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It never ceases to amaze me that with all the problems in this world today, the pettiness of poking the video game industry in the eye is still so prevalent. The latest piece of well thought out, non-ignorant news (insert sarcasm here) comes from CNN, in an article titled ‘The Demise of Guys’: How Video Games and Porn Are Ruining a Generation by Dr. Philip Zimbardo and Nikita Duncan. 

 

“Ruining a generation?” From who’s perspective? I would say that corporate greed and a misplaced sense of self-entitlement are what’s ruining a generation, but that’s just me. I wasn’t aware that a form of entertainment the likes of a movie or television show was such a big part of why a generation is being “ruined.” Couldn’t have anything to do with the increasing amount of a**holes in the world, could it?

 

The argument here is that video games and pornography achieve similar purposes: they are both used for quick arousal and are highly addictive. According to the article: “…young men become hooked on arousal, sacrificing their schoolwork and relationships in the pursuit of getting a tech-based buzz.

 

Every compulsive gambler, alcoholic or drug addict will tell you that they want increasingly more of a game or drink or drug in order to get the same quality of buzz.”

 

Are we really putting video games on a same scale as a drug addict? I can honestly not understand why there is such a movement to point a finger at video games as some great evil. How desperate are these people? Does making video games out to be this horrible thing REALLY solve anything?

 

My favorite line from the beginning of the article is “… sacrificing their schoolwork and relationships in the pursuit of getting a tech-based buzz.” I’m 31 years old. I own my own home, 3 cars, have a beautiful wife and daughter, and am a college graduate.

 

And I like nothing more than to play video games for fun.

 

It may shock to you to learn , then, that I do not plop my 5 month old daughter in her swing while I play Halo. It may shock to you learn that I do not let her scream and cry in her crib and ignore her while I get one more game of Madden in. It may shock you to learn that I do not forget to feed her or change her diaper because I’m too “addicted” to my game of Uncharted. It may shock you to learn that in addition to my daughter, I also take care of my two dogs and four cats. It may shock you to learn that my wife and I have a happy and healthy marriage.

 

“Guys are also totally out of sync in romantic relationships, which tend to build gradually and subtly, and require interaction, sharing, developing trust and suppression of lust at least until “the time is right.” Someone better alert my wife, who I’ve been with for 10 years.

 

“The excessive use of video games and online porn in pursuit of the next thing is creating a generation of risk-averse guys who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school and employment.” I think I just proved that statement wrong. Dr. Zimbado and Ms. Duncan, the fact that you chose to write an entire book called The Demise of Guys says a lot about you. For every “guy” that you shake your head at, I can point out a Snookie. For every “guy” that you wish could be a better person, I can point to any of the Real Housewives.

 

The problem isn’t with the demise of guys due to video games (I’m not going to tackle the issues of pornography and drugs; that’s not my place); the problem is with the demise of decency and lack of common sense as human beings. Finger pointing is part of the problem; it isn’t a solution. All this accomplishes is a culture of fear-mongering and false accusations.

 

The article points to the death of Seungseob Lee, who died after playing Starcraft for nearly 50 continuous hours. I have news for you; that wasn’t Starcraft’s fault! With all due respect to Mr. Lee and his family, that could be blamed on a complete lack of common sense and a disregard for one’s own body. I’m pretty confident in claiming that there are other issues at play in that example other than Starcraft merely being a good game.

 

And don’t get me started on the mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik. Regardless of the fact that he used Call of Duty and WoW to “train” for his murder spree, I will eat my own kidney if he didn’t have a world of other issues at play in his actions. Yet, his penchant for video games was front and center in the media.

 

You see where I’m getting at here? It’s point after point of assumptions. Don’t let the fact that a person with “Dr.” in front of their name and the fact that there was a “study” fool you; this is nothing more than assumptions based off of more assumptions. This is nothing more than two people who are so enamored with the concept of a scapegoat that they wrote an entire book targeting one, amongst others. This is merely an opinion piece and should be taken as nothing more. And as an opinion piece, Dr. Zimbardo and Ms. Duncan have every right to their opinions, but they fail on a moral capacity by presenting it as facts.

 

Let me share some of my opinions. To the authors, look what you’ve done. All you’ve accomplished here is fanning the flames for a topic that should never have caught fire in the first place. You’ve found something that seems to be the flavor of the week in terms of finger pointing, and you jumped at the chance to sell a few copies of your book. Congratulations, I hope your book makes it to the NY Times bestseller’s list.

 

To those who buy into this yellow journalism; yes, there is a chance of addiction to video games, just like there is with porn, drugs, alcohol…and even the one that’s afflicting the United States the worst; FOOD. Simple food.

 

Maybe it’s not video games that are the problem; maybe it’s the fact that we’ve turned into a nation of “I want it now and I want it FAST!” Maybe THAT’S what creating this “addiciton.”

 

But hey, what do I know? I don’t have a “Dr.” in front of my name. What I DO have is a loving family that will back me up 1000%.

 

SOURCE | CNN