Can Video Games Cause Violence?

As a gamer I've had to overhear or put down some stupid claims about gaming, including the ideas that gamers are lazy or unintelligent [1] or that video games aren't art [2].  One such asinine claim is the assertion that video games cause violent behavior or attitudes.  Whether the claimers are paranoid parents or ignorant politicians, some people insist that this myth is correct.  Reason and reality reject this conclusion entirely despite its affirmation by some.

Occasionally someone will cite an alleged study in an effort to "prove" that a causal connection exists between video games and violent actions.  Not only are studies and statistics themselves not ultimately reliable as epistemological tools, but the conclusions drawn from the studies also often contradict reason, resorting to fallacies like slippery slopes, begging the question, post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after does not mean because of"), non sequiturs, and circular reasoning.  Anyone who sides with a study conducted by another person over the infallible light of logic, simply put, has nothing valid to offer.  The flaws of studies differ depending on the type of study conducted--incomplete or dishonest self-reporting, extrapolation of data, assumptions on the part of those conducting the study, possible inability for a study to explain the results even if the results were accurately recorded and understood, etc.

God of War Collection (PS Vita), Killzone Mercenary (PS Vita), and Mortal Kombat
(PS Vita), three games I own for my PS Vita which feature violent gameplay.

People who are already violent might be attracted to entertainment featuring violence, meaning that even if they did commit acts of actual violence the entertainment they consume is not the cause, as their own minds and hearts are.  This is directly comparable to how the human body does not and cannot cause sexual objectification; only the minds of those who objectify are guilty of this [3], contrary to some grave societal misunderstandings about the issue.  I know that I have free will [4], meaning that I am in control of my actions, not the contents of any screen before me.  No video game (or movie or image or book) can make me commit an outward action.  I and I alone am responsible for my actions.  Logically speaking, watching a series--any series--of fluid images onscreen while inputting button press combinations does not mean that I will assault, murder, kidnap, rape, or otherwise harm or endanger anyone, just like the fact that I watch and love the Saw movies does not mean I am or will become a serial killer.  It just does not follow.  There is no logical connection between playing a violent game and enacting violence.

There is also no rational or Biblical line anywhere between the violence of games like Horizon Zero Dawn and that of much more brutal games like God of War III dividing acceptable violence from something that "goes too far".  Search for such a line described in the Bible--there isn't one.  Argue for any line you can think of--you will only be assuming something you can't demonstrate to be true.  This means that people hoping to argue that violent video games cross an objective moral line past which depictions of violence in entertainment are inherently immoral have nothing to legitimately appeal to.

Gaming is simply not as societally accepted as other forms of entertainment that require far less immediate intellectual engagement.  With its lack of acceptance, at times, comes a tendency for people to demonize video games.  Some people search for scapegoats on which they can cast redirected blame for events, and thus sometimes entertainment becomes a scapegoat for the criminal actions of a handful of gamers.  But gamers do not have to worry about these accusations, and they need not feel guilt for playing games which feature violence.  If someone is not comfortable with general violence or specific forms of it in entertainment, though, he or she does nothing wrong by abstaining from entertainment which contains them.


[1].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/05/gaming-and-intellect.html

[2].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-artistic-legitimacy-of-gaming.html

[3].  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-cause-of-sexual-objectification.html

[4].  See here:
A.  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/09/explaining-free-will.html
B.  https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/07/reason-refutes-determinism.html