In reverse order (because I think Crimson Locks' will be quicker to address.)
@Crimson Locks
Well, keep in mind that I am a social scientist. It doesn't mean that I'm right about everything tangentially related to the area, but out of the many things that I speak from my behind about, the human mind (psychology) and group dynamics (sociology) isn't one of them.
As such, those who say the research is decided that violent video games does not breed violence simply don't know the science. Much like most things in social science, you're going to have a hard time finding a solid stream of evidence that supports your claim without disregarding other solid stream of evidence that would say otherwise.
Now before you say that one (i.e., violent media) doesn't necessarily lead to the other (i.e., aggressive or otherwise violent behavior,) that these three are potentially biased, one-source studies (as they come from different countries from different authors in different journals.) or the research is out of date (I chose studies that weren't released further back than 2000, meaning that we're still in Generation X and Y, if not touching on Z) these studies were conducted with that in mind. Either through statistic analysis to remove potential confounders or through experimental methodology, it's not a mere correlation. They are predictive studies. Even if only 1% would ever act on their feelings, it's significantly more than those who don't initially have those predispositions or had those tendencies bred into them by bullying and/or aggressive stimuli. There's evidence for causation.
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So take that to heart, and please share that with your friends (because I hate it when people assume that the evidence is irrefutable or isn't subject to change over the course of a decade.) The research is mixed, and both sides have their points. As such, I'm within my rights as a person of the social sciences to lean towards one or another based on my own studies and research. I believe that there was something to the Bobo doll experiment by Bandura, and I do think that video games do have an effect on those who play it (more encouraging than cathartic…)
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I might also add that I enjoy grimdark art. Not all forms of it, but psychologically jarring art is enjoyable in the same way that other rarely experienced emotions can be enjoyable in a controlled setting to some.
But yes, based off of what I studied, I do think that allowing a sense of "This is OK" for something that is strongly desired is dangerous. That thinking doesn't have to lead to a tragedy IRL, but I think it spurs it more than it deters it (this also being based on the Bobo doll experiment and other Social Learning based studies. Just because you're an adult doesn't mean you're much more advanced than you were when you were 5. Peer pressure and many other forces have an effect on humans from the beginnings of the consciousness of others to when you die.)
Speaking of catharsis…
@Brownmane
Yeah, I'm sorta reading into you, but I don't think I'm far off.
For one, I don't think I said anything about saying you were below or unwell for liking things of a sexual nature. As a matter of fact:
Kinky stuff is one thing. I generally have no issue (objectively) with activities that aren’t hurting someone in the process. We all have our kinks, sexually and otherwise, right?
You repeated what I had already said.
My point was that you can harp on about what most of us aren't so adamantly (or at least openly) opposed to. I imagine that a lot of people we know IRL are weirded out enough by the fact that you and I are adults who like a show for little girls without considering R34. And even outside of that fact, they'd do more than give you a sneer if they knew the depths of that R34 that we did or did not like.
But from what I've gathered from all of our posts, we're not those people. That's why I didn't like the condescension. I feel like (attempting to read you again) your experiences with hearing (if not receiving) stigmatization due to being different in regards to sex (learned or innate) are separate from what you've gotten from us here on this thread. With that in mind, why would you be condescending towards us? That would be a tone for those around you (even though I figure it's not something you could do in reality due to, well, being stoned (figuratively, literally, or via castration.)
I don't like being told that I'm not enlightened or that I must have a certain view of sex to be mature in my sexuality. That sort of definitive answer or philosophy goes against me as a scientist, social or bench. And I don't like it when others assume that I'm somehow inhibited because I don't like the concept of hanging from a ceiling while licking my own semen from a significant other's toes after using said significant other's armpit to masturbate repeatedly and edging myself for an hour in order to accumulate more semen to ejaculate a further distance on said toes, because gravity ain't gonna help my distance if I'm upside down per the instructions on the trapeze (forgive the explicitness and any imagery).
I just plain don't like the concept of anal sex. Poop comes from there. But I can't (and don't) knock someone else for enjoying it. For guys, you can't ignore that physiological pleasure comes from stimulating the prostate, rimming can be sensitive and enjoyable, and for men and women, there may be a psychological component that enjoys being submissive/dominant or another perceived identity while partaking in anal sex.
Perhaps my kinks aren't as kinky as someone else's, but that's really all. It doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, but it doesn't necessarily make me a moral guardian or intolerant.
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tl;dr: You're preaching to the choir, and I don't just mean me.
As for actual catharsis, that also depends on which psychologist you talk to (for therapy or research.) Some would say that a pedophile should try to indulge in underage porn. For a couple of reasons (i.e., it being wrong, it being illegal, and it, well, probably not helping) I wouldn't suggest that.
Will the tendencies go away by not trying to satisfy them? Probably not.
Will the patient be frustrated? Probably, if not most certainly.
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Comes with the territory of being human. Life is not fair, and some people get inclinations that aren't right or accepted. One must deal with the consequences in a practical manner.
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But you said that a person could boil over or explode with unaddressed or unexplored inner desires. I don't doubt that it could happen or that it's not unfeasible.
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…how often does that happen? And if you'd never be able to engage in it anyway, what sort of catharsis would it be to just get off to mostly badly drawn pictures (tell me that Paheal doesn't have more bad art than quality art)? Consider yourself if you enjoy more, er, "advanced" art: Ignore the debate, consider your frustration:
Do you really want to engage in it any less?
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Now having suggested that thought, I don't know the answer. Perhaps it does help you. But if it's anything like my own urges for sex, it's just breeds them. Whether or not I'm more or less intrigued by catgirls in spandex (lulz that isn't one of them) is based off of other things. I'm tired, I'm bummed, I'm angry, I had a really good day, I had a really bad day, etc.
As for feeling raw hatred, no. I don't usually feel anything more than a somewhat violent annoyance with certain people exhibiting certain attributes.
If provoked, then I would prefer something more sadistic.
In middle school, I threw a kid’s Pikachu card on top of our school. He got mad, turned beet red (as opposed to his standard carnation pink,) and got in my face.
…I smiled.
Because I knew…and he knew what I was in the school and he knew that despite being bigger than me, I could have mauled him in a fight to the point that he was injured and unable to fight back. And if they would have asked what happened, we would have both given the same story:
I threw his pokemon card on top of a school, he hit me in the face, and I defended myself. I would have said that I shouldn’t have done that, and that I was sorry.
Given that I was on student council, the football team, an A student, sang in All-State Chorus, was in gifted classes, etc (much like a lot of other bullies,) and the other kid was an awkward looking, kinda creepy (later in high school, he bragged about being able to view porn on his phone…and viewed it regularly at school during class) dude who didn’t have much charisma at all, they would have chastised me for lightly bullying the guy, but they would have punished him for instigating the physical confrontation instead of going to a teacher or administrator.
And then I would have laughed.
And furthermore (until I grew up,) I would have made a point to smile ear-to-ear every…and I mean every time I saw him in the hallway after his beating.
When I appear to be flippant when I say I'm a jerk, I'm not really being flippant as much as I'm trying not to dwell on how much I would enjoy such things despite feeling guilty about it.
Guilt's not a bad thing. It's an emotional impetus to learn from mistakes and not repeat them. It's only an issue when you can't understand why you feel guilty and if you don't have the ability to get past that guilt when the guilt is either given unfairly by other/society or induced by the person themselves.
Locked
