Videogames Blamed for Alaskan Tugboat Accident

[Andy Chalk]

"The fact that he went to the computer to play video games after a course change further aggravates the situation and amplifies the lack of attention on the bridge between the master and second mate," the report said.

Monsen was playing hearts and other games on the computer and had his back to the bridge's front window, the report said.

 

[JDKJ]

"The fact that he went to the computer to play video games after a course change further aggravates the situation and amplifies the lack of attention on the bridge between the master and second mate," the report said.

Monsen was playing hearts and other games on the computer and had his back to the bridge's front window, the report said.

But, Mr. Chalk, something that "further aggravates" and "amplifies" can't fairly be said to be the primary cause of an outcome. It only "further aggravates" and "amplifies" that which caused the outcome. Without that which "further aggravates" and "amplifies," the outcome would have still occurred. It is, at best, a contributory factor. To say it was the sole factor or a primary factor, is, I think, to take more than fair poetic license. The video game or the playing thereof isn't what was reportedly blamed. Lack of attention at the bridge is what was reportedly blamed.

 

[LordBag]

"The fact that he went to the computer to play video games after a course change further aggravates the situation and amplifies the lack of attention on the bridge between the master and second mate," the report said.

Monsen was playing hearts and other games on the computer and had his back to the bridge's front window, the report said.

I'm afraid I still don't see it...not sure what else there is to say...

 

[Nightvalien]

Everything is video games fault, we got our eternal scape goat guys, i bet obama's birth certificate is missing because the clerk was playing tetris.

 

[KaiRai]

Well that's like saying being Polish is the reason Hitler decided to take over Europe.

Granted it's a pretty OTT metaphor, but how is it the game's fault for being there? Fewls.

 

[spartan231490]

Seems to me, it's more the fault of an easily bored captain than videogames.

Of course it is. but we have to take baby captain by the hand and give him something else to blame his failure on, because being told that he should have been doing his job might cause him to have some kind of emotional break-down.
0 accountability is the new trend in our society. If you do something wrong, society will pick you up, and tell you it's not your fault. Look at all the stupid lawsuits, people too immature to accept responsibility for their own bad decisions, and the society saying that this is ok by making the people who did nothing wrong pay them large sums of money.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

Are games really being blamed here? From what I read they just mention that games was his poison of choice when it came to distracting things.

Agreed. Really, it's the Escapist's own title and article that places blame, not the actual article. MSNBC and all of their sources say the captain is to blame for playing the game, not the game for distracting the captain.

The Escapist is trying to make it seem like the article said "Satan himself rose from the depths of Hell to create video games in order to force tugboat captains across the globe to crash their ships."

Also who the fuck plays Hearts? I'm with Braeden.

 

[JDKJ]

Are games really being blamed here? From what I read they just mention that games was his poison of choice when it came to distracting things.

Agreed. Really, it's the Escapist's own title and article that places blame, not the actual article. MSNBC and all of their sources say the captain is to blame for playing the game, not the game for distracting the captain.

The Escapist is trying to make it seem like the article said "Satan himself rose from the depths of Hell to create video games in order to force tugboat captains across the globe to crash their ships."

Also who the fuck plays Hearts? I'm with Braeden.

Bored people stuck at work before a computer with no internet access. It's either that or Minesweeper.

 

[Vrach]

Seems to me, it's more the fault of an easily bored captain than videogames.

^This.

Umm yeah unless I'm missing something, I didn't see videogames being blamed once in that article, just blamed the guy for doing that when he should be concentrating on his job. Bit of a misleading title, no?

^And more importantly this. Escapist has been pulling more and more of these lately >.>

 

[Insurance Salesman]

You know, I don't see anything incriminating in that article about video games - hell, the closest they get is saying that the games "aggravated" the situation. It's pretty obvious from the article's wording that the captain is receiving the blame here, not the games.

Would the Escapist stop it with this sensationalizing? You aren't a print newspaper or magazine, you don't need to make up injustices in order to bring in readers.

And seriously, anyone who posts in this thread without actually reading the article in the first place (which, considering the number of "Don't blame us, stupid media!" posts is quite a lot of you) should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

yes it is the fault of video games that the captain is a dumbass.

did you also know that video games caused the earthquake in japan and they also make puppies commit suicide.

Mama says video games are the devil

 

[bob1052]

Surprising considering the last time video games and Alaskan boating collided it was something no one would ever want to pick up, nevermind having trouble to put it down.

 

[duchaked]

"Both the captain and the second mate were subsequently fired."

no really? haha

oh actually no I am surprised. shouldn't they have fired the computer? seeing how it and its video games are at fault here. hm!

 

[LordBag]

9 out of 10 posters did not read the article...hands up who read the title and decided to post?
I can't fathom for what purpose this was even posted in the first place, especially with such a title.

Ho-hum.