nature or society. Whether that's dropping…

but somehow one gets a free pass to let anyone pretend to do it, but the other not.

I think you're operating under the false assumption that simulating sexual violence is taboo. I'm not sure that's a given: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_fantasy

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#187

Post by pelasaco » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

chillwaves wrote: post #7

Can we do a study on a link between video games and ADHD or dopamine deficiency? https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/adhd-and-video...

This is something that I'm seeing a lot as elementary school teacher in Germany. Kids exposed to excessive video game - Normally, parents that work full-time and sit the kid in front of the video game/tablet/etc to be able to get things done, - got specially worse after the first lockdown - are being diagnosed with ADHD and are starting to get Ritalin.

My kids play video-game, I play video-game, and I have nothing against it. However an excessive exposition is a pattern that i can relate to ADHD.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#188

Post by brandonmenc » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

Is anyone studying how violent video games affect the mentally ill?

It seems like most of our mass shootings are perpetrated by people who are both mentally ill and obsessed with playing first person shooters.

Re: Ten year study: No link between violent video games and aggressive behavior

#189

Post by hombre_fatal » Tue, Dec 29, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

eeZah7Ux wrote: post #173

nelsonenzo wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

no one outside of the video game industry would waste their time with this study because they already know the outcome from having passively observed several hundred million children not become violent from video games. Video games do not make people violent - and based on my observation of at least several thousand peers - it actually has the opposite effect. The truth is video games are a healthy outlet, as well as…

It's pretty dishonest to put all kinds of video games in the same bucket and then make sweeping generalizations about their health impact.

I don't understand what you're implying except that you think that there are violent video games that can affect behavior, something that the paper set out to test by comparing 789 games ranging from Boggle to Gears of War.

When I was a kid in the 90s, Oprah claims that Dungeons and Dragons caused Satanic worship and Grand Theft Auto groomed children for larceny. That's where our culture is coming from.