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« Reply #1 on: March 12, 2018, 04:43:42 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 3-12-2018
From The Federalist Patriot
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Ironically, those who assign morality to guns — they’re bad, bad, very bad — are not assigning any morality to violence perpetrated in an immersive experience on a repeated basis as characterized by video games that have the gamer engaged as an active shooter.
During the Obama administration, Congress refused in 2013 to approve $10 million for research assessing any link to violence in the media and that at the hands of individuals with guns. While small studies exist, there are no larger studies to validate either argument.
In 2006, researchers conducted a small study of 44 adolescents randomized to play 30 minutes of either a violent or a non-violent video game, after which the teens were tested with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The MRIs revealed that those exposed to violent video gaming demonstrated less activation in the prefrontal portions of the brain, which are involved in inhibition, concentration and self-control, and more activation in the amygdala, which is involved in emotional arousal. Subjects exposed to a half-hour of gaming violence showed a different brain response than those who played a non-violent yet stimulating game.
But, even aside from the tiny sample size, correlation does not mean causation. Many things correlate with others but are not the cause. Smoking is frequently correlated with those who are also alcoholics, but smoking is not the cause of alcoholism.
Similarly, for a very large population, one event, the exposure to violence in video gaming or movies, does not cause mass shootings or gun violence. However, there is a correlation in some individuals who’ve been involved in these mass shootings with their active participation in first-person shooter video games.
Why do some men and women who fight in the brutal conflict of war return home to lead very normal, healthy lives, while others battle the unseen wounds of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that is tied to an alarmingly high rate of suicide among combat veterans? We saw the horrific results of that this weekend, when a veteran killed three nurses and himself26. Not every veteran has PTSD. But recent data shows that up to 31% of veterans will experience this lingering impact of the chronic exposure to violence and stress with an escalated risk of suicide that is seen among this subgroup of veterans.
As a society, we have accepted the role of a traumatic experience, such as a rape, a natural disaster or severe injury or repeated exposures to conflict and harm as contributing factors to PTSD. We recognize the need to provide mental health intervention and treatment. So why do we utterly reject the possibility that regular exposure to first-person shooter games may negatively impact a similar subgroup of the population, especially children and teenagers?
From a larger perspective, why do we accept as normal the notion of killing as entertainment? The good guys and gals going after the bad guys and gals is a universal plot line, but what’s normal or entertaining about severed limbs, decapitation, disembowelment, torture or any type of excessive use of force?
Through these repeated exposures, our society is desensitized to the horrific. It’s called conditioning. Individuals become conditioned to view a situation or action as normal by the games we play and permit our children to play and the movies we view.
The old adage that when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail offers a bit of application. When your day very often includes an immersive experience that involves a violent response, whether in role play or in reality, your conditioning may change your perspective.
So, no. Video games do not cause mass shootings, just like guns do not cause mass shootings. However, when the mind is engaged with corresponding actions in the pursuit to win a game that rewards death and destruction, a correlation is certainly a possibility. We can’t say “always,” but neither can we say “never.”
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
Dems & Leftmedia Fools to Preach Against GOP Tax Cuts29 — Pelosi backtracks on “crumbs,” while the NYT admits faulty calculations on an article against tax cuts.
MAGAnomics30 — Trump’s tariffs — targeted and negotiable — represent a classic shot across the globalist bow.
Video: What Is Happening to Men?31 — Fox News’ Tucker Carlson and psychology professor Jordan Peterson debut a new “Men in America” series.
Video: I Like It, I Love It32 — Reason’s Remy takes on the Washington establishment’s addiction to more spending.
Video: Do You Have Haters?33 — YouTuber Chad Prather says, “It seems that everyone these days has haters online and in their lives.”
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Marvin J. Folkertsma: Is National Socialism America’s Future?34
Todd Starnes: Hollywood Admits It Hates Heartland Values35
Ryan T. Anderson: Sex Reassignment Doesn’t Work. Here Is the Evidence.36
Tony Perkins: Planned Profiting: Abortion Biz Rakes in Taxpayer Cash37
Jeff Jacoby: China’s Corporate Tools38
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion39.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Marvin J. Folkertsma: “If a doppelgänger of Joseph Goebbels, the ‘poison dwarf’ propaganda minister of the Third Reich, were somehow to leap into the 21st century and embark on a Tocqueville-like tour of his country’s former enemy, probably he would be stunned by developments thought to have perished with the Nazis’ defeat in 1945. Of course, technological progress would dazzle any time traveler from that era, though Goebbels might huff that German science predicated many advances — but professional interests likely would dominate his observations. Some things would make him laugh: micro-aggressions, safe spaces, counseling for sensitive egos — are you kidding me? Others would evoke comparisons to practices more familiar to him, such as America’s huge ‘fake news’ industry — i.e., media lies — and Planned Parenthood’s annual slaughter of innocents. So much to see, so much to evaluate, so much to compare! Which of course is the whole point, especially because our fictional observer likely would agree with Leo Strauss, a German-American who in 1953 expressed astonishment about how a country ‘defeated on the battlefield … deprived its conquerors … of victory by imposing on them the yoke of its own thought.’ This yoke, of course, being National Socialist ideology.”
SHORT CUTS
The Gipper: “It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.”
Federalism: “For [teachers] who are capable, [being armed] is one solution that can and should be considered. … Every state and every community is going to address this issue in a different way.” —Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Broken clock… “If we could avoid a nuclear confrontation with North Korea, that would be a wonderful achievement. It’s good we’re going to be talking to them.” —Jimmy Carter (That depends on the conditions and results, of course.)
Huh? “Donald Trump, again, he just makes a decision on tariffs because of Hope Hicks, and he makes a decision on North Korea because of Stormy Daniels. And people can deny that all they want, but if you’re doing that, you’re in the tank for Donald Trump, because it’s painfully obvious that that is what’s going on.” —MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough
Alpha Jackass: “I have had two children; I was old enough, when I became pregnant, that it made sense to do the testing for Down syndrome. … I can say without hesitation that … I would have terminated those pregnancies had the testing come back positive. … The evidence is clear that most women confronted with the same unhappy alternative would make the same decision.” —The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus in a piece titled, “I would’ve aborted a fetus with Down syndrome. Women need that right.”
Non Compos Mentis: “Hanging on and hoping for the best is certainly one approach to rescuing the best of liberalism from its discontents, but my answer is admittedly more ambitious: It’s time to give socialism a try.” —The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Bruenig
And last… “Obama restores trade to Cuba, lifts sanctions: HERO! Obama trades 5 terrorists to Taliban: HERO! Obama gives Iran billions & nuke deal: HERO! Trump meets Un: I CAN’T BELIEVE POTUS IS DEALING WITH A MURDERER WHO OPPRESSES HIS OWN PEOPLE.” —Twitter satirist @hale_razor
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher |
