Design Response

Argumentitive Essay

Our Fascination With Violence



Some research also shows that throughout our evolution, an innate tendency towards fighting shaped human anatomy. Biologist David Carrier’s 2015 paper suggested, a
buttressed fist
, one with the thumb closed against the index and middle fingers, provides a safer way to hit someone with force. Given that none of our primate cousins can make such a fist, Carrier suggests that our hand proportions may have evolved specifically to turn our hands into more effective weapons. Other biologists have presented studies about our foot posture as an adaptation for fighting performance. Some even claim that male facial features are more robust than females because of their ability to withstand a punch. Though the study may not be as well-received in some fields, many still consider violence a by-product of society, a learned behavior. And this school of thought has sparked a valuable discourse about how humans are prewired to commit and indulge in violence.


As technology development in entertainment progresses, one of the biggest moral panics in the United States' history emerged in the 1970s. Parents nation-wide raised their concerns about whether video games' popularity would dramatically influence their children and turn them into little violent beings. With the popularity of video game titles like
‘Death Race’
—an arcade coin-op game designed for people to drive around town and run over pedestrians— people started the open discourse of whether violent video games would negatively impact society's morale. The fact that the medium is interactive makes this new form of entertainment unprecedented and terrifying to some.


While video games are being pinned as the source of violent behaviors and hate crimes, research still struggles to find correlations. Surprisingly, the result of one particular survey suggests quite the contrary. The survey indicates that the criminal rate only goes down instead of going up when big production violent video game titles are released. The meta-data analysis gathered criminal rate records from the FBI. It zeroed in on several dates of M-rated big-title releases, including the likes of Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, Call of Duty Black Ops, etc. While the survey intended to determine whether these games affect aggravated assault and homicides, the results astonishingly suggest otherwise. Specifically, monthly changes in violent crime were examined for continuous periods of 1 to 12 months after the release of these violent video games. This methodology provides insight into whether these violent video games' release predicted violent crime over and above the prediction derived from understanding the trends and cycles of violent crime, up to one year after these games were released. The survey result suggested that video games have very little casual risk in affecting people to commit crimes, instead it somehow released the pressure.


With more exploration of virtual experiences, we have finally found this threshold where the impossible in reality is possible in an alternative world. The vicarious violence can now be interactive. Instead of witnessing, people can be directly involved in decision-making and interaction. With the invention of open-world games, sandbox games, and customizable platforms, we have finally found an outlet to express our innate tendency towards violent emotions.


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