The Mean World Syndrome - Desensitization & Acceleration

I always believed the media was up to something with the amount of garbage they broadcast. Many of you would argue that a child's behavior depends upon upbringing. I have to agree that family life plays a major role in molding childrens futures and the decisions they make in life, But can all the parents in the world keep up with a billion dollar industry doing the exact opposite?.

The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that “the introduction of television in the 1950′s caused a subsequent doubling of the homicide rate". “…if, hypothetically, television technology had never been developed, there would today be 10,000 fewer homicides each year in the United States, 70,000 fewer rapes, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults!”.

The amount of violence surrounding me is ridiculous, I can no longer spend time peacefully without confrontations and a few fights here and there. The other night (Saturday) I went out with my girlfriend when a bunch of guys pushed me and claimed that I stepped on him. You do not have to lose your life or injure someone over a pair of tennis shoes. I talked to him and was polite and apologized but clearly he wasn't having any of that and attacked me. Well he got what he had coming and the next thing i know all of them were apologizing to me on his behalf. It seems like teenagers and young adults these days just craze for violence, They can never get enough of it. It's time we draw a fine line and understanding between entertainment and real life.

Desensitization & Acceleration

For years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally.

Good topic. I think the news and the internet are probably the worse. Older adults tend to watch TV for their news, and see some of the more negative, violent reports. Younger adults get their news from the internet, and tend to feel more superior to TV news viewers for doing so, but even then, the negative stories are more and of a higher degree than what is shown on TV. Young people are seeing worse things than adults are in some ways.

that video is sickening,,,you're so very right and this is a uber-important subject in a critical time in history..we need to change this asap, but how? it's so deeply indoctrinated already...

i believe spiritually this can be explained by overwhelming male force in society. Mars/Male attributes exaggerated in the most violent and power-mongering of ways. undoubtedly humans today are dominated by the male mind and male ego. part of the aquarian age and current consciousness expansion is a rise of the divine female/mother gaia/venus. we will see, it will change...

Nice post OP I agree with everything stated. These days we are bombarded with violence and the pursuit of wealth on a daily basis. There is no denying that this has an effect on the masses young and old alike.

Everything on the boob tube seems to gravitate towards violence or obtaining material goods at all costs.

I can honestly say that over the years I have become desensitized to many things although I hate to admit it. I see videos of war and violence and it just seems worlds away and basically like nothing new. We have been at war for so long that it is just a part of the American culture at this point and the media and other businesses do not take this for granted. Just look at all of the violent movies and TV shows out there and not to mention video games. How can people really grasp how terrible these things are when they spend their time blowing their friends heads off playing games or seeing the same kind of things in movies and TV.

At this point in time we live in a dog eat dog world that perpetuates this kind of thinking to the highest levels. People are willing to step all over others as long as they are able to obtain the things they want.

As long as these things seem like just another movie or game people are deprived of the true magnitude these events have on the people who actually live them.

Edit to Add: As for the encounter you had with the guy who tried to harm you... That is something that is becoming more common. These mindless little pricks watch the UFC and other fighting matches and think that because they have seen these fights that they are now a bad-ass. I see these people all the time when I go downtown to drink with my buds. It's easy to spot them just look for an affliction or Tap Out T shirt and steer clear of those idiots. BTW I do like the UFC but I don't have delusions of grandeur that make me think I can fight because I watch MMA.

We are breeding a generation of sociopaths. It's scary

That's why I try to keep my nephews form watching certain things
But I'm not the parent so it's only so much I can do.

That's why in order for this world to truly ascend, the infrastructure..
will have to be destroyed...a abrupt destruction too.

I worry about the future :-/

Doesn't surprise me.

The world is full of a lot of mean people.

I mean reality tv shows are all about who can be the meanest and cause the most hurt and drama to another. People love it and copy it.

I work around all women and they are a mean bunch. I don't know why people have to be so mean to another person. I actually get called stuck up because I don't talk to anyone. I am polite to everyone and somehow because I don't hate and gossip about everyone I am the stuck up one. I consider myself the mature one. I dont like drama and see no point in being a bully to another. Most if not all do it for fun and it's sick.

I go out all the time by myself and people are always looking at you up and down and sizing you up. I have been cursed at many times for no reason. I ignore it and keep walking. I just dont care and I wont waste my time on that crap.

People need to stop watching crap on tv and listening to crap on the radio and get out and do something productive that doesnt involve hurting others for sport.

Great thread.

I see the impact of television and video games on our society all the time. I can only imagine what the kids who grew up playing Call of duty from age ten, and watching saw are gonna be like. We are dehumanizing our society. It is a crime against ourselves that we have become less human.
I was recently watching that series Pillars of the Earth. A week before I had watched a particularly violent show called Rome. It dawned on me that I was less entertained by pillars because it lacked the same amount of gratuitous violence. I noticed this, but do most people? Do children have the facilities to filter this violence?
Watch the wikileaks Collateral damage video for a second.

Now watch the first minute of Call of Duty gameplay(watch out loud bad music)


Is it any wonder these soldiers joke about killing innocent people? They have been desensitized long before they reached the battlefield.

It is up to every parent to ensure that societal systems do not raise there children into blood thirsty drones. My children are gonna watch no tv, and play little video games. It will be hard on them in ways, but there humanity is more important than schoolyard ostracism.

reply to post by Serizawa


I have experienced this first hand myself. I have been involved with the ah... Less than savory (criminal) aspects of society. There, you expect it. It is 'normal'. But even in mainstream society under the fluorescent lights (at the PX) while the sun was still up, I have experienced this. Which isn't what shocked me. People brawl; it happens. What shocked me was the crowd gathered around, many of them with this stupid grin and maniacal gleam in their eye. I remember looking up at one guy (he was over six foot, with sergeant stripes on his uniform), and he looked down at me right in the eye and grinned as if to say "Good show right? Aren't we lucky?"

Nobody stepped in. They just stood there and watched two (admittedly big, tall girls) use each other as punching bags by the shoe section. It was bizarre. Finally the guy in the shoe department and I (after the look around, and realizing no one else was going to clamp down on this), made eye contact, and he grabbed one and I grabbed the other and we put a stop to it. We were the smallest people there (unless you count my 18 month old daughter who was standing there in her socks watching her mom twist someones else's arm behind her back. Okay not smart, I admit but nobody else was DOING anything.) Both of those girls had at least 50 lbs on either one of us, while full grown men were standing around grinning like it was a show put on for them. I was pi**ed, but the look on the faces of the "audience" was scary. Really creepy.

I had a horrible experience that really took me aback recently, because I had been sheltered from how psychopathic people can be. In this other chatforum website, a guy there used his knowledge of my traumatic military experience and present life situation with disabilities, to throw it in my face, when I wouldn't respond the way he wanted, and tell him things he wanted to know. When I reacted to his being an as***le, he said, "go talk to your therapist, why aren't you with your therapist?" and ridiculing like that. He only knew an extremely small amount of information about me and how my life had gone, and I was not pushing my stories, I only wanted to lowprofile chatforum about diverse things. Even worseley, he demanded personal personnel documents from me, faxed or fedex, to prove to him my previous military status, or he would declare me a liar if I did not. Of course I am aware this is bullying and I am no-one's obay robot, how stupid.

reply to post by TV_Nation


I have also been desensitized, To a point where i no longer fear death and war. This is not what life should be like, Life should be full of emotion both positive and negative but none the less we should not live like robots.

As for the incident i had, The only reason i fought back was because my girlfriend was there and I didn't want her to get hurt. I was a fan and have trained in mixed martial arts but never once have i walked around showing people how tough I am, I must admit i did it for a week (Only acted like this towards people who were going around in groups trying to act tough and bullying people) and I outgrew it. I've noticed life is all a big competition, Who's the richest, Who got the prettiest girls, Who got the best cars and house, Who's got the best physic. We can only escape this mental prison when we learn to put material wealth and status to a lesser importance.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Trust me, I've been there and have been called all sorts of things because I never socialize with idiots. There was a time all the girls started spreading rumors saying i wasn't straight because I refused to flirt with them, Luckily the right girl came along and i rubbed it in all their faces. Take the names, And ignore it and in the end it just makes them look stupid. I'll give you a little tip when people size you up never look at them in the face, Go about your business and ignore them (Something that could have saved me a lot in my youth).

reply to post by redhorse


I believe you did the right thing as a mother. You daughter will understand your actions when she's older. Another incident that really troubled me happened about three weeks ago, I was walking out of a shopping mall with my girlfriend and there was a group of college kids hanging around the parking lot. I saw this really nice 2010 Mercedes Benz S600 pull up and out comes a Chinese man, To my surprise the college kids start hurling nasty insults at him and called him "yellow man" several times. I almost lost my mind but thank God my girlfriend was there once again to calm me down. The man ignored them and went along with his business and i thought....Hmm if he can ignore them then why can't i?. This kind of behavior is just shocking.

reply to post by simone50m


I'm sorry to hear this and i believe we should never ever look down or ridicule people with disabilities. This happens everywhere and the internet is full of trolls and 13 year old kids trying to boost their egos.

Originally posted by metalshredmetal
i believe spiritually this can be explained by overwhelming male force in society. Mars/Male attributes exaggerated in the most violent and power-mongering of ways. undoubtedly humans today are dominated by the male mind and male ego. part of the aquarian age and current consciousness expansion is a rise of the divine female/mother gaia/venus. we will see, it will change...

edit on 2/3/11 by metalshredmetal because: rise of the female

Ha, I'd say the opposite. There is an overwhelming female force in society. Even in schools you see that influence. There are plenty of women, hard to find men.

This is why people shouldn't have kids if they cannot raise them properly, it is the parents that use the T.V, internet, movies, etc to watch their children, this is exactly how George Soros wants it.

double post.

Excellent thread.

And now, an important question. Why do we stand for it? Put up with it? Take it?

Maybe because if we try to say something we get shot down as being "nannies" or civil rights violators? I don't know.
There might not be a way to fix this. But it soon might be fixed for us.

S&F Looking forward to reading more from everyone.

Edited my above post to answer to some of the previous posts.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Well it is a topic that cannot we cannot ignore much longer. As soon as we speak out against the mass brainwashing done by the media we get the "Oh parents should raise their children better". As i stated above it is nearly impossible for parents to regulate their children in a manner where we will no longer let them listen to music, watch TV, use the internet, use a cell phone or even socialize. Peer pressure also plays a major role in childrens lives and as the saying goes "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel".

I've always wondered why there's so much violence on television.
I don't know what the fascination is with seeing others get killer or hurt.
But yeah,totally agree there's why too much of it.

reply to post by Serizawa

You're preaching to the choir, Serzawa. My son was raised right. He won't propagate it, but you're right, until all the children are raised right, someone else will. It won't end until it is ended for us, and that won't be fun. This is a vicious cycle, I'm afraid. We've backed ourselves into a corner.

reply to post by Rockdisjoint


So are you suggesting that every time a youth attacks me i should give him what he deserves then take his cell phone, call his mother and tell her she should have raised her kid better?

What we need to do is educate people on some of the dangers of negative media and how it may/will affect their children.

reply to post by Serizawa


Its the last raging stab of the age of Kali Yuga.

In relation to rulers

-Rulers will become unreasonable: they will levy taxes unfairly.
-Rulers will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, or to protect their subjects: they will become a danger to the world.
-People will start migrating, seeking countries where wheat and barley form the staple food source.

In human relationships

-Avarice and wrath will be common. Humans will openly display animosity towards each other.
-Ignorance of dharma will occur.
-People will have thoughts of murder for no justification and they will see nothing wrong with that mind-set.
-Lust will be viewed as socially acceptable, and sexual intercourse will be seen as the central requirement of life.
-Sin will increase exponentially, whilst virtue will fade and cease to flourish.
-People will take vows only to break them soon after.
-People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs.
-Men will find their jobs stressful and will go to retreats to escape their work.
-Gurus will no longer be respected and their students will attempt to injure them. Their teachings will be insulted and -followers of Kama will wrest control of the mind from all human beings. Brahmins will not be learned and honoured, -Kshatriyas will not be brave, Vaishyas will not be just in dealings and Shudras will not be honest and humble to their duties and to the other castes.

reply to post by Serizawa


Um, no, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying with the way the economy is and how much parents have to work nowadays, there isn't much anyone can really do. I was just saying that parents often times use media to baby sit their kids, and until parents start being parents again nothing will really change.

Parents are responsible for their children's actions. They are supposed to teach their children, right and wrong, what's good and what's bad, what's real and what's fake. They should be monitoring what their children are watching and are interested in. I understand that parents can't be around 24/7 and the media is every where but, if society wasn't so grossly interested in violence then the children wouldn't see it on television and it wouldn't be played on television.

I'm pretty sure most parents already know the negative effects that the media has on their children but what can they really do about it? As you already said "it is nearly impossible for parents to regulate their children". There are concerned parental groups that try to censor and change these things but they get very little support, they are often told that they are too "sensitive", etc.