Professor calls video games harmful, but not for violence ... they encourage competition and meritocracy. Gasp.

Grace Carr, DCNF

Video games are harmful to society because they encourage toxic competition and meritocratic values that will degrade society, a professor alleges in his 2018 book.

In “The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games,” Seattle University communication professor Christopher A. Paul explains that video games encourage meritocracy, or judgement based on skill and ability. “Games typically valorize skill and technique … allowing certain players a built-in advantage,” Paul wrote.

“From the deep-bred misogyny epitomized by GamerGate to the endemic malice of abusive player communities, gamer culture has had serious real-world repercussions, ranging from death threats to sexist industry practices and racist condemnations,” Paul wrote. Focusing on “contingency, luck, and serendipity” is a better way to foster diversity and create a more accepting culture, he claimed.

Chapters in Paul’s book include “Studying Gaming’s Jerks” and “From World of Warcraft to Kim Kardashian,” among others.

Major media outlets and armchair scientists on social media have asserted that video games cause violent behavior, but there is little evidence to suggest that any such causal links or associations are valid. University of York published a January study that “found no evidence to support the theory that video games make players more violent.” The gaming industry is growing at a rapid rate, yet violent crime continues to decline nationally, according to the FBI and Bureau of Justice Statistics.

A Washington state woman allegedly stabbed her ex-boyfriend, 29-year-old Alex Lovell, with a samurai sword earlier this month because she thought he was cheating on her. Video games “killed my sex drive,” Lovell told BuzzFeed News.

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