Blaming video games for people shooting other people is like blaming punching bags for people hitting other people. Why don't we outlaw these assault/battery simulators?
If anything it reduces the the urge for someone to do it by redirecting the urge into a simulation, kind of like a punching bag.
Now it seems video games are the punching bags for the gun violence debate instead when most studies show they have the opposite effect.
Actually, blaming punching bags for people hitting other people makes way more sense than blaming video games for shootings. One of the primary purposes of punching bags, after all, is to make you better at punching people.
I won't argue that video games might make you better using a gun against human targets, it very well could. That is a different argument than it leading to more gun violence.
A punching bag makes you better at punching, it also wears you out and gets the urge to punch someone out on the bag rather than the actual person. You never heard of someone wanting to go hit the punching bag for a little while because they had a bad day at work?
What does the phrase mean when you call something a punching bag that is not actually a punching bag? Think about it, it's all related to redirecting aggression.
> "If anything it reduces the the urge for someone to do it by redirecting the urge into a simulation, kind of like a punching bag."
I'm an avid and pretty hardcore gamer, but come on, this is supposition. Is there really strong evidence that simulated violence is a deterrent to actual violence?
I've seen some "studies" trotted about gaming forums and the such, whose methodology and provenance are highly questionable. Has there been any real scientific evidence on this matter?
If anything it reduces the the urge for someone to do it by redirecting the urge into a simulation, kind of like a punching bag.
Now it seems video games are the punching bags for the gun violence debate instead when most studies show they have the opposite effect.