o3. Society's ever-growing dilemma
Read this article from Wired News War Games Come Marching in and answer the following questions:
1. Why are war video games so popular now?
2. "If it's not realistic, it's not worth playing," is a quote in the article. Do you think realistic war games desensitizing people to the horror of war or is it just fun?
3. What do you personally think of war video games?
1. A part of the reason as to why war video games are so popular now lies within human nature. Since the beginning of time, humans have always had a need for aggression, destruction, and conquering. It is in our nature to be destructive, to win at the expense of others' suffering - a "survival of the fittest" attitude. While the reason doesn't lay solely on human nature, our weakness towards those destructive urges makes us so much more suspectible to the "glorious aspects" of war that are highlighted by the media. Yes, another reason would be the oh-so influential media. It is society's acceptance - and even encouragement - of participating in violence that encourages our destructive human nature to indulge. With war games, the media and the advertisements highlight the "glorious" aspect of war. They challenge the male human, stating that war is only for men and highlight only the glory that will come from participating in war. Humans of course, will jump at any chance that encourages them to indulge in that destructive nature we were all born with.
2. I do believe that realistic war games desensitize people to the horrors of war mainly because people believe that they've seen it all in their games, so it's no big deal when it happens in real life. Realistic war game players assume that real life war is more or less like what occurs in the game. It is most definitely not. The games do not tell of the deaths the soldiers have to cope with after skirmishs. They don't tell of the constant ache the soldiers feel from being thousands of miles away from their families. They don't tell of the struggles of the generals when being forced to make a move that will result in the deaths of their soldiers. War games are neat and clean, providing the realistic entertainment that the people demand. Yet people will mix up the realistic appearance of the games with reality. People believe that what they play is what happens in reality because it looks real. They believe that if they can survive the sights and actions in their games, the soldiers will undoubtedly have no problem in real life.
3. Personally, I don't approve of war games. They instil a "violence-is-cool" attitude among the players. This is extremely wrong because nothing is ever solved with violence or revenge; it only serves to fuel the burning hatred. What kind of values are those to teach to the younger generation? They will in turn carry on the values they were taught in to the future, affecting all the generations to come as well. No matter what anyone says, we are influenced by everything around us. The types of friends we hang around, the environment we live in, the messages of the media... they all have an affect on our values and how we live. You don't have to believe that the game is reality (example: people who believe they are actually characters from their games) in order to be influenced by the game.
1. Why are war video games so popular now?
2. "If it's not realistic, it's not worth playing," is a quote in the article. Do you think realistic war games desensitizing people to the horror of war or is it just fun?
3. What do you personally think of war video games?
1. A part of the reason as to why war video games are so popular now lies within human nature. Since the beginning of time, humans have always had a need for aggression, destruction, and conquering. It is in our nature to be destructive, to win at the expense of others' suffering - a "survival of the fittest" attitude. While the reason doesn't lay solely on human nature, our weakness towards those destructive urges makes us so much more suspectible to the "glorious aspects" of war that are highlighted by the media. Yes, another reason would be the oh-so influential media. It is society's acceptance - and even encouragement - of participating in violence that encourages our destructive human nature to indulge. With war games, the media and the advertisements highlight the "glorious" aspect of war. They challenge the male human, stating that war is only for men and highlight only the glory that will come from participating in war. Humans of course, will jump at any chance that encourages them to indulge in that destructive nature we were all born with.
2. I do believe that realistic war games desensitize people to the horrors of war mainly because people believe that they've seen it all in their games, so it's no big deal when it happens in real life. Realistic war game players assume that real life war is more or less like what occurs in the game. It is most definitely not. The games do not tell of the deaths the soldiers have to cope with after skirmishs. They don't tell of the constant ache the soldiers feel from being thousands of miles away from their families. They don't tell of the struggles of the generals when being forced to make a move that will result in the deaths of their soldiers. War games are neat and clean, providing the realistic entertainment that the people demand. Yet people will mix up the realistic appearance of the games with reality. People believe that what they play is what happens in reality because it looks real. They believe that if they can survive the sights and actions in their games, the soldiers will undoubtedly have no problem in real life.
3. Personally, I don't approve of war games. They instil a "violence-is-cool" attitude among the players. This is extremely wrong because nothing is ever solved with violence or revenge; it only serves to fuel the burning hatred. What kind of values are those to teach to the younger generation? They will in turn carry on the values they were taught in to the future, affecting all the generations to come as well. No matter what anyone says, we are influenced by everything around us. The types of friends we hang around, the environment we live in, the messages of the media... they all have an affect on our values and how we live. You don't have to believe that the game is reality (example: people who believe they are actually characters from their games) in order to be influenced by the game.
posted by vivian; at
1:40 p.m.
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