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[.GqueB.]

The fact that violent crimes in the US have plummeted during the rise in popularity of videogames is an argument that "makes no sense"?

Article says videogames cause more agression > poster comments on how they have been playing videogames for years and haven't killed any one > article is null, void, and stupid.

That's the line of thinking that I hate. The outright refusal of something based on some silly argument. Videogames/porn/facebook aren't exclusively the cause for all of the bizarre social problems expressed but to say they don't have a hand in them is silly to me. Dismissing the article outright is bizarre and that's what these threads usually become.

 

[Kurdel]

The fact that violent crimes in the US have plummeted during the rise in popularity of videogames is an argument that "makes no sense"?

Corrolation does not equal causation.

No one can deny people can get addicted to videogames, but no one is saying everyone is addicted to videogames. If someone neglects important things in their life in favor of anything, it is a sign of a destuctive habit that should be treated. Be it alcohol, drugs, gambling, CoD or WoW addiction.

The reactionary posts in these threads are always ridiculous...The article brings up great points, but seeing how many people in this thread are butthurt, it must be hitting close to home for more than a few posters!

 

[Version 3.0]

Corrolation does not equal causation.

No one can deny people can get addicted to videogames, but no one is saying everyone is addicted to videogames. If someone neglects important things in their life in favor of anything, it is a sign of a destuctive habit that should be treated. Be it alcohol, drugs, gambling, CoD or WoW addiction.

The reactionary posts in these threads are always ridiculous...The article brings up great points, but seeing how many people in this thread are butthurt, it must be hitting close to home for more than a few posters!

If you read my posts, you'll find that I don't dismiss it outright. But it's not a worldwide, society-destroying crisis. We're doing fine. I'm not "butthurt", I'm offended by the mass generalization of a group that I fall into as social degenerates who are ruining the world. I'm also appalled at their poor science.

 

[J-Rock]

Might as well make a game of this since we are all just addicts.

Let try some different time periods!


1950's: How Rock Music and Playboy are ruining a generation

 

[Mooreberg]

CNN: How video games and porn are ruining our ratings

 

[Nibel]

CNN: How video games and porn are ruining our ratings

IGN: What videogames can learn from porn

 

[The Awesomest]

That pic is such bullshit.

What N64 game uses the d-pad?

Kirby 64 doesn't use the stick at all.

 

[MoonsaultSlayer]

This is pretty much common sense to anyone with any ability to notice changes in children (and adults) and their behavior for the past 30 years, but gaf won't admit to it and will say stupid pointless crap as some counter-argument.

Edit: Too late.

Bingo. I've even noticed it in myself and I'm married guy with a kid and I'm a complete bundle of nerves when it comes to real life shit... like the doctor visit today that I put off for far too long.

 

[RyougaSaotome]

My favorite part of this whole piece is the implication that women don't play video games or watch porn.

Yup.

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Sigh...every fucking generation
How rock music is ruining a generation
How TV is ruining a generation
How movies are ruining a generation

slow news day, CNN?

 

[teh_pwn]

Sigh...every fucking generation
How rock music is ruining a generation
How TV is ruining a generation
How movies are ruining a generation

slow news day, CNN?

CNN doesn't do news.

Their journalistic integrity is on par with the scientific validity of the 'study' referred to.

 

[GraveRobberX]

Sigh...every fucking generation
How rock music is ruining a generation
How TV is ruining a generation
How movies are ruining a generation

slow news day, CNN?

Can't wait til 2019 when the conglomerate FOXCNMNCBS churns headlines like

"How these Replicants are destroying young boys, they were made to help us, but not in that way!"

 

[Satchel]

It's scary how much everything up until the examples apply to me.

 

[Desi]

Phillip Zimbardo, looks like Satan. Still love him.

 

[mrpug]

This is pretty much common sense to anyone with any ability to notice changes in children (and adults) and their behavior for the past 30 years, but gaf won't admit to it and will say stupid pointless crap as some counter-argument.

Edit: Too late.

Winner. Expected though to see people defending their habits, especially ones that don't have extremely tangible negatives. Games and pron aren't the only things affecting youth psychology of course (media, social platforms etc. as well) , but they're probably the most obvious and effectual.

 

[SpongeBob NoPants]

What the hell does "the demise of guys" actually mean?

Also, as anyone with half a brain and a quarter of an education knows, correlation =/= causality.

 

[Hawkian]

Sometimes when I hold my N64 controller and I start thinking about porn and killing people and I just want to just kill people and fuck and ARRRRRRHGHHGHG

 

[conman]

...so does this mean it's woman's turn to rule?

 

[Derrick01]

What the hell does "the demise of guys" actually mean?

That men aren't living up to a 1950s view of what men should be anymore. I'm surprised this wasn't a fox news article really. All it was missing was a subtle attempt to make people think blacks and mexicans are ruining white culture and I would have easily believed it was a fox article.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Can this guy just shut the fuck up already?

Also CNN is a testament to how horrible for profit news is.

 

[The Technomancer]

Bingo. I've even noticed it in myself and I'm married guy with a kid and I'm a complete bundle of nerves when it comes to real life shit... like the doctor visit today that I put off for far too long.

I don't exactly trust anyone to have lucid memories of how everyone behaved thirty years ago without any taint of nostalgia or infection of popular media about how "the good old days" were. Its the same whenever anyone says that the youth today are lazy and that crime rates are going up.

 

[Centurion]

Id agree with porn having a negative impact.

Videogames? Not so much, I don't see the difference between television and videogames.

 

[Kraut]

It's a shame the researchers decided to tie this into the growing hyperbole of "the pussification of the modern male" and the mention of Brevik. This is something that should continue to be looked into, and I think the outright dismissal of a lot of GAFfers is rather reactionary and unfounded - anecdotal evidence of "well I don't drive around murdering people" is missing the point entirely. Yes, there are still plenty of people who use games as an easy scapegoat just like popular things in the past, but to outright dismiss every potential correlation made in a research setting because of that is a complete fallacy that we should avoid. If there's a problem, let's figure out what it is and how to solve it, not ignore it because it might be unpleasant or invent problems that distract us from the real issues.

 

[The Technomancer]

I've never seen so many strawman arguments in one topic. Did anybody actually read the article?

I think a lot of people here would benefit from taking 90 days off from videogames/video game websites/porn so they can really see how addicted they are. Any person here who would find that near impossible is addicted, plain and simple.

And you could issue the same challenge to anyone in the 80s about their portable music, or in the 60s about some other kind of technology. People develop strong relationships with new technology, shocker.

 

[GraveRobberX]

Need to go back to the time where Becky the Head Cheerleader would bring you cookies for doing a good job by helping Mr. Wilson and saving his hound dog from the well

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

http://www.tamiu.edu/~cferguson/Paradigm.pdf

This article refutes the violence aspect, and it's not the first. The data there is very clear. Videogames do not cause nor encourage real-world violence on a large scale. On an exception basis, they're a scapegoat, and sometimes one not even based on circumstantial evidence.

As for the addiction aspect, I believe there's something there. But I don't believe that the risk of videogame addiction - to the point of neglecting work, school, relationships, etc - is any worse than any of the thousand things it's possible to be addicted to. It's just one more thing a person needs to learn to balance in our complex world. It's definitely not a crisis.

Pretty lame study. The reason violence is on the decline is due to various amount of factors such as the nation cleaning up its cities, recognizing and treating people with anger issues, declining in domestic, kids being preoccupied with fucking off (facebook, netflix, and yes videogames, etc).

Its been proven time and time again that videogames are in fact linked to aggression. Now whether or not this aggression leads to people killing others is another topic.

 

[M-PG71C]

...so does this mean it's woman's turn to rule?

Nah, the only ruling they will be doing is the Three Cs (Cooking, Cleaning, and Conceiving)

Keep them coming CNN, whatever it takes.

 

[imjust1n]

because lady gaga/kesha and rap doesn't do anything...people that play video games are actually more smart and well educated then people that party and listen to rap and kesha...just saying

 

[conman]

Winner. Expected though to see people defending their habits, especially ones that don't have extremely tangible negatives. Games and pron aren't the only things affecting youth psychology of course (media, social platforms etc. as well) , but they're probably the most obvious and effectual.

"Affecting" and "damaging" aren't the same thing. It would be silly to assume that new technologies and media don't "affect" young people. And it would be silly to assume that some of those "effects" aren't bad. And some are also good. And some are totally irrelevant to anything whatsoever.

 

[apana]

CNN is clearly full of Sony fanboys, Nintendo 64 never did anyone harm.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

CNN: How video games and porn are ruining a generation


ah, they mean how NEOGAF ruined a generation.

 

[conman]

Its been proven time and time again that videogames are in fact linked to aggression.

Right, but where are the sensationalized articles talking about how sports spectatorship is linked to aggression? I mean, do we try to pass laws against other things that are linked to aggression? Like being late for work? Or being poor?

 

[Centurion]

"The Demise of Guys" I'd say is sorta true, but not because of fucking video games.

It has more to do with our ridiculous school loans. Plus a job market which is shit, forcing us to do slave labor for cheap wages, leaving many people in there 20s with no other choice than to live with their parents.

 

[FieryBalrog]

Video games and porn are the symptom, not the cause.

The cause is the modern industrial economy that demands a society of sedentary, docile workers doing rote tasks.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Right, but where are the sensationalized articles talking about how sports spectatorship is linked to aggression? Just because it's true doesn't make it worth singling out.

Shitty for profit news sites only exist to entertain old people and people who's IQ is so low that they actually take places like CNN seriously. That's why you always see them shitting on things the under 30 generation loves or how they try to downplay minority and women rights. I find that half of these "studies" don't even reveal a fucking control group.

 

[SpongeBob NoPants]

That men aren't living up to a 1950s view of what men should be anymore. I'm surprised this wasn't a fox news article really. All it was missing was a subtle attempt to make people think blacks and mexicans are ruining white culture and I would have easily believed it was a fox article.

Okay. Thanks. Guess it would have made more immediate sense if I was from the US (although blaming random stuff on eastern Europeans is becoming a pastime of opinionated idiots in the UK, so I guess we're not so different)

 

[The Technomancer]

The 80s and 60s argument is yet another tired strawman. Kids in the 80s didn't sit in their basement, alone, sitting in place, listening to their music for 3-10 hours a day. They were still going out and doing things.

And kids in the 40s didn't walk down the street with headphones in completely ignoring the people around them, they had to engage in people when they went out.

Are there problems with video games and the internet? Sure. Are they part of some kind of vast societal decline? I wouldn't say its nearly that easy to say.

 

[Derrick01]

The 80s and 60s argument is yet another tired strawman. Kids in the 80s didn't sit in their basement, alone, sitting in place, listening to their music for 3-10 hours a day. They were still going out and doing things.

If your "relationship" with videogames is strong to the point you could never give it up, well then, you're addicted.

So basically you're saying if you cannot live like a caveman or some cowboy from the 1800s, without all technology, then you're addicted to it. Because I don't think many people in this country could go without all of the things they love.

 

[Rebel Leader]

Sigh...every fucking generation
How rock music is ruining a generation
How TV is ruining a generation
How movies are ruining a generation

slow news day, CNN?

How Elvis's hips are truning people to Satan

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

Because enjoying yourself is evil, you become complacent and don't want to do other things. You're a bad worker bee if you're happy with your life.

Should go to work and school and church and be productive instead.

 

[Violater]

So no pic to represent the porn portion of the editorial?

 

[conman]

"They are lost if they are alone: for anti-social, inattentive, without judgment or prevision, they are capable of no useful individual effort, and still less of a common labour which demands obedience, discipline, and the regular performance of duty. They fritter away their life in solitary, unprofitable, aesthetic debauch, and all that their organs, which are in full regression, are still good for is enervating enjoyment."

-Marx Nordau, Degeneration (1895)

Sound familiar? He's writing about Modernist writers, thinkers, and artists at the end of the 19th century like Wagner, Zola, Ibsen, Nietsche, and their young followers.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

Sigh...every fucking generation
How rock music is ruining a generation
How TV is ruining a generation
How movies are ruining a generation

slow news day, CNN?

Your observation that every generation wrings their hands in concern over new forms of entertainment or hobbies is spot on. However, that doesn't mean that these new forms of entertainment/hobbies don't actually have important effects at the societal and personal level. The thing about human society is that it can withstand and adapt to a great deal of change. "Ruining a generation" is alarmist nonsense.

The wording of the headline is designed to grab attention and to make people angry and defensive. It does a disservice to the ideas contained within.

 

[The Technomancer]

Your observation that every generation wrings their hands in concern over new forms of entertainment or hobbies is spot on. However, that doesn't mean that these new forms of entertainment/hobbies don't actually have important effects at the societal and personal level. The thing about human society is that it can withstand and adapt to a great deal of change. "Ruining a generation" is alarmist nonsense.

The wording of the headline is designed to grab attention and to make people angry and defensive. It does a disservice to the ideas contained within.

Basically. Things are definitely changing and I do agree that some of those changes could be very negative.

 

[flyinpiranha]

I'm not saying "live like a caveman" (who by the way, at least went out and hunted). A well-rounded individual will still probably use the Internet to check their email, and the news/forums for 30-60 mins a day, use their phone for texting/phoning, and hey, maybe even play videogames for 3-5 hours a week. If asked to give any of that stuff up, they'd manage. There's nothing wrong with any of that.

I'm talking about people playing videogames or reading videogame forums for 5-10 hours a day to the point where their life revolves around them. When they go out in the public, they're constantly thinking about videogames. The thought of giving them up for an extended period of time terrifies them. THAT is a problem.

Who are you to say what is a "well rounded individual"? There are tribes that don't have technology and they rarely see people outside of their small circle and haven't "gone out and done stuff" beyond what is their basic norms for survival. What about people that lived on farms for generations in the 1600-1800's rarely communicating with others?

This whole article reads of scare tactics. People are evolving. You used to have to work 10 hours a day in a field just to feed your family, now you work at a desk. Have you seen some of the torture devices of the middle ages? Those were designed and used by "well rounded individuals".

People evolve, things evolve. Our minds are taking in more information than ever and the species is changing and adapting to that. In 100 years people will laugh at what this article is saying much like we laugh at how people were scared of things 100 years ago.

There are worse things to fear that are shaping our children's minds than tits and Halo. This is a misguided attempt to point the finger at everything except where it should be; leadership and education.

Sorry for the rant. All over the place with that one.

The article isn't bad. It does have its points but I think they are misguided in their representation. It's a bigger picture than this. Taking away one form of 'entertainment' isn't going to solve any of the underlying issues.

 

[Negator]

CNN basically pandering to its audience.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

They are "arousal addictions," where the attraction is in the novelty, the variety or the surprise factor of the content. Sameness is soon habituated; newness heightens excitement. In traditional drug arousal, conversely, addicts want more of the same cocaine or heroin or favorite food.

this seems very real

 

[DanielJr82]

I think the article makes some really good points.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Of course this article is outdated because it failed to also mention Facebook.

 

[NullPointer]

After the coming inevitable "great internet crash" we'll start to regain some equilibrium.