Violence in the news

Subject: Violence in the news Sat Feb 16, 2008 8:24 am

From Sky news

Q.Is society becoming more violent ??

or

Q.Is there just more media coverage than ever before??

Q.With so many campus shooting spree's are there psychological problems in our young people today that are not being addressed??

Any thoughts guys.

Alan

Subject: Re: Violence in the news Mon Feb 18, 2008 5:03 pm

Hi Alan,
In regards to your first question, I think it's the latter (more media coverage than ever before). Relatively speaking, I believe societal violence levels throughout the world have been roughly the same over the ages. We just happen to live the age of technology that no place on earth is immune from being on the news these days.

As far as your second question goes, that's a deep one with many levels to explore. Basically though, I think it's as relative as the first question you asked. Violence is such a part of our "human-ness" that I believe the problems that are apparently so prevalent now have always existed but were not as openly discussed/reported, back say 50 or more years ago, as they are now. I believe the big difference lies in the more open and expansive world (relatively and limitedly speaking) society/world we live in.

We just have to look back at some of history's most heinous events (e.g. Crusades, Spanish Inquistion, Romans, Spartans, Civil Wars, Nazis and Japanese in WW II, etc, etc) to see we are no more violent today than we were in the past. Atrocious violence has existed since the dawn of man. Only now though, we are inundated with it on the news/media more so than ever before. Moreover, while the violence remains relatively the same, the means through which it is carried out have evolved as our technology, tactics, weapons, and opportunities have.

In terms of psychological problems and such, our present medical/psychological knowledge & advancements have given rise to the identification of "new" problems & dilemmas, which were previously unknown/unrecognized but probably existed in the past.

Now, the evolution of diseases, on the other hand, bothers me more. It seems that "new" diseases (AIDS, Mad Cow, Hepatitis C, MRSA, bird flu, etc) that didn't exist in the past are popping up or evolving more and more. I realize this is relative too as there were diseases in the past that have been eradicated/controlled. But with the advent of genetic/viral/bacterial engineering coming into its own for its benefits, what negative consequences will it bring in its wake? This actually concerns me more than the violence...

Anyway, back to more positive thoughts. I'm happy to be alive and healthy, living life the best I can, with a wonderful family (who are healthy and happy too) to share it with...

Take Care,
Lito
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Joined : 30 Aug 2007 Posts : 47

If you take a long view, society is amazingly non-violent. The murder rate in societies before farming was discovered was astronomical. Check out this article:

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10278703

I think that the fact that violence is relatively speaking unusual makes it much more shocking and surprising to the average person when they are exposed to violent people.

Also, in the UK, the risk to the middle class has probably gone up since the 80s. Nowadays, loads of office workers buy ex-council flats in areas that would have been considered dodgy 30 years ago.

Rupert

Admin Joined : 16 Aug 2007 Posts : 232

I always frown a little when I read reports on the hellish state of society.

I frown because I simply don't see it that way.

I freely acknowledge the good and the bad that exists in the world but I refuse to believe the doomsday scenarios that our media constantly plays out.

As a society we are enthralled by those who are red of tooth and claw. We have a fascination with horrific, violent acts and as we live in a society where the media is now a business then we are essentially customers and we are receiving what the media knows we will buy.

We have a morbid curiosity when it comes to violence. True crime books fly off the shelves, television programmes about police officers are some of the most popular on our screens, horror movies bring the public into cinemas in their millions and it is all because of the same mechanism that fires our enjoyment of danger at a safe distance. The same response that has us clamour for another ride on the roller-coaster. It is the vicarious thrill of danger without the peril.

That sells. Death, mayhem and bloodshed keeps us tuned in and that's not escaped the attention of the media heads or even the politicians who spin the media.

In conjunction with that. We have far better methods of communcation in this generation than ever before. We have instantaneous replay of events practically as they happen from anywhere across the world. We have more methods of displaying that media and more media workers than ever before. A huge platform to put those images out into the public consciousness.

For the first time we live in a world where every event can be reported. We have more information available to us than ever before. As a result we are aware of greater numbers of violent events even though the actual numbers of events taking place may well be dropping significantly. If one thousand murders take place but you only hear about one then you go about your business with a certain perception that knowledge of 100 murders would alter.

The more information we have available to us the greater the need for critical thinking and evaluation of that information. We cannot rely on others to provide us with an objective view of the world so the ability to think for ourselves and act accordingly becomes paramount.

I don't want to appear paranoid but I do believe that a society is more malleable when they are in a state of fear.

Subject: Re: Violence in the news Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:32 am

Hi Chris,
You wrote: