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April 1995, Week 1

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Subject:
From:
Ulf Dalquist <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 3 Apr 1995 15:18:09 CDT
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----------------------------Original message----------------------------
David Smith wrote (lots of things, among them):
 
>Great, so show 'em all the graphic violence they can stomach. That ought
>to calm them down and give them some constructive ideas about how to
>go about improving their lot. Right, Ulf? Wait, excuse me;
>_it has no effect on them whatsoever_.
 
Right! You got it - almost. My point is, that there is no way, never ever it's
going to be possible to prove wether media violence is harmful, good or without
effects using scientific methods. David Smith can *believe* what he wants about
the alledged effects and so can I. Because belief is what it's all about. The
'scientists' who claim that they have definite scientific proof of the media
violence's harmful effects are either cynical liars or just plain stupid. But
there's a lot of research money at stake, and it's quite easy to make a career
out of media violence research so... why not just tell people what they want to
hear, It's all the media's fault. Cutbacks in the social security hasn't got
*anything* to do with the amount of violence in society. Our fine society
doesn't breed violence in itself, since we're living in the best of all possible
worlds, anything evil must come from the outside - the media.
 
So: I claim that we can't say anything about the effects of media violence with
any scientific grounds. Then, what other grounds are there: religious?
Philosophical? Metaphysical? Or is it just the plain old "well, you see, it's
just like this..."?
 
Ulf

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