It's No Wonder the Military likes Violent Video Games, They Can Help Train Civilians to Become Warriors

Gordon, Neve
http://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/16/its-no-wonder-the-military-likes-violent-video-games-they-can-help-train-civilians-to-become-warriors/
Date Written:  2019-08-16
Publisher:  CounterPunch
Year Published:  2019
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX23780

Most studies show no correlation between video games and violence but the adoption of computer simulations by the military and their similarity to video games should give us pause about their ethical impact on society.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Shameless xenophobia and lenient laws that allow almost every adult to buy a gun – and automatic rifles at that – play key roles in the amount of violence in the US. But we also know that mass murderers often have a history of domestic abuse, tend to lack social skills and often have few friends.

Societal violence has many causes, and while it is clear that president Trump’s statement that violent video games are partly to blame for the massacres was used to deflect attention from his hate-filled tenure in Washington DC, we can use his denunciation of video games to start a much-needed discussion about the impact of the virtual world on violence in society....

For some time now, the military has been using these games to train combat soldiers. Already in 1997, a US Marine General recognised that virtual games operate both on the body and mind and improve a soldier’s preparedness for combat. Consequently, he sent out a directive allowing the use of computer-based war games when training infantry troops for warfare.
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