Using Games To Generate Empathy For Faraway Conflicts

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For a second there I thought this was the plot for the next installment in the Call of Duty franchise. Whoops! ;)

Wearing bulky virtual reality goggles and headphones, she can see a cart selling food, cars and trucks passing by, and a group of people circled around a singing little girl. But then "all of a sudden there's like a bomb that goes off," Begalman says as she navigates her way around the virtual street. "It's completely full of dust and dirt and ... I'm sort of walking back and forth." In this virtual world, Begalman has experienced a mortar shelling from Bashar Assad's regime.
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evilsofa said:
It seems some people have forgotten what started the Syrian civil war. The unrest began when some kids spray-painted "It's your turn, doctor" on the wall of a school during the beginning of the Arab Spring. The kids were arrested and tortured for weeks. The unrest spiraled up from there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/w...efugee-who-helped-ignite-syrias-war.html?_r=0
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Yeah, and that bastard Gavrilo Princip started WWI. I'm sure everything would've been fine if he'd just stayed home, the lousy bugger.
 
evilsofa said:
It seems some people have forgotten what started the Syrian civil war. The unrest began when some kids spray-painted "It's your turn, doctor" on the wall of a school during the beginning of the Arab Spring. The kids were arrested and tortured for weeks. The unrest spiraled up from there.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/w...efugee-who-helped-ignite-syrias-war.html?_r=0
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I would like to think that wars are started for nobler causes... but get real... noble causes are just masks for power and money.
 
Begalman has experienced a mortar shelling
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UM.. NO

they experienced a video game presentation.

unless the person was knocked on their ass by the blast.. left with no ability to ear for a bit.. the smell and taste of dust and blood flooding their system.. they in no way "experienced" a mortar shelling
 
kattana said:
UM.. NO

they experienced a video game presentation.

unless the person was knocked on their ass by the blast.. left with no ability to ear for a bit.. the smell and taste of dust and blood flooding their system.. they in no way "experienced" a mortar shelling
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Reminds me of MCT.

Sure, I'd seen plenty of grenades on TV and in movies, but up until I threw one, and experienced the sound and shock... it was never the same.

And the 155s? Oh. My. God. Lived next to an Arty regiment for a bit, and when those M198s would open up.... good lord. Nothing quite like the feeling of a battery firing for effect.

Still have ringing in the ears. If we ever invent time travel I'm going back and punching myself until I put the earplugs in.
 
flashoverride said:
Reminds me of MCT.

Sure, I'd seen plenty of grenades on TV and in movies, but up until I threw one, and experienced the sound and shock... it was never the same.

And the 155s? Oh. My. God. Lived next to an Arty regiment for a bit, and when those M198s would open up.... good lord. Nothing quite like the feeling of a battery firing for effect.

Still have ringing in the ears. If we ever invent time travel I'm going back and punching myself until I put the earplugs in.
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This all day. I've experience many of those things as well and every single time I hear someone parrot bullshit like "Violent games are teaching kids how to be violent" all I hear is "I've never actually fired a gun or have any real experience so I'm going to spout my ignorant opinion anyhow". Because after firing many of the real ones I can flat tell you that the experience is not even remotely the same. You haven't experienced mortars or grenades or explosions in a video game, you experienced a soundtrack. There are things that go on in your body that simply cannot be replicated by "Speakers".
 
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