There are hundreds of studies on this topic, majority of them claiming that playing violent video games leads to aggression. "Okay," you might say. "They're scientific studies, so you can't possibly argue that they're incorrect or biased."
But let's take a closer look at one of these studies. I'll use this article by researchers at University Pierre Mendès-France, Ohio Statue University, and VU University in the Netherlands.
Let's start with the very first sentence of the article.
"It is well known that violent video games increase aggression..."
Obviously, this is very scientific and helps establish credibility because well known facts are always accurate. Everyone knows that the direction that toilets flush depends on the hemisphere, cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis, Twinkies have an indefinite shelf life, and the average person swallows 8 spiders per year.
In all seriousness though, this immediately set off alarm bells. You can already tell that the study is only looking for data to prove what they think instead of looking at the results as a whole to determine if there actually is a link. It's confirmation bias, pure and simple. It seems like people are using video games as a scapegoat to distract us from the real causes of violence.
What do you think about the issue of violence in video games?
