Is it unethical to torture a virtual being?

[mzink*]

I think that it's actually better to torture a virtual being in some cases. When you think about it long and hard, it's really kind of morbid. But it can relieve stress, and I think it could remove the need to do it to a real human being.

I agree with this, a kid who has never been allowed chocolate is going to go nuts when he first tastes it and probably eat it to the point of unhealthiness. A kid who has never seen TV will likely be mesmerized by it. Taking your frustration out on a video game is good way to get violence out of your system. Granted there are those who jump the line between virtual and reality, but those are few. Most people play violent games to do things they know cannot be done in real life. It doesn't lower their respect for life in any way in my opinion.

 

[victra♥]

I agree with this, a kid who has never been allowed chocolate is going to go nuts when he first tastes it and probably eat it to the point of unhealthiness. A kid who has never seen TV will likely be mesmerized by it. Taking your frustration out on a video game is good way to get violence out of your system. Granted there are those who jump the line between virtual and reality, but those are few. Most people play violent games to do things they know cannot be done in real life. It doesn't lower their respect for life in any way in my opinion.

This is why the GTA series is so popular. A lot of my friends who are good-mannered people are huge fans of the series because they are given the freedom to anything they want. That's why they play the game. A lot of people who play GTA know that it would be stupid to anything of the things they do in the game in real life.

 

[Kur]

Games are games. Real life is real life. Anybody crazy enough to think doing something from a game in real life is ok, was crazy before they ever played the game and likely to commit some atrocity anyway.

Playing GTA does not make people kill people any more than playing smash bros makes people throw other people off cliffs. Torturing a virtual creature is not unethical because there is no creature. It is nothing more than electrical signals being redirected through microscopic switch boards. There is no intelligence, no pain, no feeling, no nothing.

Crazy is as crazy does. No amount of video games will 'desensitize' you into doing something you know is wrong.