This is a topic that I think is very important and today I wanted to weigh in on it. The blog, Urban Survival, has addressed it the last two days fielding lots of backlash over all sides discussed. What I would like to add is my two cents, well not really mine, but the idea of "pretend" images and what role they play in our "real" world.
Albert Einstein once said that imagination was more important than knowledge. But why it is important is the real issue. Reality is built in the imagination. It is easy to throw around ideas like "everything is an illusion" or "thought creates our reality," but what is at the basis of all of this is that the idea comes before the effect. I've yet to see proof that effect can come before cause.
But what is the "cause" that creates the effect of this world? It is thought which is both observation and imagination. The science of it all can be understood when you look at how our brainwaves operate as well as the chemicals in our bodies to create images and memories. The image does not come before the idea of it first - it just all happens faster than you knew you could think!
So why is the idea of movies or video games having an impact in the real world so important? Each image imprints upon our minds unless we have the ability to view them without allowing their associated idea to imprint upon us. That takes skill and practice. Studies have shown those who watch repeated images of a violent scene are more likely to experience PTSD than those who don't - this include both those who experienced the event live or just saw it on TV. Images affect us by creating effects within us.
So why do people get SO angry when you suggest that maybe watching and playing hours and hours of violent games might be a problem? Because to acknowledge that that decision creates an effect means one has to take responsibility for the outcome or consequence. Most humans still operate under the assumption that their thoughts are private and have no effect in our world - much less the Universe.
We all want what we want without the consequences that come from every choice and decision we make. We like the idea we can do what ever we want in the privacy of our homes and minds without owning the reality that everything is connected. We seek to control the behavior of others as the solution and not examine how we may be the real problem.
If we owned the power of our imagination to take an image or idea and see it made manifest or "real" as we understand the physical world around us, how would we respond if the hours and hours spent killing in our minds was creating the effect of killing in our world?
Humans don't like this idea of personal responsibility. Because it not only means we can't be victims, it also means we are perpetrators and no one really wants own that part of their power. And to make matter worse, it puts us in the position of there no longer being a "they" we can fight against - which ironically is at the basis of every movie and video game...we have been trained to see victim and perpetrator as separate. We want to be the hero, but the truth is, there are no hero's - just us playing all three parts in our minds.
If each us really, really knew the bigger picture I wonder what choices we would then make with our time, money and energy? After all, what we invest in we make more of - be it real or imaginary. That IS the LAW of the Universe we live by, whether we choose to believe it or not.
If you knew that the Powers that Be put forth these games to desensitize your mind to the idea that inflicting pain, death, and suffering to numb your ability to be empathic, would you still play? If yes, then are you okay with the idea that if you call 911 and the police and fire department respond to your call but have no empathy for your plight and walk away? Silly or real?
We get what we give and we give by our attention to that subject. When we train our minds to enjoy the idea of killing and fighting than we are just making more of that real in this world and eventually it will be real in yours. You may not recognize it, but remember this when you are being treated without care in a prison, war, hospital or by a family member.
If you knew that there were forces in this Universe that created the ideas of war - both real and imaginary - to stir up in you and so many others feelings of rage, anger, fighting injustice by hating the enemy, of sacrifice through blood, pain and suffering - as their form of FOOD, will you still play? Would you still fight? Would you still send your children off to war? The Romans did. Will you?
This is the part - if you are still reading - where the exceptions and excuses all come pouring forth. Or the angry letters or comments about how these ideas are stupid and the rage about don't tell me what I can and can't do - but the question is not if I am right or wrong....
The question is: why do these ideas make you so angry? If they do, that is the real issue to be examined. That is the great distraction that the powers that be, that the forces beyond this world, and the ego in our own minds don't want us to answer - because if we did, what power would they hold over us?
We cry for Freedom, but you cannot have Freedom without Responsibility - they are twins sisters, two sides of one coin. They are both the answer and the solution. They hold all power together, but separate they form a prison.
Am I right or am I wrong? It doesn't matter. My point is this - we are all responsible for what we live both in our minds and in our world. Until we own ALL of it, we are bound as victims. To decide what you do with you mind is your Free Will, how will you use it?
My wish is for you to be free, happy, peaceful, and safe - that is the reality I want to invest in so that I can make more for me, you, and the world. The joy and fun part comes in how I can create these ideas in ways that make my imagination fly - not die.
Jill
jillelizabeth.net
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