Pacifier

Small note:
Jack Thompson seems n some sort of crusade. He also blamed the videogame "manhunt" for a crime in the UK. Problem is, the game was found at the victim (link) . But that don't stop Thompson to blame the game. (link)

I don't see much of an influence, sure those games are not really "rolemodels" they do not show you how to behave properly. But they offer a bit of relief, perhaps a way to deal with frustrations of your daily life. To most people I know it is quite clear that those are games show a virtual world. I can differ between real and virtual behaviour. Of course this requires some sort of maturity, but thats why those game are rated "M"
I not influenced by those some-thousends of murders I have committed virtually, I still oppose any form of violence in real life.

I see more danger in real "anti-social messages", be it goverment propaganda or bad in influential press coverage. Like the press coverage about the "manhunt" case, the press failed completey to pay attention to the drugs involved and focused only on the game.

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"It seems to me that the idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I cannot take seriously. I also cannot imagine some will or goal outside the human sphere. Science has been charged with undermining morality, but the charge is unjust. A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death
— Albert Einstein