CT Senator: Games a Factor in Sandy Hook Shootings

[Legion]

Equating eating and sleeping to playing violent video games is a false comparison. I think the link is a lot bigger between violent games and acts of violence than between drinking coffee and committing violent crimes. That's not to say that regular people can't separate fiction from reality, but I don't think it's a bad theory to suggest that the psychotically deranged people who go on spree shootings might not see that distinction quite so clearly.
If that is the case, then it might be a very good idea to stop at least mentally unstable people from accessing violent video games, the same way that it's a good idea to stop them having access to firearms. But, as you say, it's hard to devise an experiment which conclusively proves any such link, although it's not impossible and time travel is not a prerequisite.

It was sarcasm, because claiming that violent video games causes real life violence, when tens of millions of people play them without any noticeable effects is just poor rationalisation. If most people are not affected, then it is quite clearly something to do with the individuals who are. Yes, people with mental health issues may have a larger likelihood of not being able to distinguish from fiction and reality, but there are much more obvious and tangible factors to consider.

I wasn't claiming that eating, drinking or sleeping have as much of an effect, I was criticising the logic of "This person does X, and then they did Y. Therefore doing X must have caused them to do Y."

I never suggested it was impossible to provide a link without time travel, as I wasn't discussing a link between the two in general. They said that these specific crimes were possibly affected by them playing computer games. Considering in this reality they played those games, we cannot know whether they would have still done it if they hadn't. Hence the time travel reference. In regards to the actual links between violence in games and reality then yes, it is feasible to test for that, but to be honest I don't see the point considering violence in most developed companies is actually shrinking rapidly, whereas violent games are becoming more common.

Not to mention that people like to forget that violence is a part of human nature, as history has shown quite clearly. All of these wars and atrocities committed by our species are not some strange coincidence, nor are they all committed by "monsters" or "abnormal" people.

 

[ironfist86]

This guy! Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Chris Murphy! Trolling the video game community stronger and harder than a bad girl's dream! (to paraphrase the mighty Huey Lewis)

 

[hermes]

You know who is to blame? Vikings.

Think about it... How many Vikings were in the X century? A lot. How many shootings? Almost none. Compare it with modern day. So, I can't put myself in his mind, but its obvious that his actions where motivated by not enough exposure to Vikings.

 

[TrulyBritish]

While Murphy does continue to believe games can be a factor behind incidents like the Sandy Hook massacre, he admits that there isn't sufficient research to back any sort of restrictive legislation. "What researchers will tell you, is that if you already have a severe mental illness, and a predilection to violence, perhaps the video game exposure can put you over the edge. But in and of itself, there is no research showing that there's a link," said Murphy. "Before we pass any legislation, which would limit the exposure that people have to these types of video games, I think it's important that we have the research and the data and that's what we're <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121551-President-Obama-Asks-for-Research-Into-Game-Violence>trying to do right now."

Did just about everyone who has already posted here forget to read this final paragraph before posting the "facepalm / he's an idiot" response? Considering that many, MANY politicians would call for a ban on violent video games regardless of other facts (or even forgetting) this guy at least says "there is no research showing that there's a link,". Then he goes on to say probably the most brilliant thing to come out of a politician's mouth regarding video games that I may have ever heard: "Before we pass any legislation, which would limit the exposure that people have to these types of video games, I think it's important that we have the research and the data and that's what we're trying to do right now."

As an avid gamer and supporter of gaming as a whole, I'm all for research into the effects of our chosen hobby. The alternative is for these old people to just assume that video games are bad for people and should be done away with. So stop with the hate for this guy since he's actually making sense.

Maybe I'm a little confused, but haven't there been plenty of tests and research to look for a link between video games and violence? That have pretty much conclusively said the equivalent of "Nope, not really"?
Could be a good move, but I'm not cheering until someone states this proposed research would do differently from what's already been done. Sure he's acting better than a lot of other politicians, but that's still too far back from being ideal.

 

[Flatfrog]

You know who is to blame? Vikings.

Think about it... How many Vikings were in the X century? A lot. How many shootings? Almost none. Compare it with modern day. So, I can't put myself in his mind, but its obvious that his actions where motivated by not enough exposure to Vikings.

No, no, pirates. We've already established that pirates prevented global warming, so they probably prevented gun crime as well.

 

[Jesse Billingsley]

Apparently just being bat shit crazy isn't a reason for doing something as deplorable and inhumane as shooting up an elementary school anymore.....Seriously Senator, a Republican Representative has already come out and said on national television: "Yeah, gaming causes aggressive behavior, but it won't cause someone to go out and shoot people."

 

[hermes]

CT Senator: "I'm an idiot."

Just to play devil's avocado for a second here, but isn't dismissing anyone who merely mentions the possibility of video games having an adverse effect on people equally idiotic.

I'm not saying I think video games contribute to violent tendencies in any way, I'm just saying I think we should keep our minds open lest we fall to the same ignorance that we assume has claimed our critics.

You do make a good point, but this can be summarized to a matter of credentials. Is he an MD? Is he a psychologist? Is he a social researcher? Is he a forensic expert? Is he involved in the case in any way? Is he a friend of the family? Has he met a serial killer? Has he lost someone due to violent videogames? Heck... Is he even a gamer?

No, he is a lawyer. He is a politician (unfortunately for the rest of us, he is an opinion maker), with an agenda. So, he is making comments based on misinformation, gossip and hunches, and expect people to act on them as if they were true. In other words, he is an idiot...

I would have little problem if people with real credentials and no agenda on one side or the other made a similar claim. But, in a way, all of us here are more qualified than this guy. Every single, random, anonymous user from all over the world, different in sex, race, age, religion and nationality that posted on this forum is more qualified than this guy, because we all have had first person contact with violent games on a daily basis; which is more credentials that he provides for making those claims.

 

[Jamous]

His reasoning is fair enough but he fails (dramatically) to take this into account. The shooter played games, yes. SO DOES ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE. Seriously, so many people play games now it's unreal. How many of them go and shoot up schools? A fucking negligible quantity. Not sure about you, but that suggests to me there are many other factors involved, even if Games -did- have a part to play.

 

[hermes]

You know who is to blame? Vikings.

Think about it... How many Vikings were in the X century? A lot. How many shootings? Almost none. Compare it with modern day. So, I can't put myself in his mind, but its obvious that his actions where motivated by not enough exposure to Vikings.

No, no, pirates. We've already established that pirates prevented global warming, so they probably prevented gun crime as well.

Probably... I didn't wanted to specify the clear link between global warming and school shootings. Now that you mention it, I should get to work into that.

 

[WouldYouKindly]

Slightly morbid, but is anyone just waiting for these guys to just die or retire so we can have politicians that aren't so damn out of touch?

 

[Brian Tams]

Give me a break. If you can't tell the difference between video game violence from real life violence you were already unbalanced before popping in CoD. While video games can certainly trigger psychotic behavior, they do not cause psychotic behavior. Anything can trigger psychotic behavior, whether it be a movie or getting bullied. Hell, Charlie Manson tried to start a race war
because of a Beatles song!

 

[Slash2x]

CT Senator: "I'm an idiot."

Yeah nothing like saying something then back dooring out of it in the SAME SPEECH!! "GAMES ARE BAD!!" "But I have no proof of that...."

OT:

I recently conducted a study of of all the people I know and found out that many of them have ridden in or driven cars, many of the people I know are military members who went to other countries and shot at people. I have now proven that cars are 100% the reason people shoot other people of different heritages. This lets us see that cars are the reason behind hate crimes. I think we need to start taking steps to protect people from cars immediately, so we can stop all hate crimes. I also have no data to back this up but we should look into this.

VOTE SLASH2X in 2014!!!!!

 

[Glaice]

If you have no evidence to back up your claims Mr. Murphy, I would suggest keeping your trap shut unless you do!

 

[TheFriskySpatula]

Yep, violent video games create mass murderers, just like violent movies caused murderers in the late 1900's, and rock and roll caused satanism in the 60's.

People love finding something to blame on society's problems, and video games just got the short end of the stick this decade.

 

[Oly J]

correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the whole supreme court mandate thing from a couple years ago render even talking about legislation completely pointless? why is this here?

 

[Insanely Asinine]

This is why I hate senators. They want to blame things instead of the individual. The individual is at fault not inanimate objects. Sorry that's the reality of things.

 

[KeyMaster45]

"Now, nobody can sit here for certain and say that without any one of those things, without the powerful weapons, without the mental illness, without the exposure to video games, this wouldn't have happened[...]

Umm...no, no. I'm certain that without the weapons it wouldn't have been possible for him to do what he did.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

Trust me, I am an expert as that senator is.

Gun is intimately linked to the shootings.

Umm...no, no. I'm certain that without the weapons it wouldn't have been possible for him to do what he did.

Even if there wasn't a gun, I am pretty sure that killer would've been tired after stabbing 10th child or so.

 

[barbzilla]

I am sure the use of soft drinks leads to school shootings. I don't have any evidence for it and no studies not funded by people aligned with my ideology can back it up, but it /is/ rather suspicious that all teenagers who shoot up schools, have drunk at least one can of cola in the months preceding.

Time for a full ban on soft drinks.

Really? I have it on good authority that all of these psychos wore socks as well, that must be a factor to be considered. I have also heard rumors of the fact that they all ate food on or around the days of the shootings.

OT: People are morons, and they just want to know that there is something being done about these events. The politicians have no more of an idea what causes this crap than the citizens, so they find a convenient scapegoat to place the blame on. This is no different than witch hunts of yesteryear.