Good article for those who have a WSJ subscription. I had always rejected the notion that I hear too often; “the world is getting worse.” Certainly we are far from where we need to be and more must be done, but it is refreshing to know we are getting better. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904106704576583203589408180.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
So, TLDR version is that violence has declined to historical lows, despite human inclination towards violence, because of societal rules and the prevalence of intellect over natural instinct. I don’t think anyone will disagree with this thesis. However, I should also add that people are getting their requisite exposure to violence through other means. For instance, people derive joy from watching professional football players crush each other, MMA, wrestling, NASCAR crashes, movies, and countless other things.
im willing to fight til violence goes to zero
Gratuitous violence is become readily accepted nowadays in games and movies. Just watched the movie “Drive” which has pretty gruesome scenes including one where the protagonist repeatedly stomps on an enemy’s head, crushing it. This display would have been unacceptable some years back.
marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Gratuitous violence is become readily accepted > nowadays in games and movies. Just watched the > movie “Drive” which has pretty gruesome scenes > including one where the protagonist repeatedly > stomps on an enemy’s head, crushing it. This > display would have been unacceptable some years > back. “This claim, I know, invites skepticism, incredulity, and sometimes anger. We tend to estimate the probability of an event from the ease with which we can recall examples, and scenes of carnage are more likely to be beamed into our homes and burned into our memories than footage of people dying of old age. There will always be enough violent deaths to fill the evening news, so people’s impressions of violence will be disconnected from its actual likelihood.”
marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Gratuitous violence is become readily accepted > nowadays in games and movies. Just watched the > movie “Drive” which has pretty gruesome scenes > including one where the protagonist repeatedly > stomps on an enemy’s head, crushing it. This > display would have been unacceptable some years > back. I guess that depends on what you consider “some years back”. I remember a scene in Irréversible (2002) where a guy completely destroys another guy’s skull with a fire extinguisher. Seem to recall A Clockwork Orange (1971) being pretty violent as well, although no specific scene comes to mind.
Gratuitous violence in movies and video games is probably overstated when you consider medium to long term time horizons. Public execution was practiced in the US until the 1930s. This was more gratuitously violent than blowing up some aliens on XBox. In early civilizations, instead of watching basketball, you could go to a stadium and see people being devoured by wild beasts.
marcus phoenix Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Gratuitous violence is become readily accepted > nowadays in games and movies. Just watched the > movie “Drive” which has pretty gruesome scenes > including one where the protagonist repeatedly > stomps on an enemy’s head, crushing it. This > display would have been unacceptable some years > back. They used to execute people in public 100 years ago 250 years ago people were drawn and quartered in public. Society has become far more sensitive to real life violence then it was in the past.