pp: I think Warner Brothers cartoons made me gay...
Tue, November 3, 2009 - 1:39 PM

i would not argue that.
idiots always go the
easy
way

T.I.B.
<<<Sorry, the whole "Television makes kids violent" can be demolished with the fact that it's been observed before there was radio, let alone television. So what blame pulp novels? Blame stories passed around the campfire?>>>

One of the most interesting books I have ever read was "Inside The Criminal Mind" by Stanton E. Samenow, Ph.D. It outlines the existance and detection of criminal behaviors in early childhood as well as adolescence and adulthood. I do not regard Dr.Samenow's work as definitive, but as I have observed behaviors of different people over my 44yrs, his observations seem to mimic my own very closely.

There are many factors that predispose people to behaviors that eventually turn violent or hurtful towards others. Much of it depends on environment and parenting. To state unequivically that X produces Y behavior is impossible without factoring in the many variables of an individuals existance.

I grew up watching the old school cartoons and they did nothing to edge me towards violence or anything else. In fact I found that it showed me that my mother cared enough about me to make sure she let me know it was time for the cartoons to come on and insure that I had snacks to enjoy with them. Those days ARE GONE for kids these days. They are given a video game to babysit them and with that comes isolation from parents and the real world.

My little cousin was hired to work with his father and it was then that his father realized the boy had NO work ethic, NO knowledge of what job his father did and he didnt even know how to check or change the oil in a vehicle. This was a result of the boy being an avid gamer to the point that he won State competitions playing "Halo". His parents thought this was something to be proud of and allowed him to immerse himself in video games. The irony was that with all of the violent games he played, he was not violent AT ALL. In fact he was just the opposite. He was a weenie armed PUSSY who'd flinch and run like a sissy at the drop of a hat because he had no fighting skills whatsoever. These things come from EXPERIENCE, not from television or video games.

Now, as time progressed and the boy became frustrated over all of the life necessities he had no knowledge of, he became violent. He became defensive, dysfunctional in relationships, abusive towards women and he turned to drugs and alcohol which only exacerbated the core problem. He lost his job with his father and found that he could not hold a job at all, so he turned to selling drugs and robbing other drug dealers. He ended up in a conflict with a rival drug dealer who was only 15yrs old and he pulled his 9mm Glock and blew the boys brains out. He is now doing life without parole....

As to your question; "What is wrong with misanthropy?", I believe it breeds apathy and disregard for solutions as well as an overall disgust towards society and social change. I love my fellow humans and I hold out hope that one day the moral majority will embrace values that respect and include everyones prudent choices and foster acceptance of evolving standards. I refuse to let a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch. The "few" being the criminal/mentally ill element and the religious occult.

I-BARB POSTED :Sorry, the whole "Television makes kids violent" can be demolished with the fact that it's been observed before there was radio, let alone television.

RESPONSE: What has been observed before there was radio let alone television : v

(A) Violent behavior in the youth

OR

(B) Violent motifs in popular culture .

If the former , please document that the youth were as violent in terms of the ratio of aggressively violent youth to non agressively violent youth in the population extant at the time .

If you mean the latter than how many youth were exposed per capita to say pulp novels or NON -television or film motifs of violence as opposed to the amount of the youth population that were exposed to violence by television and motion pictures . Please provide documentation .

I-BARB POSTED ; So what blame pulp novels? Blame stories passed around the campfire?

RESPONSE: Those don't saturate as large amounts of people nor as frequently than the motifs of violence presented in television and motion pictures. The level of saturation of the motifs of violence in campfire tales is much less. There were plenty of people in the 1800's who didn't have much time for campfire tales because they were too busy primin the pump on the well , feedin the horses and chickens , and helping the blacksmith clean up the forge .

Vast amounts of people in the 1800's were illiterate and hence did not read pulp novels. Not all the people in the 1800's who read read pulp novels . Compare contrast that with America of the postwar period where millions of households have television sets that expose them to violent motifs. Thus that comparison is flimsy and dsoes not exonerate the role of the media .

I-BARB POSTED :You could blame competitiveness on violent behavior in competitive events and situations. However that does not explain why people will be openly mean spirited (sometimes to total strangers) when there is nothing to compete over.

RESPONSE: The weird , froward sensibility fostered by competitiveness could likely take on a momentum that spills over its boundaries and lead to such a weird dynamic .

I-BARB POSTED :Blaming the media is a very tired, and repeatedly debunked boogeyman that lets humanity get a free pass for it's sins. I watch more media than most people I know and I've never felt compelled to be a mass murdering rap star or a scheming wall street lawyer.

RESPONSE: NOT everyone maintains the mental self discpline that you do . Add media glamorization of sordid aggressively violent behavior + LACK of circumspection / LACK of self discpline and voila people being given over to a range of sordid activity . People tend to emulate a lot of other people --often uncritically .Mass Media *amplifies* that tendency .


I-BARB POSTED :I have however been occasionally persuaded to buy a burger. People will do what they were already inclined to do. A person who is innately passive won't be made violent no matter how many hours of video games he plays.

RESPONSE: Back in the 1990's , yours truly recalls reading of in passing reported academic studies that indicated otherwise --that reportedly---indicated that youngsters who were given to playing violent video games also seemed to display more physical aggressiveness than those who did not . Such reported studies ought to be investigated to see IF they have corroboration and have eliminated all the hidden variables--NOT accepted blindly. Nonetheless , the claim of increased violence from increased exposure , should not be dismissed out of hand .