Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux - 2808 Video Games vs. Drones: What They Don't Tell You!
Aired: 2014-10-02
Duration: 02:06


=== Gaming Reality vs. Fiction (02:06) ===

[00:00:00]  So, we hear this all the time, right?
[00:00:03]  Playing video games leads to violence.
[00:00:05]  Gamers across the globe roll their eyes whenever they hear about a new study that correlates aggression and time spent in a virtual world.
[00:00:13]  Titles like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto immediately draw controversy on release because of graphic depictions of violence.
[00:00:22]  Killing and robbing virtual prostitutes or carrying out a fictional terrorist attack on a Russian airport will make you more violent, the media tells us.
[00:00:31]  Hmm.
[00:00:32]  So the Oxford Dictionary defines the phrase video game as follows.
[00:00:37]  A game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a monitor or other display.
[00:00:44]  You know what else fits this description?
[00:00:48]  Piloting military drones.
[00:00:52]  Sitting in a comfortable chair with your hands on the joysticks and your eyes focused on the monitor in front of you, you push a button and people die.
[00:01:01]  There is no respawn.
[00:01:03]  A recent study of 1,000 United States Air Force drone pilots found that 4.3% of them experienced moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder.
[00:01:12]  For comparison, between 10 and 18% of soldiers on the ground are typically diagnosed with PTSD. Among the symptoms were recurring nightmares, intrusive thoughts, trouble falling asleep, and difficulty concentrating.
[00:01:27]  People think we're sitting here with joysticks playing a video game, but that's simply not true, stated a retired Air Force officer.
[00:01:34]  These are real situations and real-life weapon systems.
[00:01:37]  Once you launch a weapon, you can't hit a replay button to bring people back to life.
[00:01:41]  When was the last time your conscience haunted you for getting a headshot in Call of Duty?
[00:01:48]  Shockingly, the brain is, in fact, able to distinguish between real and imaginary violence.
[00:01:54]  So, whenever you find yourself frustrated at the mainstream media's coverage of violent video games, remember the following principle that underlies their narrative.
[00:02:03]  Killing virtual people is bad.