# The correlation between mass shootings and video games **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 8, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221 "2018-03-08T04:30:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/61 "2018-03-24T12:45:11Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > It was literally resurrected by Trump and the NRA and Fox to try and find something else to blame than guns for the recent school shooting in Florida. > > Pure deflection and a weak attempt at that. Nothing else to it. They know their audience though. I heard on several conservative shows, and saw on a few on the web sites, a few mentions of rap music. They have no idea what they’re talking about; rap that glamorized gun culture was basically a 90s thing and seems incredibly old hat now. Let alone any evidence that the white, conservative-leaning individuals who perpetrated these recent crimes listened to such music. But it’s just the way certain people want to rationalize the world. Speaking of which… > [@Magiver](#): > > Oh well, a study. There you go. Anything like the dietary studies the government based it’s food pyramid on that were completely wrong about everything? “A study” would still be more than anyone trying to argue the other way has come up with. And no, it’s not a single study, it’s a wealth of studies, coupled with the obvious fact that as games have become popular, violent crime has dropped across all of the developed world. But sure, if you can handwave studies, you can handwave everything. > [@](#): > > But go ahead and blame an inert object for behavior issues and ignore correlations between acts committed thousands of times in games and those in real life. Games are popular everywhere. Mass shootings are not common everywhere – in most of the developed world, they’re very rare. So the “feedback loop”, as you put it, doesn’t look that clear. Now shall we look at lax gun regulations vs gun crime? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/62 "2018-03-24T15:08:32Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > But go ahead and blame an inert object for behavior issues and ignore correlations between acts committed thousands of times in games and those in real life. “Go ahead and blame this inert object, when it’s clearly the fault of this other inert object over here!” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/63 "2018-03-24T15:11:19Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > But go ahead and blame an inert object for behavior issues and ignore correlations between acts committed thousands of times in games and those in real life. “Go ahead and blame this inert object, when it’s clearly the fault of this other inert object over here!” ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/64 "2018-03-24T15:39:00Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Oh well, a study. There you go. Anything like the dietary studies the government based it’s food pyramid on that were completely wrong about everything? > > But go ahead and blame an inert object for behavior issues and ignore correlations between acts committed thousands of times in games and those in real life. Forget the obvious feedback loop for psychotic behavior. We’ll just link occasional cruelty to animals to such behavior and ignore daily reinforcement found in games. WTF? I’m not sure how else you’d look for the effects of video games on behavior without a study. How would you go about it? Just gut feel? This is very strange. Also, props to **Miller** for finding the obvious hole in your reasoning. Are you going to get back to your claim that there are no rapey games? Or, is this just going to be a shuffle? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/65 "2018-03-24T16:34:43Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > WTF? I’m not sure how else you’d look for the effects of video games on behavior without a study. How would you go about it? Just gut feel? > > This is very strange. Also, props to **Miller** for finding the obvious hole in your reasoning. > > Are you going to get back to your claim that there are no rapey games? Or, is this just going to be a shuffle? Come on, some studies have advanced conclusions that turned out to be wrong, therefore we can’t learn anything from science. The obviously correct response is to rely on gut feelings and intuition about everything. It seems only logical that violent behaviour in video games would make someone more likely to behave that way IRL, therefore it must be true. QED. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/66 "2018-03-24T16:48:02Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Come on, some studies have advanced conclusions that turned out to be wrong, therefore we can’t learn anything from science. The obviously correct response is to rely on gut feelings and intuition about everything. It seems only logical that violent behaviour in video games would make someone more likely to behave that way IRL, therefore it must be true. QED. Indeed. It seems to me that even gut feel would point the other way at this point, though, right? I could almost imagine a case to be made in the 90s when crime was higher and video games were getting more violent and more realistic. But, in the 20 years since, crime has declined while games have gotten more violent and much more realistic. Then, you have countries like South Korea, where gaming is a much bigger part of the culture, but violence not so much. If we’re only talking about mass shootings, it’s such a small sample of the population that I don’t see how you can draw any conclusions. Anyone play People Pong on the Apple II? Talk about bloody violence! ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/67 "2018-03-24T17:10:35Z")
The wonderful thing about gut feelings and intuition is that they don’t need to bear any relation to the evidence. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/68 "2018-03-24T18:05:03Z")
I do think I’d rather see Bugs Bunny cartoons banned than have to pay $200 a year to keep my anvil registered … ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/69 "2018-03-24T20:22:03Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > I do think I’d rather see Bugs Bunny cartoons banned than have to pay $200 a year to keep my anvil registered … You can have my giant magnet when you pry it from my cold dead gloves! ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221/70 "2018-03-24T20:50:44Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > But go ahead and blame an inert object for behavior issues and ignore correlations between acts committed thousands of times in games and those in real life. The inert object isn’t being blamed for “behavior issues”. It’s being condemned for the ease with which it turns behavioral issues into dead bodies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-correlation-between-mass-shootings-and-video-games/810221.md?page=3)