[x86x87]

you know, the same kind of discourse used to be applied around videogames. The claim was that they will turn kids into murderers. In reality: video games make you smarter and may even contribute to kids being more social.

It's the perpetual protestant bullshit that has plagued the society in US for hundreds of years now. God forbid we see a breast or are exposed to a dick or mention the possibility of inserting something into an asshole - everything will break down.

[acdha]

There’s a key difference: nobody thinks playing a game is practicing for a real career as a space marine or heroic paladin. There’s a ton of research published about how teenagers and young adults do pick up unrealistic or even harmful ideas from porn because, unlike almost all games, it is depicting a part of life they will actually practice. Worse, various sex negative cultural beliefs mean that there are a ton of people who are not getting countervailing information – you could argue, for example, that teenagers playing GTA encourages bad driving but they will have good examples from their parents & neighbors, classes, etc. explaining how it really works.

[x86x87]

Well. Nobody used to believe this. If you subscribe to the idea that porn alters your perception of reality I don't see why you can extend it to: videogames alter your perception of reality.