Learning war no more

 It used to be the case that the psychological studies seemed to indicate that video games didn't cause violence. I guess that they were mainly showing that there was not a direct causal link. But I had always thought that it wouldn't be a direct link, rather it would be creating dispositions and habits of thought -a 'mentality' as I expressed it, more likely to result in violent attitudes and in turn attitudes would be more likely to foster behaviours. The obverse side to that would be that by funding our imaginations so heavily with responses of violence and aggression, we are failing to develop a repertoire of reactions and attitudes that could lead to non-violent outcomes, defusing tension, reconciliation etc.


So, yet more research has been added to the more recent discoveries in research that indeed the intuition I (and others) had is broadly correct. So:

Children who repeatedly play violent video games are learning thought patterns that will stick with them and influence behaviors as they grow older, according to a new study. The effect is the same regardless of age, gender or culture. The lead researcher says it is really no different than learning math or to play the piano.

Life lessons: Children learn aggressive ways of thinking and behaving from violent video games, study finds -- ScienceDaily:

 Of course, we now have a problem: the earlier directly causal research now inhabits a broad public perception of the matter so there's a culturally significant attitude that we don't have to worry about violence in computer games or on television because it doesn't cause violence and it might even be cathartic. So we have a challenge to reverse that now that we know better: we have to try to get the attitude changed to one of 'garbage in, garbage out: violence in gaming trains us in violent reactions and attitudes'.



Then, what we've got to do is find ways to develop games that are engaging, 'fun' and credible but which 'train' us in conflict resolution and fund imaginations for non-violent reacting. I wonder if anyone is trying to do that?

Imagination's power

As a some-time life coach, it's intriguing to see something that has at least anecdotal evidence to support it now has a fig-leaf of scientific respectibility: "'an idea that has long been espoused by motivational speakers, sports psychologists, and John Lennon alike: The imagination has the extraordinary capacity to shape reality.'" It's about imagining yourself doing things successfully helping to improve your success rate.

I think I'd relate this to a couple of things theologically: one is the Lord's prayer, the final clause about 'not into temptation', if prayed imaginatively (as I encourage in my book on the prayer) then this would seem to indicate that it could activate a psychological mechanism which would aid the prayist -leaving aside any divine help.n So that's maybe worth considering further.

The other thing would be the connection to language and imagination borne out of reflecting on Genesis 2 and blogged elsewhere this blog ('homo loquens').

Power Of Imagination Is More Than Just A Metaphor:

routine exercise of imagination

Fast Company | Fast Forward 2005: 67-70: Couldn't help wondering what Church would look like if we took this idea seriously. "one of the most intriguing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission is 'to find a way of routinizing, even bureaucratizing, the exercise of imagination.' In every organization, bureaucratic or not, liberating imagination is at the core of competitive advantage. How to do so? The commission suggests: creating a team that regularly dishes up analysis from the perspective of the enemy, or in business terms, your toughest competitor; developing a set of telltale indicators to better predict an attack, perhaps a rival lining up a key supplier; having a management process to monitor and act on such signals; and ensuring that someone is held accountable for it all."

It fits in with my feeling that decision-making bodies in church could do with training in things like the Edward de Bono mind tools and where use of stuff like 'six thinking hats' was normal ...