Talking Heads Talk Up Violence and Gaming After Shooting
Some of the nation's more vocal figures have delivered their verdict on gaming and violence as it pertains to the Virginia Tech shootings.
Among the avalanche of information about the Virginia Tech shootings pouring out from major newspapers, like The Washington Post, many revealing details [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800834.html?hpid=topnews] have emerged about the shooter. But none of them concern any proclivity for playing games.
That reality has not stopped some national figures from making - or refuting - connections between the shooting and gaming, however, including leading anti-gaming voice Jack Thompson, as seen opining on the subject here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weG7A4lTGtg].
The Ars Technica blog [http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/04/18/after-a-tragedy-the-anti-gaming-voices-always-get-louder] noted that television therapist Dr. Phil also weighed in with his opinion on the subject:
DR. PHIL: Well, Larry, every situation is different... The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me - common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.
The blog entry adds that a controversal and well-known radio host - no, not that one - also offered up his own thoughts [http://gamepolitics.com/2007/04/18/rush-limbaugh-pooh-poohs-video-games-involvement-in-va-tech-rampage/], criticizing the notion of a direct causal link between gaming and violence.
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Some of the nation's more vocal figures have delivered their verdict on gaming and violence as it pertains to the Virginia Tech shootings.
Among the avalanche of information about the Virginia Tech shootings pouring out from major newspapers, like The Washington Post, many revealing details [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800834.html?hpid=topnews] have emerged about the shooter. But none of them concern any proclivity for playing games.
That reality has not stopped some national figures from making - or refuting - connections between the shooting and gaming, however, including leading anti-gaming voice Jack Thompson, as seen opining on the subject here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weG7A4lTGtg].
The Ars Technica blog [http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/04/18/after-a-tragedy-the-anti-gaming-voices-always-get-louder] noted that television therapist Dr. Phil also weighed in with his opinion on the subject:
DR. PHIL: Well, Larry, every situation is different... The question really is can we spot them. And the problem is we are programming these people as a society. You cannot tell me - common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society. You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.
The blog entry adds that a controversal and well-known radio host - no, not that one - also offered up his own thoughts [http://gamepolitics.com/2007/04/18/rush-limbaugh-pooh-poohs-video-games-involvement-in-va-tech-rampage/], criticizing the notion of a direct causal link between gaming and violence.
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