Bill O’Reilly: “We’re creating a nation of zombies here.”
As usual, Bill O’Reilly is the proverbial bull in the china shop when it comes to bringing sophistication and thoughtfulness to a discussion. This time he’s bucking up games.
In an interview with Robin Raskin, O’Reilly asks what, “effect is tech having on America.” For those of you in Canada, O’Reilly is a fairly recognizeable personality on the 24 hour Fox news station. Fox and the show, “The O’Reilly Factor,” are fairly well known for providing a right-wing approach to a number of issues. O’Reilly raised some interesting points, but he also furthered some negative biases against gamers - biases that exist only because people in general don’t understand games.
I was most struck by this quote, “Well, in 10 years, I predict this will be the biggest addiction in the history of the country.” Don’t take me out of context, but in a way, this may occur. If South Korea is any indication, then gaming has the potential to suck a lot of people in. But why? Certainly it’s not meth, or any other kind of substance (although at their discretion people can use drugs while gaming). Is it a psychological behavioral addiction? Partly, for some people. I think that our attraction to these games, and to a lesser extent television, has a different source. When the big “O’Really,” or for u g4mrs, “o rly,” predicts of children playing games, “most will be very damaged,” this has a negative polarizing effect. Let me explain.
People who don’t get games, most especially parents, but to an extent everyone, including some gamers, start to interpret addiction using models that assume that games are doing something insidious. They assume that there’s something morally or spiritually wrong with them when their religious force fails to protect them from overuse. Some people use the disease model, and assume that people playing are afflicted in some way. When you present games in such a way, it not only terrifies parents, friends, family, and even some therapists and educators - but it puts gamers in a bad place. If your hobby is playing video games, then you’re in for a world of hassle. Not only does this piss off healthy gamers, but it makes problem gamers even less likely to seek help for overuse thats hurting them.
This polarization happens among all aspects where games and real life see contention - be it legislation, violence, addiction, the really big issues. Gamers feel misunderstood, but they’re not helpless. There are a lot of them, and some of the most prominent people in the world are gamers, be they entertainers, CEOs, or what have you. O’Reilly made a lot of comments misrepresenting games, but he’s not the only one. Failing to understand this technology does a disservice to the media in general, a journalist’s audience and the future of our world.
Neils Clark :: Dec.19.2006 :: Game Addiction ::
[...] These technologies mix together creating amalgamations, combinations of technology that are truly unique. If we want to sift out what is moral and amoral about games (as per our individual tastes at any rate), then we need to understand the critiques of past technologies, creating unique critiques for the present ones. Pundits and politicians can generate a great deal of buzz by tapping into the public’s fear (see Bill O’Reeaaally on game addiction) , but that’s doing the world (not just America, mr orly), a disservice. Games have a great deal to offer, as well as a great deal to be wary of. They’re something to keep an eye on, not something to forced down the garbage disposal. [...]
[...] Sure, I’m excited to see this because I might be in it (w00t!), but of course there’s more. There’s so much bad information out there, info that slates gamers as some kind of degenerate subculture. Pundits like Bill O’Really, Experts like Kimberly Young, and even some gamers see play as some kind of illicit substance. They spread information that doesn’t understand gaming, causing good aspects of games to fall by the wayside, making it less likely that harmful elements are correctly identified and appropriately handled. [...]