Are video games evil?

[CraigD]

Some observations and conclusions about the effect of games in general on behavior:

• Years ago, in the 1980s, a friend of mine (“Alvin”) had the misfortune to get into a knife fight with a large, murderously enraged person (“Bob”). Afterwards, he related how unreal the experience felt, and how, peculiarly, during it, he found himself silently providing a blow-by-blow narration, something like “Bob lunges … missing! Alvin ducks, and stabs …hitting for 2 point of damage… and jumps back! Bob lunges again…”
  
  At this time, video game combat simulations were pretty laughable, with roll-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons providing more popular systems. “Alvin” was an avid gamer, but little experienced in actual physical combat of any kind. In the stress of the moment, he fell back on his best available “training” – paper and pencil gaming.
  
  The fight resulted in survivable injuries to both Alvin and Bob. Given its circumstances, Alvin would have most likely died had he lost it.
  This effect of gaming can thus be considered good.
  
• I suspect that, in real combat situations, soldiers do something similar. If they have been trained with video games, as is the increasing practice in the US military, and these games are well-designed, accurate simulations of combat, this training may save their lives and limbs. These soldiers would in all likelihood be in combat with or without such training.
  This use of video games can thus be considered good.
  
• It’s suspected that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 15 people at Columbine high school, gained some of the self confidence they needed to commit this act by playing 1st-person shooter videogames. Had they not had access to these games, they might not have been able to work up the nerve for their shooting spree at Columbine.
  This use of video games can thus be considered bad
  
• Shortly after I started playing Grand Theft Auto III, I had to take my car to a garage about 5 miles from my workplace for routine maintenance. As I was leaving, my wife asked me how I intended to get from the garage to work, and it dawned on me that, without consciously voicing it, I had been thinking that I would just walk out of the garage and jack me a ride, as one does in GTA. Since I’m not particularly capable of jacking a ride, there was little chance of me actually following thought with my unplanned plan, but I could have found myself in an awkward predicament.
  This effect of video games can thus be considered inconveniencing.

[Kriminal99]

Originally Posted by cwes99_03

I've played basketball all my life and never once gotten angry to the point of hitting or trying to kill someone. I don't pick up the basketball and whip it at someone's head hoping to break their neck or crush their skull.

Now, I have seen kids play cops and robbers with BB guns where someone gets shot.
I have seen paintballers (every single game in fact) get into a verbal and physical pushing battle hit each other. In those same games I have seen players say they just wished they had a real gun to blow the opponents head off because they disagreed with the way they were playing. Or cheering and laughing about hitting someone in the face or head with one of their shots. Seems to me that is a lot more evil than perhaps cheering that you made a three point shot at the buzzer.

IMO the human sense of morality = the animal sense of power. Hitting someone is wrong because it hurts someone else and they will attempt to stop you. As well anyone who doesn't like being randomly hit may sympathize and try to stop you.

If your playing basketball there is someone right there so you can't get all mad without getting to a fight. Since people don't like fighting they don't get all mad. But in a video game or something of that nature you can get mad all you want and nothing can stop you from doing it.

An example of what I am talking about that maybe you can draw a parallel to is an explanation that I once heard of how a girl decided to leave an abusive relationship. Prior to this event, the girl rationalized her boyfriends behavior by claiming that "he was just a passionate man" and could not control himself weather he was angry or amorous. But one time they were in the car on a moutain and got into a fight. During this fight there was a sudden unexpected curve in the road, and because he was in the middle of yelling at her while driving he did not recognize it right away. When he looked at the road and saw he stopped in the middle of yelling and quickly reacted and was relieved.

As silly as it sounds, the girl immediately dumped him for not driving off the cliff... The fear of the certain death that would result from driving off the cliff curbed his anger very quickly...

So IMO the two things that make video games different are as follows: 1) The person is in your face, and you are expending physical energy. The threat of physical force succesfully being used against you is real and immediate 2) Games like basketball have well known and clearly defined rules. You cannot claim the other person is cheating if you knew it was an allowed way to play the game.

[ingannilo]

There's a lot of medical research regarding this leaning both ways from what I've gathered.

My personal opinion: I feel very similar after playing video games for an extended amount of time as I do coming down from a mild high.

I'd guess that brain damage patterns are pretty similar between a good 5 hour binge on Zelda as smoking a penner. Be those insignifigant, or non-existant, I find the feelings very alike.

And evil?
nah.
but I don't believe in the notion of evil.

[Maestro_J]

I can positifly say the are NOT evil.. i play from 3 - 16 hours a day. i play FPS/MMORPG/RTS all genres ectualy nd like i never beat up kids unless they start hitting me. never stole my parents car to race over the fucking A12 or to hit other cars to check the damage. i think that people acuse GAMES for the fact that they are violent in nature.. it's easy to say " he whas playing (Doom 3 or Battlefield or FarCry) nd only 30 min after he went outside nd cut up his neighbour with a kitchenknife.. caus this is also in the game it must have been the game that did it..." like for instance in america 2 kids where arrested for speeding on the highway in the backseat whas a copy of need for speed underground.. what did they do they blamed the game... eventho the kids went out buying the game so they could play it at home.. THEY DIDNT PLAY THE GAME nd still it got the blame for it... i personaly think that if someone is violent or non-violent then a game won't change that fact.. you are who you are nd a game will never change that.. in america they wanna give an age-limit to games like when there is blood in it you must be 18+ but like in freakin age of ampires there is still blood so how are they coming up with these things... i think if u give a limit of 18+ orso u will only get kids downloading more often or using an older person to buy the game..
but to come to my conclusion i doubt that games give this negative invluence on people... IF U CAN PROOF TO ME THAT A PERSON EXUALLY GOT VIOLENT BY A GAME then tell me and i will proof u are wrong caus it will be the person itself not the game that got him violent..

GrTz Maestro_J

p.s. if u can't read this properly i'll edit the post

[cwes99_03]

I don't think i am on the same page as everyone else. When I think evil, I think dehumanizing. I'm not saying that a game is going to cause you to do something, but if it makes you more apt to try something, or desensitizes us to certain actions then it is something bad.
Even if it causes certain good qualities, such as improved hand eye coordination, but causes other bad traits, such as laziness or disobedience to parents then they are bad. You cannot deny that playing video games has an effect on everyone. If nothing else it reduces the positive things that they could be doing instead.

[cwes99_03]

Originally Posted by Kriminal99

IMO the human sense of morality = the animal sense of power. Hitting someone is wrong because it hurts someone else and they will attempt to stop you. As well anyone who doesn't like being randomly hit may sympathize and try to stop you.

So what is the moral issue for beating up someone who can't defend themself, and when there is no one around to prevent you or punish you later for it? What are the moral issues behind Euthenasia? I believe you are mistaken in your belief of what brings about human morality. It goes beyond the animal instinct.
What is the definition of evil?

[Maestro_J]

Originally Posted by cwes99_03

If nothing else it reduces the positive things that they could be doing instead.

I'm sort of disagreeing on this part of your answer.
Caus there are games in wich the brain is trained to find out how to do something.. by wich you increase your thinking ability nd enhance the way you work yourself.. if u see a problem you will look for the best option so constantly you are improving yourself ingame nd outside the game..

[Maestro_J]

Originally Posted by cwes99_03

What is the definition of evil?

like uhm i am evil :P
but no seriously evil that is something that hurts people in one or more ways.. this can happen by the meaning of people or by a mechanical failure or something if u get the idea

[InfiniteNow]

Originally Posted by Maestro_J

but no seriously evil that is something that hurts people in one or more ways..

Like open heart surgery or taking drugs away from an addict and causing them seriously painful withdrawal?

[arkain101]

shouldnt evil be relative?

And shouldnt it be the comparison to which one considers positive and good, which of course is based off of ground root morals..