Jimquisition: Desensitized to Violence

[Shoggoth2588]

I think this video may have affected me more than I thought it did eight pages ago: I watched it again, and I was downright surprised to see the suicide footage was in color. I'd have sworn on my mother's name it was black and white.

I only watched the thing once and I don't remember it being in color...I remember people off-camera saying "oh shit, oh shit, oh my god" but...I don't remember it being in color. I don't plan on watching the video a second time to see if it was re-uploaded or what the deal was it was just extremely powerful.

I'm posting here because...well, I notice Jim's new Thursday show only had one episode two weeks ago and this week Jimquisition hasn't been added yet. It's not even 1pm EST but I'm a bit worried Jim might have gotten himself into a bit of trouble...or maybe he's on vacation? Hopefully the later...It was bad when Extra Credits left the site. I don't wanna think about Jim possibly leaving.

 

[Blastinburn]

Spoiler

I watched the video and, seeing the warning of content, decided to watch it. I've never seen the video before, never heard of the event, or anything, and after watching it I had only one reaction...

"...that's it?"

Now before you start calling me heartless or evil or anything like that... I'm not. Or at least I try not to be. I care about others and so forth, but when I saw that video... it felt to me like the violence shown was no worse than what you'd see in some movies. A man holds a gun to his mouth, suddenly he drops with a pop and the camera loses track of him, and when you next see him he's on the ground, staring blankly, a few moments passing before blood starts dripping down his face.

That sounds exactly like a dramatic moment you'd see in a movie, and that's what I thought.

It has admittedly left me wondering what kind of person I am though, and if I've really become more jaded to some things than I thought I was. Why didn't I react? Why did I see it and just think "What, that's all?"? Is it because he fell and the actual moment of death wasn't seen? Was it because it appeared to be relatively clean and there weren't guts all over the place? Was it because I saw it as a videoclip instead of actually in person? Was it because of games AND movies desensitizing me or making me jaded with over-the-top things?

I have no idea. And I'm not saying Videogames cause violence either, just like Rock and Roll didn't cause satanism way back when. But when the media as a whole may have left me jaded and/or desensitized to that videoclip... it does leave me wondering...

...what does it say about me?

Spoiler

I felt the same way actually, "That's it?" I was quite surprised by how little I felt when I saw the video, I was expecting something so much worse. I consider myself a (real life) pacifist and dislike violence, and in fact find very little/no enjoyment in ultra-violent games. Yet I didn't feel anything for the loss of this REAL life I just saw. A post a bit further above yours did remind me of something which made me feel confident in who I am again. A few years ago our house was being flooded with ants. I found one in the bathroom, grabbed a tissue, and squashed it. I felt it "POP" between my fingers. I stood there for a bit, then started crying, in fact I'm crying now just thinking about it. So I think I do still value life, although I do think I am a bit crazy.

As for how you felt, you knew it was coming. Perhaps you just prepared yourself too much for the clip, you were ready for something you imagined to be so much worse. I think this might be what happened with me, which would explain my lack of feeling, I had closed myself off.

The "that's it?!!" IS the first reaction most people get. The second one being the realization that, yes, that's it, it's That easy to end someone's life or for someone else to end yours. And that's when most people start feeling cold inside.
Not getting that second reaction means that, deep down, on a subconscious level, you don't care anymore.

Take a moment to reflect on the value of your life and the life of those around you.

That's very insightful, and your probably right, it's the second reaction that matters and I didn't get that, not here. I don't know why I didn't get a second reaction, maybe it was because it happened already, perhaps I was too busy wondering why he did it (Jim didn't explain this, but when I went and read up on it I think I felt something),or as I said, I mentally prepared myself to much. I don't know.

 

[Leoofmoon]

That video...I'v seen it before and I'm a vary hardcore game but....man I need some air.

I just feel sick when I see that kind of stuff outside of a video game because I know its real, shooting a digital person is one thing there no loss of life if I blow a army guys head off in Battlefield 3 but this....to me I feel physically sick.

I'm sorry if I seam less of a man to people but I can't handle that kind of stuff.

 

[dubious_wolf]

I couldnt watch the bit. I had to work myself up to let it play at 1:20. And still looked away.
I didnt care for that, but damn if this isn't the best litmus test.

 

[KiKiweaky]

Shit that was awful, I didn't really know what to expect... I reckon enough people play videos games now that you could blame stamps for causing violence, I mean how many millions of gamers play video games and don't go and do something as vile as bringing death to an elementary school.

Arnie had a great line in the news recently he was talking about his latest film, he even had to defend it as it has violence and shooting in it, he said something along the lines of "I think what I do is entertainment and what happened at Sandy Hook is real life tragedy".

That Jim is what you just showed us real life tragedy.

 

[MopBox]

Thank god for that time stamp too, because I did not want to watch that man shoot himself.

 

[Roxor]

Wow. That clip you gave us the warning about... I didn't think it was horrifying. If anything it was just sad in the same sort of understated way the violence itself was. Just... "What was going through that guy's head to make him do that?" was all I could think by the time it ended.

 

[Crazy Elf]

Real violence and real death are very different things. Many people still enjoy violence after seeing it, in the form of fist fights and the like, but death is another thing entirely. Once someone actually dies and their body is still in place it becomes exceptionally disturbing to most people, particularly if they just saw that person moving moments beforehand. The body then enters the real of the uncanny valley [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley]. Primarily people use this term in order to critique robotics of computer animation, but the peak level of revulsion that's experienced using this model is when someone views a corpse.

A corpse is unlike a living person, and at the same time exactly like one. For the most part very little has changed with a fresh corpse from when it was living. Differences will be in wounds, perhaps, but by and large much of the body will be intact. An intact body that was moments beforehand living and breathing is shocking on multiple levels. One is that it forces us to contemplate our own mortality, and the other is that we have to come to terms with the fact that this thing that was once human is now something else entirely. It's no longer a person. It's now an object.

I've seen a lot of death and I am desensitised to it for the most part, through no doing of video games. I remember once taking a photograph of a dead body using a digital camera. As I was holding my finger down on the button to take the picture, the facial recognition software on the camera framed the face of the corpse, and started activating the anti-red eye flash sequencing as though it was still a living person. I found that more disturbing than anything else. The reminder of, "That's a person," when your mind is saying, "No it's not," creates a discord. Abjection is the term.

To experience death via true violence is to experience abjection. Nothing a video game can provide can desensitise someone in this way. This is not to say that video games and violent media doesn't have an effect on people's behaviour, as it's been shown clearly in many studies that it does. Violent TV and media does increase the level of aggression in people, but that doesn't make them more likely to kill unless it's due to misadventure. Aggression is not the same as sociopathy, and shouldn't be seen as the same thing by lazy armchair philosophers. In the same way, we can't completely deny that there is a link simply because we like a certain hobby. All media should be used responsibly, from the news to games.

Ignoring any aspect of the whole can only lead to further issues.

 

[I.Muir]

To be honest nothing disturbs me too much anymore
That has less to do with video games and more to do with 4chan
Oh and one of 'those' friends that liked to look that stuff up
Compared to some of the things Ive seen that was pretty tame
This has not to my knowledge automatically made me a horrible person and I have a very clear sense of morality
However is emotionally stunting and I can't say I recommend it

However for some reason I still cannot handle realistic violence done to animals
It just gets me every time

 

[Grey_Area]

Whelp, I skipped it. I agree with the video, and I agree with the reasons for showing the clip, but I couldn't watch it. Real actual death just hits me to my core.

I even find it hard, given the option in games like Thief, Deus Ex 3 and Dishonored, to actually kill rather than knock out any human or animal (aliens, monsters, robots and the like are all fair game).

I have also found it hard to pick up an actual gun. I have done this though, and even went clay pigeon shooting (10 out of ten without ever firing a gun before and I blame that on learning how to lead targets while playing TIE Fighter!), but holding them still disturbs me.

Psychosis and sociopathy come from within, and the external triggers can be anything, so pointing at games as the sole source is obviously wrong.

Good vid.

 

[ACE1918]

Well Jim, I have to say that I can only mostly agree with you. There can be no question that you can peg a good bit of fact about the truth that video games do not make people enjoy real life violence, gore, or death. I fully agree with the notion that the new media should be mentioned for how hypocritical they have been, and still are. I do; however, have to take disagreement with the notion that any civilian should fear such a man made object that you have stipulated. It can only be considered a notion of hypocritical design, that you should suggest the same ignorant, biased, and ultimately uncomprehending course of reaction to firearms, that so many, so very many, have suggested as policy towards video games.

In order to make the argument of my statement more clear, you have made the same mistakes that the NRA, Fox News, politicians, and on, have made the same mistakes, and you have been led by the same close-minded fears. Only by learning from the mistakes of others, and compare them to the actions of one's self, can forethought triumph over a hypocritical stance built on the foundation of haste.

Both the NRA and Fox News deserve considerable criticism for the accusations they have made, but is it not true that the same can be said for those who would blame unthinking objects?

I trust that you understand that my post here is not to incite a less than civil discussion, and that my comments here are meant with both honest, but at the same time respectful. I am respectful of how you think, otherwise I would not be interested and would let you become like Fox News.