Essay on Video Games and Their Affects on Society

Submitted By Dia7Eleven
Words: 776
Pages: 4

Michelle Pearson
English Composition 122
Paper Two
April 9th, 2013

How Video Games Affect Society in Mass Negative Proportions

It has long been known that video games can train a psyche into something it wasn't before. Our own military is using “simulation devices” to train armies how to execute the perfect kill. Pilots are required to gain many hours of experience via flight simulators before even getting into their first bird. Doctors learn how to do complete surgeries with the use of another program which re-creates every variable possible in the operation room. These are the some of the best possible uses of technology; however, somewhere down the line video simulations became a pleasure for the deviant of mind. The simulations earned a new title, and video “games” are now causing some of the most volatile situations our people have ever seen. Neuroscience has made shocking developments in research fueled by outrage in the obvious similarities of real-life massacres and those of make-believe. In a world where computer programming has already achieved the next level, society needs to be aware that we are frighteningly close to game over for all.

Newtown, Connecticut, December 14th, 2012 is a painful reminder of what video games can lead to. A gunman of just 20 years of age begins a killing spree so devastating that for many Christmas never even came. A seemingly earnest boy spends the majority of his daily life using deadly force with an arsenal of weapons available with a simple touch of a button. The boy is well versed in trading his assault rifle for a flamethrower and knows exactly how to slay dozens or stealthily mark out one victim at a time. In real life, the boy also has a real arsenal of weapons. It is true the children he murdered were small, but they were no army. They had no wish to be soldiers just yet, only to live, laugh and play. The same earnest boy took even that from the families of Sandy Hook Elementary on a day just before Santa could visit one last time.

Video game violence is out of control. There are now many different genres to choose from which allow users to escape into more sadistic roles. Whether they attack, mar and murder zombies, agents or innocent pedestrians is all up to getting up and changing a disc. With role play as this it is easy to see how imagination is no longer necessary in the world. Daydreams can be filled with the same gory bloodshed just committed. The term “game brain” was coined by neuroscience professor Dr. Akio Mori in his attempt to find whether a connection between the brain and game truly existed. The results nearly wrote themselves in one of the most prominent books of our time.

Dr. Akio Mori, professor of Physical Education Humanities and Sciences at Tokyo's Nihon University, created a study which allowed him to measure the effect of video games on the human brain via beta waves. His study proved that avid gamers who play more