videogame violence

here are some pieces of data you might find interesting, in lieu of my regular posting*:

loads of poignant statistics

myths about gaming

i do kinda feel bad about jumping on the guy so defensively, in retrospect all he did was speculate idly that gta would cause violent real-life behaviour. the problem with blaming media influence is that

• that's not how psychology works
  
  • catharsis is good and banning things that bring about catharsis is not
  • human psychology is far too complex to point toward any specific input as causal
• it removes the responsibility of parents and society
  • someone who has difficulty differentiating between fantasy and reality has a problem that does not need to ruin things for the rest of us

and i guess jack thompson turned any speculation on the topic into a potential raving attack.

* delayed until after i've done my homework and finished my project for the week. probably saturday :P