[chiefalchemist]

That was the point I was trying to make.

I'd like to add, there's a current advert for an Xbox game, the backing track is the Beach Boys "Wouldn't it Be Nice." In any case shooting galore...as a Xmas gift? We're on the cusp of legit virtual reality and our goto is still kill kill kill?

This is why we can't have nice things.

[manfredo]

I'm not sure why relegating destructive tendencies to virtual worlds is a bad thing. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that humans have innate proclivity to violence. The percentage of men who die violently (as in, at the hands of other humans) is around 25%. This is compared to ~2% in the 20th century, and even less today. Many mammals' forms of play function as preparation for violence (either capturing play, or evading from it). There's strong reason to suggest that humans innately find violence entertaining and compelling - at least some forms of violence.

The fact that we've managed to relegate this behavior to the virtual world, rather than the real one, seems to be a good thing to me.

[perl4ever]

"The percentage of men who die violently (as in, at the hands of other humans) is around 25%."

Did you mean to qualify this? You meant at some particular point in time?

[manfredo]

Oh yeah, that figure was the rate in pre agricultural societies.