The Science of Conspiracy Theories

Video Game Conspiracy

Video Game Conspiracy

I find this conspiracy most interesting because it involves the brain and psychology.

Back in the day before computers, gaming consoles, and other electronic devices, the media proclaimed that the youth of the time were going to hell in a basket because of rock and roll, smutty movies, and women exposing their cleavage. Now days, this accusative assumption has been directed at violent video games. The theory is that violent video game playing leads to more violence in real life.

But, is that really the case?

What the media means by violent video games is those that portray violence and allow the user to kill people. Most of these are termed 'First Person Shooters'. However, they don't always involve shooting. It could be running over people with a car, using a knife, sword, ax or other non-firearm weapon. Many games allow multiplayer participation with avatars. This then becomes a bloody competitive situation where ones goal is to kill his or her opponent.

There are some really violent games out there. Grand Theft Auto III and IV. This game series involves all sorts of violence, including barbecuing prostitutes with flamethrowers. Mostly, the game involves stealing cars and committing other crimes, mostly involving violent acts of murder.

Another violent game is Mortal Kombat, which doesn't need much explanation. A game that sort of predated it was Doom, one of the most popular first person shooters.

Call of Duty: Modern warfare 2 is a violent first person shooter combat game that can involves killing innocent civilians. Mostly, it involves violent combat, better known as war.

Bioshock is another controversial game, mainly because it allows one to kill creepy monsters that used to be girls.

I think you get the idea. Needless to say, these games are very popular and sell millions of copies, and the manufacturers insist that they are benign.

Okay, now let's look at the facts in America. According to the statistics from diastercenter.com, violent crime, as measured by the number per 100,000 people, has declined in recent years. It appears that it was higher in the 90's compared to now. The real kicker is that the total number of violent crimes has decreased in recent years. The data shows that the rate of violent crimes started to increase in the 70's but has slowly declined from a high in the early 90's. The murder rate also follows the same trends, and was definitely higher in the 80's and 90's.

This data does support the idea that violent crime has decreased. Maybe the reason this is the case is because the young males that like these kinds of games are too busy playing them instead of committing crimes on the street. Another possibility is that the number of people interred in prisons has increased over the same period.

The theory of whether playing violent video games causes violent behavior is open to argument. Some studies indicate it does, others studies show the opposite. I'm not surprised that this is the case, especially in America where the population is so divided politically.

Let's examine the question: does playing violent games make one more violent and prone to commit violence? Scientific studies indicate that there are two areas in the brain that are affected by playing these games. The part of the brain that involves emotions becomes active while a part of the cortex that involves reason about emotions is also activated. Test subjects that played violent games and then looked at real violence videos did not get as stressed as those who just looked at the real violence videos.  So, it appears that playing violent video games does affect the brain. It also appears that playing violent games makes one jaded or desensitized to real violence.

The affected areas in the brain were discovered using Cat and MRI scans on people actually playing the video games.

My take on this is that a child or young person with an emotional problem or learning difficulty may be traumatized by violent video games. Most mentally healthy individuals would not react to them in a violent way but could end up desensitized and apathetic to suffering.

One of the wildest aspects of playing video games in general is that it makes the brain grow even in older people. Some experts have suggested that this could help more mature people keep good brain function into old age.

Another result of playing these games is addiction. Addiction is where a person becomes so infatuated with something that they ignore everything else. This has been shown to be true in the case of video games. Getting a young person off this addiction requires intervention.

So, we're left with a dilemma. Playing violent video games could cause brain changes that might lead to violent behavior, but the statistics don't back it up. That's science for you!

Thanks for reading.