there is a new documentary film making the rounds in sweden called “deadly game”. it suggests that playing video games makes children fat and violent.
some argue that there is insufficient scientific evidence to prove this. like large doses of the more violent shows on american television, certainly it would seem to be the case.
america does have the most violent society among the western nations (often the murder rate is cited as 10 to 1 with most european nations and the US population is the largest consumer of both their own tv shows and video games), so real life would seem to support hypothesis.
yet another reason to restrict the cultural space and tax the hell out of american imports to support european cultural programs. those might promote sex, promiscuity and idle talk.
there are no shortage of neo-conservative pundits to decry such joys as illicit – anything from unproductive to unholy.
vices or not, they certainly beat murder and armed robbery as leisure pursuits.
who wants a bunch of fat, violent and lazy children lurking around?
perhaps the americans. as the last of the actively militarized western nations – the propaganda rains down from hollywood and television as heavily as it did in the soviet union – they must prepare their population for the sacrifices and compromises of war.
once the clones minds accept violence, whipping their bodies into shape is something any second-rate drill sargent can manage.
no wonder the pentagon is subsidising and distributing computer games.
The military is now using the Web and developing games as a way of recruiting and retaining kids. “I do think the point about being motivational is really a very, very relevant one,” says Johnson. ….The real problem for the military, according to Thinking Machines founder Danny Hillis, is not to simulate a tank or airplane, but to train the people’s minds so that when they get into a real tank on a battlefield, they do the right thing.
the right thing.
for a more on the department of defence and combat video games.