Video Games Destroying Civilization Again!

I get really annoyed when people take some issue of  the moment and promote their position by twisting cause and effect.  Here's a perfect case in point. I just saw a post on one of the forums I graze about the supposed ill effects of violent video games.  The poster cited this: http://ithp.org/articles/violentvideogames.html

"In summary, there are good theoretical reasons to believe that violent video games are even more harmful that violent TV programs or films. We also have empirical data showing this (Polman et al., 2008). In this study, children were randomly assigned to play a violent video game or watch someone else play it. There was also a nonviolent video game control condition. The results showed that boys who played a violent video game were more aggressive afterwards than were boys who merely watched."

Yes, well, Hitler had "good theoretical reasons" and "empirical data", too.  But thanks for reassuring us that you really are scientists. 

Look at art and literature from any time or place, and what are the two universal themes?  Sex and violence. Hopefully they're treated in ways that shed light on the human condition, or caution us about what lurks in our own hearts, but that's another matter.  The content of an artwork may or may not be explicitly violent, but it very often is.  No matter how you parse it, in the end we humans are a violent species that's always in heat. We probably made weapons and killed sexual rivals before we made fire.  There's a layer of culture on top of that behavior, but it's always proven to be a thin layer.

Art is a mirror.  If the art is popular or lasting, that means a lot of people find it a better mirror.

Video games are not art?  Think again.  You can argue that they're bad art, just like most popular music or television programming is; just as most published novels or films are.  But the only thing that differs among any of these media is ease of access and the immediacy of the experience.  Video games have characters and plot lines, just as any film or novel does.  Identifying with a character involves more than it does with novels or film, and the player has a degree of freedom in helping create his/her character and drive the plot.  Character identification is an active process, not simply a passive one.  But it's the same process.

The Catcher in the Rye has gotten some press for being a favorite read of psychopaths and killers, perhaps most recently John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman. Does anyone seriously want to suggest that the novel had any causative effects on him?  Of course not!  The novel speaks to millions up millions of readers who feel alienated. Most readers aren't present or future psychopathic killers, but it's hardly a surprise if a small number are. 

If you don't like what you see in the mirror, don't blame the mirror.  Don't confuse cause and effect.