Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
Clearly, PepsiFree is on to something. To say that external factors - such as media - have NO effect is obviously wrong.
Online forums like Reddit have been used as platforms to influence hate-inspired killings, why not violent video games?
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There's even a good case to say desensitization to violence has been deliberate, after WW2 it was discovered that fewer than 25% of US soldiers would shoot to kill [
https://www.ozy.com/acumen/why-shoot...-problem/71286 ] and there was a real effort made to normalize violence through media in order to produce better soldiers.
It's hard to say how much of it was deliberate and how much of it is that we just enjoy violence in movies, but damn has it been effective. When I watch John Wick, I laugh when someone gets a knife in the eye and wince when a dog gets hurt, but in real life I still understand a humans life is much more valuable than a dogs.
There's something to it, but I don't think there is any sense in pointing to entertainment as a tangible way of reducing the number of these events. Violent crime has consistently dropped as violent video game, movies, reddit, etc. have soared in popularity. I don't think there is any way to regulate entertainment to make the real world a safer place.