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Ellen Roskovich wrote:
<blockquote cite="midBAY130-F36DC9E535FD0005EA456C9E20E0@phx.gbl"
type="cite">
<div style="">
<p><strong>Video games? Don't get me started! Fantasy and reality.
. . some never get it.</strong></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
If they "never get it", then they have a problem already. If the line
between fantasy and reality is already blurred for them, then any
stimulus might set them off or cause an accident. A video game, a
physical group game like paintball, a good book, a movie, or simply
their imagination can do it. The problem is not the video game as
"enabler", it's their inability to determines what's real.<br>
<br>
I'm fed up with the Jack Thompsons of the world (google him if you
don't know who he is). He thinks Grand Theft Auto is a "cop killing
simulator". What gets me is the people that say these things have
never played a video game more complicated than solitaire or bejeweled
in their lives. Frankly, it makes me wonder if they are the ones with
the problem with discerning fantasy from reality.<br>
<br>
I've played many video games. I've shot fireballs at cacodemons, blown
up gangsters cars, shot soldiers with a sniper rifle, run over aliens
with an all-terrain vehicle, run over pedestrians for points, beaten up
a female ninja while playing as a purple-haired schoolgirl, and have
even chased a random person around a map with a baseball bat just for
the fun of it. I've also jumped off of multi-story buildings, tried to
take on a tank with a hand gun, fired a rocket launcher at my feet, and
have reversed direction in a Nascar race just to see what the player
death animations or crash scenes look like. Now, many of you are
probably nodding your heads because you've found that that explains
much about me you could never quite put your finger on, but I'd like to
believe that it's actually changed my real-life violence quotient
exactly jack-all.<br>
<br>
To tie this into a subject Ted has mentioned in another post, many male
junior high
students get more real-life exposure to establishment-sanctioned
violence by playing football. Personally, I don't have a problem with
that either, but it's more realistic than video games because you are
actually hitting people with your body instead of pressing left on the
left thumb joystick while simultaneously holding down the A and X keys.<br>
<br>
Here are the only times I can think of when video games have intruded
upon my normal reality:<br>
<br>
1. Sometimes while playing Quake with a group of friends my adrenaline
levels will rise, especially if they keep lobbing grenades at me from
high places.<br>
<br>
2. I've found it best not to go for a drive immediately after playing
a couple of hours of Need for Speed without a break as I tend to drive
more aggressively than normal.<br>
<br>
3. I've sometimes had dreams where I am running around a map in Quake,
with the pixelated graphics and everything. Usually after a multi-hour
session of Quake has just been completed.<br>
<br>
4. When I've just finished playing Tetris, I keep trying to make the
shapes in my visual field drop and interlock with each other for a few
seconds.<br>
<br>
Anyway, I guess my main point is that people know where the line
between fantasy and reality is: it's one of the most fundamental
concepts they ever learn. Children below a certain age will not and
people with actual specific psychological problems may not. Everyone
else does, since it's a survival trait. You may pretend that the red
glowing burner is cold, but reality has a way of asserting itself in
those kinds of situations.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="midBAY130-F36DC9E535FD0005EA456C9E20E0@phx.gbl"
type="cite">
<div style="">
<p><strong>Here's a "team-building exercise" Ellen-style: put your
team in a canoe with a paddle and a life jacket. You don't hold your
own, you lose your paddle. You still don't pull your weight, the other
team members throw you overboard. Wow! Bet we soon have an
award winning team!!</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hey, folks, don't get too uptight. . . it's just
"fantasy". . . .</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ellen A. Roskovich </strong></p>
<p><br>
<br>
</p>
<blockquote
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style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">
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<hr color="#a0c6e5" size="1"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">From: <i>Paul
Rumelhart <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com"><godshatter@yahoo.com></a></i><br>
To: <i><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a></i><br>
Subject: <i>Re: [Vision2020] [Bulk] Re: church and paintball</i><br>
Date: <i>Sun, 01 Jul 2007 09:13:39 -0700</i><br>
<br>
<meta content="Microsoft SafeHTML" name="Generator">
In my opinion, as long as you have a good grasp of the line between
fantasy and reality it shouldn't be a problem. In that respect, it's
like video games. <br>
<br>
I've played paintball, and it has more in common with the old games we
used to play in the woods as boy scouts than it does with actual
military training or conditioning. You know it's not real, which
completely changes the dynamic. Nobody is drilling you, telling you
how you might just kill somebody if you screw up, nobody is making it
plain that other lives may one day depend upon your performance. It's
just fun.<br>
<br>
A lot of companies use it as a team-building exercise, because (if you
want to win) it forces you to rely upon someone else and to be relied
upon to achieve a goal. It also enhances your problem-solving skills.
I see no conflict with religious groups doing the same thing, myself.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Ellen Roskovich wrote:
</font>
<blockquote cite="midBAY130-F37A7A531B905309E874D15E20E0@phx.gbl">
<div>
<p><font style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><strong>Dancing
and making joyous noise is a far cry from slithering around in the
bushes, taking pot shots at your buddies and keeping score on how many
kills you have.</strong></font></p>
<p><font style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><strong>Call
me a fuddy duddy if you wish. No, I'll even do it for you. . . I'm a
fuddy duddy. I do not like organized "games" that condition people to
kill off their fellow humans. </strong></font></p>
<p><font style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><strong>I
would cringe at any group organizing this activity for kids and it
would have opened the door for "discussion" at our household.</strong></font></p>
<p><font style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><strong>Ellen
A. Roskovich</strong></font></p>
<p><font style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><strong></strong><br>
<br>
</font></p>
<blockquote
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<hr color="#a0c6e5" size="1"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">From: <i>"g.
crabtree" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:jampot@adelphia.net"><jampot@adelphia.net></a></i><br>
To: <i><a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><vision2020@moscow.com></a>,
"Mark Solomon" <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
href="mailto:msolomon@moscow.com"><msolomon@moscow.com></a></i><br>
Subject: <i>Re: [Vision2020] church and paintball</i><br>
Date: <i>Sun, 1 Jul 2007 07:26:41 -0700</i><br>
<br>
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<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
face="Arial" size="2">Absolutely! Any time the Churched strip off
their sack cloth and ash and venture forth from their cloisters I worry
that they might have something resembling a good time. Next thing you
know they'll be dancing and making a joyous noise and goodness knows we
can't have any of that.</font></font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"> </font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
face="Arial" size="2">g</font></font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"> </font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"> </font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"> </font></div>
<blockquote
style="padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;">
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">-----
Original Message ----- </font></font></div>
<div
style="background: rgb(228, 228, 228) none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><b>From:</b> <a
title="msolomon@moscow.com" href="mailto:msolomon@moscow.com">Mark
Solomon</a> </font></font></div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><b>To:</b> <a
title="vision2020@moscow.com" href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</a>
</font></font></div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><b>Sent:</b>
Sunday, July 01, 2007 5:32 AM</font></font></div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><b>Subject:</b>
[Vision2020] church and paintball</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br>
</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">Does anyone
else find this as disturbing as I do? (I'd post a link to the full
story, the rest of which is a straight business story about paintball,
but the Tribune is a subscriber only website.)</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br>
</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">Mark</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br>
</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;">*********</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><br>
</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
color="#000000"><b>Aiming for fun, with a license to thrill</b></font></font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
color="#000000"><br>
</font></font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
color="#000000"><br>
</font></font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
color="#000000">By Elaine Williams of the Tribune<br>
Sunday, July 1, 2007<br>
<br>
<br>
Church groups are among the most frequent customers of FTW Paintball, a
store that recently opened in Lewiston.</font><br>
</font></font></div>
<div><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,sans-serif;"><font
color="#000000">The organizers find that playing paintball is a way to
create relationships among their members, said Marty Frostad, owner of
the business.</font></font></font></div>
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