[hyfe]

Originally Posted by Nodrog

It's probably not a good idea to pretend that a fairly obvious and universal (?) part of the human psyche doesnt exist just because it makes us enlightened moderns feel very uncomfortable.

Hey, we stopped clubbing eachother over the head a long time ago. Should we disband laws against beeting the crap out of random people because 'it's a fairly obvious and universal (?) part of the human psyche' too? There's a difference between 'taking into account' and 'pretending it doesn't exit'.

Originally Posted by Tactitus

In the kingdom of the blind there is no crime?

Obviously not . I have two blind friends, and the closest either of them have been to violence is accidently hitting people with their walking sticks.

Originally Posted by Tactitus

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to it than that. And if a mere human-shaped target is enough to break down mental barriers than what about FPS video games where you "shoot" targets that have actual faces, and talk!

A silhuette of a target and a human being doesn't need to be all that different. Either way, it's the fact that there's actual shooting involved which makes the difference.

In an FPS you might be breaking down the mental barriers against hovering your mousepointer over someone and clicking. There's no element in an FPS which is real enough for it to be dangerous.

Originally Posted by Tactitus

That is the same argument made for banning 'violent' video games.

Except that the banning video game argument is silly. Repetion of reasonably real actions, or repeted viewings of will break down mental barriers.

Originally Posted by Nodrog

You're pretty much just saying 'waaaaa, most people dont act/think the way I want them to act/think', and you should probably just come out and say that explicitly if its your actual position rather than trying to dress it up in faux-scientific language. It might be reassuring to think that people who act in deviant ways do so because they are 'sick', but it isnt very honest.

Oh, come on! Have I mentioned the word 'sick' anywhere?

I've just finished a masters at the top engineering university in Norway.. it's 80% guys there, and all had really good to brilliant grades. I've met enough really creepy guys on preparties.. and they're all borderline autistic. In todays society, it's easy to hide and way to many never get the social training they should (which is another problem), but the bottom line is that there's a whole lot of borderline wackos out there.

Originally Posted by Nodrog

If asked to define the psychology behind murder, or theft, or pretty much any other crime, most people would find this a fairly ludicrous question and insist that it should be treated on a case-by-case basis - statements "all murder is a manifestation of a person's will to power over fellow humans" and "all theft is an outer display of rage against a capitalist system" are thankfully not taken seriously, since its fairly obvious that people murder and steal for very different reasons.

You're right. That statement is a real stretch. Add in a few qualifiers, such as 'most','probably' and my favourite 'it could be argued that*' and it's all good though.


* which I always read as 'it could be argued that (but I'm not bloody going to, since it'd be bloody stupid) bla bla'


This is probably the first time I've tried seriously articulating my opinions on this. I'll probably make more sense next time I try.