12th October 2005, 6:37 PM
Quote:I had a similar thought a couple months ago about emailing Jack Thompson to try and engage him in a (somewhat) peaceful and objective debate.
Then I got hungry and forgot about it.
Face it, GR, he sees all gamers as mindless drones just waiting for our chance to kill everyone in sight. He will not give you benefit of the doubt, he will not listen to you, and it's impossible to try and reaosn with someone like him.
Poor bitter bastard. ;) You may have a point that ol' Jack Thompson is set in his ways, but also understand that if he can be publicly discredited, it's almost as big of an achievement to have his mind changed. If we can at least stop getting people to listen to this clueless ass-clown, we can still stop a wrong revolution from occuring.
Yeah, now I sound pretty bitter... but I still have a point, no?
Quote:However, should you actually engage him in conversational debate, here are a few points I though up when I was pondering the idea that you could also use, if you so choose:
* What do you say of the studies that show video games can actually improve a persons logical skills and reflexes?
* Do you feel that there are any games on the market now that are beneficial to the gaming populace (such as Nintendogs, DS Brain Training, and so forth)?
* Do you not feel that the media circus that surrounded your crusade against Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, may have added to sales of a game that was already 6 months old and starting to go downhill?
* On the topic of San Andreas, don't you think it's a bit excessive to penalize a game for content that it, for all intents and purposes, does not have?
* Do you feel that video games are solely to blame for violence? Many of the teens that have killed citing San Andreas as their motivation have already had troubled pasts.
* Do you feel we should also ban R-Rated movies? What about Stephen King books? Both of those can offer scenes (even if only written in explicit detail, with the latter example) far more horrific than even the goriest video game.
I'd just love to see what kind of answers he would pull out of his ass for these.
All good points, I'd love to see the same. He has noble intentions, he's just wrong.
Grumbler: In a pseudo-drunken stupor (I only had a couple drinks), I opened this thread and immediately began reading the quote. I later found out that it was you who wrote it and I have to say, I'm impressed... I'm not condescending to you, please don't think that, but I just mean you've become a very intelligent poster and I respect you for that.
Quote:I must take a small issue with your argument there though. You imagine that all psychology tests take place "in the lab". That's a bit off. Also, you suggest that any test won't reflect what may happen in the real world. If that is the case, in what way has a scientific test been conducted? The reality is scientists are welll aware of these limitations when they set up and conduct these tests. Any data they do gleam from them will be listed with exactly what limitations they know are in place. Reading a standard news site to get your scientific information is a bit of a middle man approach. I recommend reading the actual study straight from the scientists. Usually you can find these available at the web sites various institutes host. Then you can actually find the logical flaws in the experiment's design first hand, rather than giving a vague "well, I don't know the details, but science doesn't has it's limits!". If you look around, you may find that a lot of the tests may not have been conducted well and you can actually point out the flaws right there.
Good argument... I have to admit, I didn't know that myself, I pretty much just believed every word in Grumbler's essay (every one I read, at least, since I agree with it). It's about damned time (if it hasn't been done already
) that someone wrote an essay to put this guy in his place. I'd definitely work on it myself if I didn't have other stuff to worry about.(Yeah, lookit me, I'm Sacred Jellybean, I have a life!!!! :crap: )