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Moral Combat

Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong

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About this listen

The media and politicians have been sounding the alarm for years, and with every fresh tragedy involving a young perpetrator comes another flurry of articles about the dangers of violent media. The problem is this: Their fear isn't supported by the evidence. In fact, unlike the video game-trained murder machines depicted in the press, school shooters are actually less likely to be interested in violent games than their peers. In reality, most well-adjusted children and teenagers play violent video games, all without ever exhibiting violent behavior in real life. What's more, spikes in sales of violent games actually correspond to decreased rates of violent crime.

If that surprises you, you're not alone - the national dialogue on games and violence has been hopelessly biased. But that's beginning to change. Scholars are finding that not only are violent games not one of society's great evils, they may even be a force for good.

In Moral Combat, Markey and Ferguson explore how video games - even the bloodiest - can have a positive impact on everything from social skills to stress, and may even make us more morally sensitive.

©2017 Patrick M. Markey, PhD, and Christopher J. Ferguson, PhD (P)2017 Tantor
Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions Social Sciences Violence in Society Video Game Game Crime Mental Health
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Found it a good sum up of events and current status. Could do without the analogies that lean to the snarky/condescending. Attacks will never win the opposition over. But then again, they might not actually be the ones to read it.

Good sum up

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There are lots of preconceptions towards video games' effects on children, do them make children aggressive or fat or something else. The writers bring use cases, real-life examples, and case studies to back up their claims.
Some of them were surprising since I thought in certain cases video games could have a bad effect on people's behaviour. Well, it is not that simple... Very interesting book. it's worth spending time listening.
Narration was good, well done, sometimes a little robotic, but it didn't take away from the fun.

A must for those in the effects of video games

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