Something that I think everyone can agree with, and something we have talked a lot about in class, is how frustrating it is when information is being controlled by those in power, in the right position, and in a lot of cases those with the most money. That can be from companies only telling you what they want you to know about their activities, lobbies influencing the beliefs of our leaders, and now the government not informing us how much they have been monitoring our lives. Transparency and information are everything - that is why exploring your curiosity is so important and in some contexts the internet can greatly fill that role.
As I said earlier, one of those content augmenters are lobbies, one of the biggest in my estimation has us eating right out of its hand. The TV/movies/music lobby is huge. It spent over 117 million last year and 31 million so far this year in its lobbying efforts. Personally, I think it runs deeper than that with public displays like Michelle Obama being a part of the Oscar award presentation, which is not exactly the picture of impartiality. Where I am going with this is that through all of these discussions about the increase of violence being perpetrated onto others in the context of mass shootings, stabbings, and bombings in America, the influence of TV/movies/music on our actions is never called into question. After some recent findings I am not sure science necessary backs up this lack of connection.
As first explored by Albert Bandura in the Bobo Doll experiment and now further understood by the recent discovery of mirror neurons, humans are social beings that not only interact with others but also observe and feel what others are going though, and learn from their actions as well. That is why TV, movies, video games, videos on the internet, theatre, and sports are put on such a pedestal in our culture. It is in human nature to watch, feel what others are feeling, and in our daily lives integrate new things we have seen, most of the time subconsciously. That is why when I play pick up football I run like AP, sometimes when I get frustrated with someone I just want to lock in some wrestling submission on them, or when I am leisurely hanging around my house I act like my cat. It also can inspire us to follow in the footsteps of a personal hero. Why, even if you’re not willing to admit it, you are so much like the person who raised you! This uniquely human trait has helped us advance as a society building on the success of our predecessors.
Though there can be another side to this where violence breeds violence, whether from video games, movies, violent sports, or the news. Video games show that there can be enjoyment/thrills from committing harm to others, movies can rationalize the actions of killers, violent sports may perpetuate that it is acceptable to participate in similar violent behavior, and sadly one downside of the global society is that we hear about the atrocities around the world. Just as mirror neurons can help us grow and succeed they could also lead to our downfall as a society depending on our values.
Now with that all said, I am not saying that we need to ban all of the movies, TV, or video games that have violence, lude behavior, swearing, or other undesirable human activity in them, but just make sure you know your intentions and give you some food for thought.
I admit that I don’t have all the answers and that there is still more research that needs to be done but I would love to hear what you think.
Check out the links I have provided below and sound off, respectfully, below.
The Wikipedia article about the Bobo Doll Experiment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment
A Nova Science Now video about mirror neurons:
http://dai.ly/x87351
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