Do video games have a negative effect on young men? It depends who you ask, with some psychologists and the country of Sweden claiming that there can be benefits to playing games. Still, there are people who would like nothing more than to see the form of entertainment wiped off the planet, and they're willing to use fancy words and hide facts if it'll fool people into believing the same thing.
Dr Philip Zimbardo is releasing a book, "The Demise of Guys: Why Boys are Struggling and What We Can Do About It," and a large excerpt has been published on CNN. In the excerpt Zimbardo claims that video games and porn are leading young men to be constantly seeking instant gratification, citing a whole three (extreme examples of) people who's lives have been affected by video games and a study on rats which proved that the pleasure centre of the brain can emit a pleasurable experience and that it's possible to enjoy that experience too much.
The good doctor has missed one colossal point, and has done so purposefully. He's ignored the fact that porn and video games are an outlet, a way of alleviating stress and boredom and that any problems that lead to the overuse of any sort of entertainment – be it sitting watching films for 20 hours a day or reading book after book until your eyes bleed – are problems that existed before the invention of video games (and easy access to porn) and will continue to be problems long after there are new and more exciting ways to enjoy yourself.
The point of the book as a whole, I suspect, is far more complex than Zimbardo seems to have given it credit for and has done CNN readers – and, I suspect, people who buy the book – a disservice by letting the article be published as it is. As part of one of the first generations where men are no longer encouraged to be the bread winner, to be the head of the family, it is understandable that a portion of that gender are going to struggle to find an identity within society and blaming porn and video games is a lazy way of dismissing a change in societal structure.
Without the use of actual science, repeating tired arguments passed on by soccer moms and doom mongerers, Dr. Zimbardo has cashed in on the fear (stemming from misunderstanding) surrounding the digital world.
And the picture above is the actual picture used by CNN. Because we all know that the N64 was the root of all evil.
