It has been said by many people that gameing is not gaming at all...it is brainwashing, hypnotisim...ect.... I am not sure to even think about this or not as i have heard of war games such as counter strike as a means of training children for war...making them the perfect soilder.
Is this true or false.....partially it could be true due to the fact that in many war games you are tought to use tactics made by tacticians...in so doing children become smarter about war and become more interested...if a time of terrorism was to occur evry childrenn would be volunterring probably due to hidden messages in games...these are also desighned to make anyone not afraid of war to keep them under control....to make them think of war as a game.
well i am hoping to hear anyones opinion...
ilikerome
I don't think I understand your question. I wonder if you have a solid grasp of the meaning of the term "brainwashing." Anything in life, experienced in repetition, can condition a person to think or behave in a new way. Of course games affect the way players think about violence and warfare--not in the way game opponents claim (Jack Thompson is a fool), but in the same way constantly watching sports on TV might affect the way you view your own athleticism, or the way you toss a football. But that's all complicated stuff--I don't think there are hard and fast rules for how games, books, movies or anything else affect people. We're too varied, and our brains too complicated. Everyone gets a different payout from playing games, or watching movies.
The problem I have with your question is that brainwashing is a deliberate act performed by people upon other people. A tactical FPS which is specifically and secretly designed, for instance, to program you to inexplicably dance a foxtrot, naked, in your backyard at 3am each morning might be considered a brainwashing tool... because tricking your brain was the plan of the game designers.
I don't think there's any reason to believe that the development eam behind Counter Strike is operating a scheme to condition gamers into warriors. Consumers, maybe, but not warriors.
I think the question you're really asking is what sort of effect violent games have on gamers, and good gracious, man: that's a massive question, with an answer large enough to fill 5 or 6 competing doctoral dissertations. There's no cut and dry response; not a smart one, anyhow. There's nothing more complicated and less understood than the human mind. I do think we can agree, for the most part, on two claims, though: 1) Violent entertainment does not, as a rule, generate violent impulses in people, but also 2) Violent entertainment does not leave us unaffected. It does, as a rule, alter the way we approach matters of fighting, death, strategy, war, conflict and so on in our lives. Exactly how depends on the person and situation, and whether it's good or bad depends on the person and situation, but it's a powerful cultrual influence, just like any other. Might as well come to terms with that, so we can fend off the Thompson-ite jerks easier.
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