Video games and violence

[weasel3d]

Aside from being a musician (full-time, now) I made video games for many years. I became an executive producer and I've been involved in over 200 projects on various home, arcade and hand-held game platforms. I left the industry a number of years back, because it became highly corporate and controlled by marketing people. Not fun. So I went back to playing sax, which I feel is better suited to spiritual and intellectual growth, not to mention that the sharing and lifting people up aspect, is much more obvious and rewarding for me.

My thoughts are that the problem with games is that they distract, by involving you in a synthetic environment. That's as opposed to being involved in your own, real-life environment. So, although you're gaining knowledge of various patterns and problems designed into the game environment, you aren't using your time searching for knowledge of the environment that your life and spirit depend on. It's as distracting as spending time in prison. Yes, it's an interesting one but a prison all the same.

The entire system of most games is based on manipulation. You're required to become aware of the program. Think about that. You're just looking for the correct route through a programmed environment. Of course you might say, well we're all doing that in daily life anyway. But, in the case of gaming, you're energy is being utilized to gather data, most of which is inconsequential to understanding the myriad programs that are effecting your real life in the microcosmic world. It's like being locked in a room and given the task of gaining knowledge of the ways of the world.

I'm not saying that there aren't some possible benefits to pattern recognition, hand-eye coordination and other game related skills that may be useful in day to day living. But, if you're honest with yourself, you'll probably come to the conclusion that most of it is just spinning wheels. I think it may be only a small bit healthier than watching TV, which is hypnotizing in a different way. I do believe that TV is more damaging in that it just feeds you disinformation, official or misinformed narratives and little else---under hypnotic conditions.

I've never felt that the violence factor made players more violent. And there are lots of studies, that I was aware of, years ago, that found violence levels lower as gaming became more popular. I'm not aware of any recent studies, though. But, that's not to say that video gaming skills don't breed the perfect mechanized weapons and drone operators. I personally think we have to beware of machine consciousness. There's a problem with things that become automatic and that rely on blind learned reaction. If we're going to evolve, we need to be conscious of our actions, not react. In a reactive mental state i think we become pawns of others...3D and 4D.

Last thing...there is no better, or more interesting programming, than this farm we've all been born into. It's the best mass player RPG, ever. Nuff said.

 

[aimarok]

Very well said, Ghostdoghaiku! It was exactly what I needed to hear and realize now. Thank you.

 

[Brenda86]

Aside from being a musician (full-time, now) I made video games for many years. I became an executive producer and I've been involved in over 200 projects on various home, arcade and hand-held game platforms. I left the industry a number of years back, because it became highly corporate and controlled by marketing people. Not fun. So I went back to playing sax, which I feel is better suited to spiritual and intellectual growth, not to mention that the sharing and lifting people up aspect, is much more obvious and rewarding for me.

My thoughts are that the problem with games is that they distract, by involving you in a synthetic environment. That's as opposed to being involved in your own, real-life environment. So, although you're gaining knowledge of various patterns and problems designed into the game environment, you aren't using your time searching for knowledge of the environment that your life and spirit depend on. It's as distracting as spending time in prison. Yes, it's an interesting one but a prison all the same.

The entire system of most games is based on manipulation. You're required to become aware of the program. Think about that. You're just looking for the correct route through a programmed environment. Of course you might say, well we're all doing that in daily life anyway. But, in the case of gaming, you're energy is being utilized to gather data, most of which is inconsequential to understanding the myriad programs that are effecting your real life in the microcosmic world. It's like being locked in a room and given the task of gaining knowledge of the ways of the world.

I'm not saying that there aren't some possible benefits to pattern recognition, hand-eye coordination and other game related skills that may be useful in day to day living. But, if you're honest with yourself, you'll probably come to the conclusion that most of it is just spinning wheels. I think it may be only a small bit healthier than watching TV, which is hypnotizing in a different way. I do believe that TV is more damaging in that it just feeds you disinformation, official or misinformed narratives and little else---under hypnotic conditions.

I've never felt that the violence factor made players more violent. And there are lots of studies, that I was aware of, years ago, that found violence levels lower as gaming became more popular. I'm not aware of any recent studies, though. But, that's not to say that video gaming skills don't breed the perfect mechanized weapons and drone operators. I personally think we have to beware of machine consciousness. There's a problem with things that become automatic and that rely on blind learned reaction. If we're going to evolve, we need to be conscious of our actions, not react. In a reactive mental state i think we become pawns of others...3D and 4D.

Last thing...there is no better, or more interesting programming, than this farm we've all been born into. It's the best mass player RPG, ever. Nuff said.

The part I bolded really is just so true. I gave up most video games quite a bit ago, but it's only dawned on me recently some very important things relating to letting them go. I loved video games because you get to be another person, do seemingly awesome things, gain achievements, etc. And it just dawned on me one day if I spent all that same time improving my ACTUAL self then maybe I could do some ACTUALLY USEFUL things. And yes, at first it was tough because the addiction centers in your brain get triggered with video games. But I now feel so much more fulfillment and pleasure spending time with my family, reading, learning, exercising, and trying to improve my real life, that I can hardly imagine that part of my old self as being me.

But yes, we have real people all around us. We can improve ourselves in order to help improve the lives of other REAL people. We can use our time to do REAL things if we begin to let go of the UNREAL, hypnotic pastimes (all they do is PASS time) like video games and television.

 

[weasel3d]

The knowledge gained in becoming aware and shedding the program (of playing programs ) is congruent to rising to the surface in a pool into the world of air. Although it was fun under water, it was also constricting and limited, both in possibilities and survival-wise. Ascending into the air, you find the possibilities are innumerable. But the real gain is in the knowledge of how you got from one to the other. That can now be used over and over---and can be communicated to others.

Anyway, I personally gained the wherewithal to reinvent my life. I now play, record and tour, READ, READ, READ and continue to find more programed systems in the environment to recognize and release from.

 

[Brenda86]

The knowledge gained in becoming aware and shedding the program (of playing programs ) is congruent to rising to the surface in a pool into the world of air. Although it was fun under water, it was also constricting and limited, both in possibilities and survival-wise. Ascending into the air, you find the possibilities are innumerable. But the real gain is in the knowledge of how you got from one to the other. That can now be used over and over---and can be communicated to others.

Anyway, I personally gained the wherewithal to reinvent my life. I now play, record and tour, READ, READ, READ and continue to find more programed systems in the environment to recognize and release from.

This is so true and reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It can be painful when you make life changes, but through this suffering we gain so much more in the long run. And every day now, I think to myself, "What kind of example do I want to set for my children? What can I do today to better myself a little bit more so that I can be a better wife/parent/human being?" There is just so much to be said for conscious suffering and letting go of all these things that keep us from getting anywhere in our real lives.

 

[weasel3d]

I like to look at it, not so much as conscious suffering, as conscious processing. I found that if I look at it in a 'long view', the focus isn't so much on suffering as it is on evolving. I'm sure the C's have inferred this somewhere in addressing themselves as 'us', in the future. If you look at the timeless connection, we're already them. We're just the part of the process (if you're viewing through 'time') that has the appearance of 'getting there'. But the relationship is a whole. It's like trying to separate a thumb from a whole walking, thinking person. Our job is to just be conscious and learn. No need to view it as suffering. I should signify that that's only what I think.

 

[A.K.]

Am an avid gamer back in the old days. Boy does the addiction really gets to you. I spent tons of hours on games across various genres to escape the 'horrifying' nature of this reality. Only after huge shocks through my life that i gradually get out of gaming (a bit of game here and there occasionally nowadays :P). I will tell myself that the games makes me feel more natural & alive when compared to interaction with the 'real' reality around me which devoid of morals & virtues. The nature of games nowadays is so much different than the old days. It's entertainment (days of old) versus being realistic (now). When playing the newest games it does feels like energy is being drained into it with more graphic detail & the ton of stuff to do in it thus waste more time being distracted. After discovering the Way, i then understand gaming is just another prison within the prison that this matrix wants to ensnare us. Now i just play game to get a feel of what's it's like at 3D to control that 2D character in the game. Maybe same as what 4D beings does on 3D realm. Just to get that 'feel' & stay balance so as not to fall into that prison trap again. ;)

 

[Minas Tirith]

I've never felt that the violence factor made players more violent. And there are lots of studies, that I was aware of, years ago, that found violence levels lower as gaming became more popular. I'm not aware of any recent studies, though.

There have been some over the years. See a recent one below. However, even if they DO increase violence this information is not likely to end up in the news, because they are probably exactly meant to do that - same as in the past with "Mobile phones do not harm your brain" - a study sponsored by Nokia or the like.

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2020294832_videoviolencexml.html

But, that's not to say that video gaming skills don't breed the perfect mechanized weapons and drone operators.

Absolutely agree here. Often had the thoughts while watching kids playing that they are "trained" ...

M.T.

 

[paralleloscope]

The guys at 'Rockstar games' are lowering the desensitizing bar to all new levels, with the new 'Grand Theft Auto 5':

They've made a minigame out of torture. There's nothing light-hearted about it. It's not even just a cut-scene, but you, the player, have to torture an apparently innocent man, with a graphic display (not obscured in any way ) of pulling out his teeth, crushing his testicles and so on. The guy is begging for his life, and it's played straight, nothing funny about it. It's not cartoony like the rest of the game, and it's not justified in any way.

You also get rewarded for using a variety of torture methods, such as waterboarding and electrocution.

The violence in the rest of the game is easy to take as it's cartoony and committed against "bad guys" and "henchmen" etc.

As for the rest of the game, well, I think you know already it's not very family friendly. Every other word is either "-flick-" or "-homie-". There's more sex stuff than in previous GTA games, but that's all been optional so far.

 

[H-KQGE]

Hello. The posts on this thread have been top-notch, i just want to drop in as another former(ish) gamer.

Last thing...there is no better, or more interesting programming, than this farm we've all been born into. It's the best mass player RPG, ever. Nuff said.

I think so for third density. I imagine that fourth density would be the best ever, if STO beings play games (" The joy of Creation" could be the title) then they would whip up anything, if they ever get enough respite from repelling the advancement of fourth density STS forces.

We can improve ourselves in order to help improve the lives of other REAL people. We can use our time to do REAL things if we begin to let go of the UNREAL, hypnotic pastimes (all they do is PASS time) like video games and television.

Well said. But there's the rub, hypnosis & the predator's mind.

Am an avid gamer back in the old days. Boy does the addiction really gets to you. I spent tons of hours on games across various genres to escape the 'horrifying' nature of this reality. Only after huge shocks through my life that i gradually get out of gaming (a bit of game here and there occasionally nowadays :P). I will tell myself that the games makes me feel more natural & alive when compared to interaction with the 'real' reality around me which devoid of morals & virtues. The nature of games nowadays is so much different than the old days. It's entertainment (days of old) versus being realistic (now). When playing the newest games it does feels like energy is being drained into it with more graphic detail & the ton of stuff to do in it thus waste more time being distracted. After discovering the Way, i then understand gaming is just another prison within the prison that this matrix wants to ensnare us. Now i just play game to get a feel of what's it's like at 3D to control that 2D character in the game. Maybe same as what 4D beings does on 3D realm. Just to get that 'feel' & stay balance so as not to fall into that prison trap again. ;)

Correct. Games these days are ridiculous for those that have broken through it's spell, (for the most part) the emphasis on realism is mostly crap if the story doesn't support the game, & far too many writers haven't any real background in writing. A major example of this are the GTA creators, they just watch a bunch of Hollywood movies, then tack various bits into their game whilst super-exaggerating it, resulting in shooting people in the face, improbable characters doing improbable things, ("C.J.Johnson" GTA San Andreas, a ghetto hoodlum in 1991 flying a flickin Harrier jump jet & taking on a military base ) & the age-old classic of randomly blowing stuff up. The main story line tends to finish too quickly (if it's any good) then you'll end up doing "side missions" of the most tedious sort. The "100 percenters" love that. Not me.

I've never felt that the violence factor made players more violent. And there are lots of studies, that I was aware of, years ago, that found violence levels lower as gaming became more popular. I'm not aware of any recent studies, though.

There have been some over the years. See a recent one below. However, even if they DO increase violence this information is not likely to end up in the news, because they are probably exactly meant to do that - same as in the past with "Mobile phones do not harm your brain" - a study sponsored by Nokia or the like.

http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2020294832_videoviolencexml.html

But, that's not to say that video gaming skills don't breed the perfect mechanized weapons and drone operators.

Absolutely agree here. Often had the thoughts while watching kids playing that they are "trained" ...

M.T.

One of the studies i read years ago showed that the greatest violent responses that gamers had was to sports games. Since football (soccer) is the most popular game globally, this was easy to determine with games such as the never-ending Fifa games series. See, most gamers can't really connect with going around on a killing spree as a gangster (apart from actual gangster gamers) or as a superhero etc. But throwing, bouncing, & kicking a ball is very easy & accessible. For most of the day, everyday. Throw in competitiveness & jealousy, whether playing online or against the computer, people get enraged regularly. Objects fly about as much as expletives making it worse, & that's just some normally calm gamers!
Of course FPS's have probably caught sports games up in that respect, stuff like "Call of duty" online just zombifies people. Personally i miss "Timesplitters."

I could've sworn that the US military admitted using certain war simulators ( and quote marks aren't even required as they really are simulating Fallujah, & Chechnya etc) such as the "Battlefield" series & maybe 1 or 2 Tom Clancy stuff. I think the US army are unleashing some new drones that look just like radio-controlled helicopters/planes from the 1990's. :O

The guys at 'Rockstar games' are lowering the desensitizing bar to all new levels, with the new 'Grand Theft Auto 5':

They've made a minigame out of torture. There's nothing light-hearted about it. It's not even just a cut-scene, but you, the player, have to torture an apparently innocent man, with a graphic display (not obscured in any way ) of pulling out his teeth, crushing his testicles and so on. The guy is begging for his life, and it's played straight, nothing funny about it. It's not cartoony like the rest of the game, and it's not justified in any way.

You also get rewarded for using a variety of torture methods, such as waterboarding and electrocution.

The violence in the rest of the game is easy to take as it's cartoony and committed against "bad guys" and "henchmen" etc.

As for the rest of the game, well, I think you know already it's not very family friendly. Every other word is either "-flick-" or "-homie-". There's more sex stuff than in previous GTA games, but that's all been optional so far.

Anyone who used play early GTA games (including the 1960's one - bird's-eye view/non psychopathic one) should check out the trailers for GTA V, they're circling the 9 canto's of hell for sure. They'll tell you different but the main characters are psychopaths. No thanks. I'd rather return to the tepid at best GTA IV, i forced myself to get to almost half of the main story - just to know what happened, nothing was enjoyable about it. Nothing.

If anyone from the UK was a gamer, i recommend the excellent Charlie Brooker's "Gameswipe" (1st aired 2009) tv show, a caustic critique of games, but be warned, it also shows an uploaded video of a pathological gamer playing an FPS whilst talking about how lovely "the smell of burning flesh" is. It's under 10 seconds & is just a clip of normal gameplay, it's the guy's commentary that's straight out of hostel or something. (like the American guy that was desperate to torture another American for money - that's from my memory of when it first came out btw!)

Anyone interested (genuinely funny) can see it on YouTube here (i give it a 15 rating in terms of film certification guidance or whatever it's called) http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8QtS-7woh7g

 

[cubbex]

I was pretty much addicted before, assassins creed was heroine because of the gameplay or something, and games like dark souls and such. But I found a new hobby, that is exercising and bodybuilding, I rather spend more time having an aim towards getting healthier than spending hours and hours playing videogames, though when I'm tired and I have to take out my stress in a fast way, I recently tend to play one game called battlefield... but it happens only on weekend I guess i've been using my xbox to watch youtube in my tv than something else.

Find a sport, or something that involves some physical activity. And don't lie, but you eat junk food too, is part of the cycle of receiving instant pleasure, most of the gamers tend to eat these type of food.

 

[lloyd]

II rather spend more time having an aim towards getting healthier than spending hours and hours playing videogames,

That was the conclusion that I came to see years ago after playing video games regularly. I looked at all the time I was spending in front of the TV and thought what a waste of time, I really accomplished nothing of value. I think that's what really bothers me about the whole thing, is all the time wasted on garbage!

 

[darksai]

This was something I recently posted on facebook:

In having studied games design, I've realized that there is not a single game in existence with more than 12 hours playability that does not contain some form or other of "grinding". Games, especially modern ones, are fundamentally designed to get players to grind by using systems of rewards with diminishing returns. In most games, particularly RPGs, that system is very explicit and obvious, however, in many it can be rather subtle. For example, in Starcraft and other competitive games, it takes more and more hours of raw practice to climb the ladder or ranks, which is why the longevity of competitive games is entirely dependent on the highest possible level of human skill and equally the balance between player choices (races, weapons, characters, etc.). Even that is a relatively explicit, many games' rewards system work on a purely neuro-psychological level.

Perhaps needless to say, I was pretty addicted to games myself, especially ones I found "challenging". What I really like/loved the most about them, was the strategy involved. By far the most addictive thing for me when a strategy, some having many hours or even days spent planned in advance worked, or if I got a "good read" on my opponent. Here's an example of that I put on YouTube _http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE5kPVi1emY. I was so proud myself for having won against an opponent that was that much higher ranked than me, played the same character, that I got show off some of my favorite moves and ended with a "perfect" round to boot. From all the hours spent practicing and playing against other opponents, often with a great deal frustration at "having lost stupidly", only to calm myself down and do it all over again, what do I have to show for it? A couple minutes of on-demand nostalgia. That's it. Nothing that will ever improve myself, my life, or that of anyone else, that I didn't already have, by which I mean all the cognitive, analytical, reflexive, mechanical skill-potential that I had applied in getting to that point. One could argue that games, throughout the course of my life helped me developed some of that potential, but I know very well now looking that the diminished returns on that investment kicked in many, many years ago.

and how to get out? how to escape Mr Premise?

Going with the assumption that you mean getting out of the addictive habit of gaming, there's a lot of material in the threads mentioned as well as addictions in general which also helps a lot to understand. I think the simplest answer to the question is actually just choose to want to do something else more, and have a compelling reason that your addictive thought patterns cannot argue against. For me, this was "self-development in real life much a harder and far more challenging game than any other you will ever play." though it took a while to actually stop, because the other half of the story, that I more clearly see now, is that the same "energy" that I put into games (strategizing, thinking about how to do things better, etc.) needed to go somewhere to get rid of the cravings. To give some idea of what that meant for me, here's a snippet from a post I made a month ago, though you won't be able to see the thread until you have 50 posts:

Every weekday morning, I wake up at about 4:20, and have an hour to get until I leave because I carpool with my dad and he starts at 6. I only start at 7, so I get about 50 minutes to myself before I actually start work, though this will become my gym time in the future. During the day, I have a 45 minute "lunch" break, besides "tea" which has been virtually my only reading time lately, though that's partly because I've been getting distracted with trivial things at home. I then finish at 4, get home a little before 5, and end my day between 8 and 8:30 when I (usually..) do EE before bed. After all the daily and semi-daily tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, picking up supplies, making broth, ghee, chocolate and liposomal vitamin C, getting ready for the morning, etc., there's very little time left to divide between reading, research, meditative contemplation, reflection, journaling, forum participation, and just assimilating knowledge in general, let alone for creativity, like music and experimenting with a pendulum. The weekends I spend mostly catching up on the things mentioned above, though even then I don't always get round to all the things I plan to and it's been slowly getting worse recently because it's starting to get to me, which makes me lethargic. I haven't even started canning yet either.

Besides just having the time from not playing games, I need to be on my toes, so to speak, everyday to maintain my most important routines and at any time (re)plan for changes that are beyond my control, which is where that other half comes in. For example, this week I've been put on deadline work for Friday from another section, so because I work flexible hours, I'm going in the latest I can and making supper in morning in case I have to work overtime. Tomorrow though my car is being taken in and I'll leave early with my dad again, so this morning I had to make enough supper for tomorrow evening as well, all just so that I can eat at roughly the same times I usually do. It might sound crazy, but I've actually been having fun in all this so far. The 12-Hour Keto-Meal Strategy is truly amazing :D

 

[Psalehesost]

II rather spend more time having an aim towards getting healthier than spending hours and hours playing videogames,

That was the conclusion that I came to see years ago after playing video games regularly. I looked at all the time I was spending in front of the TV and thought what a waste of time, I really accomplished nothing of value. I think that's what really bothers me about the whole thing, is all the time wasted on garbage!

Same here. There came a point, years ago, when I asked myself: "Just what am I doing?" Up until them, I'd continued to acquire - eventually mainly to download - games, collecting and playing them. But in reading the material here and considering things more broadly, and differently, my priorities soon shifted, at least when it came to what I saw as merely entertainment.

There were then far more important things to be concerned with. To study, to learn, to work on (beginning to work on sorting out my own psychology). Since I had other things to do that I had come to care more about, gaming was easy to give up.

I still do things for entertainment from time to time, or the kind of hobby work that one does to take the mind elsewhere for a time (which for me happens to mostly be computer work). But never gaming - I gave that up completely, because it became apparent that it is an absurd time-sink.

In hindsight, I also found another problem with how gaming has affected me, discussed in the thread "Black and white thinking and my old "gamer-self". However, since then, I have learned that perfectionism and other issues have deeper psychological roots, such as those discussed in the book "Fear of the Abyss" (thread). Nevertheless, I still think gaming plugged into and fed those issues. Unlike "positive dissociation" (thread), it seems in general to bring out and strengthen the most mechanical aspects of the self.

 

[Infernal]

I hope I don't get flamed for this.
Addiction to anything if it's a real addiction is not a good thing.

But I do play games and will continue to do so, I use the enjoyment I get from it as a reward for another week of work. But I have no problem remembering its a game and place no great stock in it. If I 'die' in the game I laugh it off and try again. It doesn't monopolise my time, I don't get angry or frustrated.
If games are truly that bad, burn you scrabble and pictionary boards because they must be bad as well, the promote competition and thus conflict. Please forgive my sarcasm there.

In short if the games makes you happy and you can walk away from it without an effort I don't see the problem. Enjoy.