Well, I'm not sure if you're obliquely referencing this or not, but the Florida legislature already did just that a week-and-a-half ago.

In response to the mass school shooting and gun control issue, and spitting in the face of the Parkland kids sitting there watching them, the Florida House of Representatives opened their session and immediately voted against even discussing the possibility of a bill to ban assault weapons (AR-15's and the like, not all guns).

They instead decided that pornography was more dangerous and that they needed to officially declare it a public health risk.

I mean, porn is more dangerous than mass murder weapons? That's just common sense.

http://thehill.com/homenews/state-wa...within-an-hour

I was serious in the sense that pornography also desensitizes people. And whether or not all this desensitization eventually leads to violence is an interesting question to me. As are other effects.

As far as what should be done about any of it, legislatively, i'm not so interested. This is the philosophy forum, right?

Indeed. Well said. Can't wait for our two top philosophers, BTM2 and Chez, to clear this up for us lesser mortals.

Dunno if pornography in general desensitizes people to violence. Seems unlikely to me but I have no theory from cognition.

If mat means pornography that depicts violence, then it seems plausible but these people are presumably already into violence so desensitisation might be good or bad.

No doubt suitable people research this stuff when they're not checking into the bleedin' obvious so maybe BTM has a clue about the data.

I don't know why sex would lead less or more sensitivity to sex. It's like what's the difference between porn actors and a people who upload their sex videos to the internet? Taste and product knowledge aren't inhibited.

The suggestion of violence from video games and the suggestion of de sensitivity because porn are both behaviors open to question for influence. Where do these suggestion come from to begin with?

watch some pornography and the spectrum of tastes. i have witnessed more than i should, perhaps. but what was shocking yesterday, shocks no more.

and do you feel more or less violent?

short answer is more.

That is the definition of desensitization. When nothing bad happens upon being repeatedly presented with a stimulus, it tends to create less of an emotional response. It is a fairly universal phenomenon, which explains why the best treatment for arachnophobia is to put the person in a small box with an extremely large number of spiders until they stop screaming.

I don't know if there is any direct link between watching porn and behaving violently. There might be an indirect link, but it is probably something something something about not going outside and interacting with other people.

isn't this entire discussion based on the fact that society is broken

the problem with defining if society is broken would inherently mean you have to define what anon broken society is

to me that is open to ones belief system

the universe has not been proven to have a limited amount of possibilities, so can it even be possible to have a non broken society however you define non broken as the universe would not follow the parameters of one definition as infinite possibilities exist

For societal stuff, desensitization to violence isn't good. We generally do best if everyone is a bit squeamish about stabbing other people.

For sexual stuff with a willing partner, well that just isn't anyone's business to worry about so long as they don't make a mess that other people have to clean up after.

a) talking about people turned on by violence- might be better if they tended more towards meh! I'm also highly skeptical that the 'willing partners only set' is a remotely significant' part of the 'sexually violent' set.

b) aren't you claiming that realistic violent games are bad for society?

I look forward to the long answer

Also details about your penis are needed in P.

I think the weapon of choice says a lot about the person committing the crime. Someone using a gun rather than something that would probably have more casualties like a bomb or poisoning the food cafeteria. Also, you could pour gasoline in the hallways possibly board up a couple of doors and start it on fire. You're also more likely to not get caught. For these shooters though, getting caught seems like the least of their worries. I think it is more of an emotional release/mental breakdown.

I think choosing a gun makes the shooting more personal. The victims get to see who is shooting them or perhaps the perpetrator feels more powerful as he guns down his victims. The only more intense kind of weapon would be a knife, but then there is always the fear of being overpowered by somebody else. A gun is a more effective way to kill people, but not the most effective.

It is my understanding that a majority of these school shootings are "loser" types. They are also mostly white males. I'm not sure if race has a strong correlation or not. The shooters tend to be in their late teens or 20s from what I've percieved. There are more than school shootings too. There are mass shootings in general.

I'm guessing shooters take this route because it allows them to get revenge on people in general who they despise for treating them poorly. I believe they have a low self esteem or feel hopelessness since suicide afterwards seems to be a popular option.

Mass shootings have become a trend for these type of people. We don't have school shootings everyday, because most people don't have this desire. It does appear to be growing in occurrence though.

It use to be an unbelievably big thing. Now it is like "oh no, another shooting", but we all know another one isn't that far away from happening.


Surprised OP didn't include the song "All the other kids with their pumped up kicks, better run better run, outrun my gun, etc..."

"Desensetisation to violence" seems a popular phrase.

Does it actually mean anything?

As far as I know, and it's good sense to ignore what little I do know, not even veteran soldiers or professional soldiers report becoming desensetised. Maybe the 1% with psychopathic traits. Most leave the army with some degree of trauma and a newfound appreciation for diplomatic problem-solving. My father and all his friends were in the bloody civil war in Bosnia 35 years ago, and none of them talk about it in terms of "becoming desensetised".

As if some kid sitting in the comfort of his living room cannot tell the difference between whats on TV and in reality. I'd wager 1%, if that, would fit in this category.

Video games and porno aren't violent. The behaviors present during video games and porno while they are made and while they are had aren't violent. The elements presently associated of violence such as fear, aggression, hate, interpersonal control, do not appear to be the impetus why video games and porno are made. We are at the bridge where simulated and portrayed violence crosses over from actual violent behavior and Impetus.

So then begin with a presupposition of desensitization, how does becoming accustomed to portrayals and simulation of violence lead to desensitization of actual violence?

People who calmly witness simulated and portrayed violence just as easily become more sensitive to actual violence because, well they can see and hear exactly what happens in portrayal in the calm privacy of home. Violence is more exposed than ever before.

Attacking survivors of violence is a behavior to explore for sensitivity influence. That's not sitting around fapping or shooting pixels.

should we throw toys into this mix also why not

when I was young I played with toys, video games that had guns and I have never owned a gun

I find violent porn to be not arousing and more repulsive then non violent porn.

sidenote, recently when buying a toy for a nephew I browsed through many toys I found very little new toys to have realistic weapons attached, what I did notice is toys based around "true hero type" to have realistic guns attached.

police, military type toys

for discussion sake IF the 2nd amnd was abolished would that not leave only cops/military to be allowed to own/use guns legally?

under that premise would that not create another situation, if one desires to use a gun that would lead them to only one path to be able to.

so would that induce a portion of that population to be only interested in being able to use weapons rather then the core spirit of those positions potentially leading to unstable behavior and putting public safety at more of a risk as the people we have securing us may actually have other motives then our safety

Yes. It actually means something. "Reduced emotional/visceral response" is what desensitization means.

Ask anyone about their first experience field dressing a deer. Or any first responders first experience coming across a murdered body.

Generally, it is best to seek knowledge if you start with "as far as I know." Use google. Spell "desensitization" correctly for best results.

Also, don't think in black and white terms. Nothing works that way in real life. To parallel your discussion of your father, I ate a salad last week and am not thin and fit. Weird, right?

The best thing would be to ask your dad whether he thinks you are more of a pussy than he is. Who would freak out more if presented with a stabbing victim?

Assuming that you are in the normal 'hairy-palmed and going blind group', I'm sure that you have noticed that tastes in materials worthy of attention tend to escalate over time.

Also, the 'willing partners only set' of those who like a bit of violence is a fairly significant part of the populace. You can click on the relevant heading for more information: https://kinseyinstitute.org/research/faq.php

Whether something is good for society depends highly on the pressures that society is facing. I doubt that video games are a huge factor in behavioral consequences for most of our current populations.

What if that 1% are the ones that are doing the mass shootings?

Absolute pestilence, all these ambo's running around murdering everybody, shooting up schools and abusing their desensitised souls in every conceivable way.
Generally I think it's best to avoid being petty. It's slightly below you.

I live in Australia; our spelling is British.
Saying a lot of stuff without saying anything. I suppose I often do the same. Keep at it.

That's where I'm leading to.

Pretty sure I'm not normal.

btw have you noticed how some get more sencetive to spelling errors the more they get exposed to, them?
This documentary on a related subject shows a once non-violent man

I wonder what % of those mass shooters that survive the attack finally regret all that they did deep down and feel the most unbearable pain ever as they relive it in memory.

I do not think we are dealing with the serial killer type of characters here. I think the capacity to regret everything, like nothing imaginable, is there for them.

In scientific society you get to have a kill your classmates day deep simulation surprise where the brain for a great while fails to realize it's a simulation dream and then after a second act of observation and reflection you get the chance to finally learn it was all a dream, yet not before the ultimate pain is in place to haunt your existence to the core. You, like a cosmic observer, get to witness the lives of those you killed. You see all with the details that make them average, good, bad, boring, selfish and brave, singularly interesting, remarkable eventually somehow sometimes and in the end deserving of sympathy, only because of all that is possible and all that joins them together and with you, the common humanity. You get to see their own sad moments, their struggles and joys, their highs and lows in a summary as the cosmic observer. Would that be finally the cure? To have been there as the killer of their future and then after the violent act is over be presented with what it was like to have been these people. To then beg the universe that you had never gone there and the universe finally giving you the chance to experience the ultimate relief! It never happened!

Yes to go there in rage and desperation and then be allowed to come back from the abyss finally knowing what will never take you back there again, empathy for the fellow humans that had the chance to experience that unbelievable miracle to be alive and witness all this complexity and its games, to fail and rise up again as their youth gives way to wisdom.

Illuminate people, reclaim the purity of their souls lost in an opportunistic, scared and insecure world as they age. Learn where the game is lost forever. Little by little the betrayal takes shape. The kid is not betrayed by itself. We all take them there somehow. So lets not! This is now our chance to regret it all and change.