144 replies to this topic

[Order66]

Coffey, on 11 October 2012 - 12:03 PM, said:

They sent my housemate a letter (2 times in fact) with a 5p in the envelope. It pretty much said you cna have this 5p but these animals need it etc.

I would have read as far as:

"you cna have this 5p-"

"Hey, free money!"

*takes coin*



*leaves to play Grand Theft Auto*

[Urisk]

ouija ouija, on 10 October 2012 - 11:01 PM, said:

I didn't explain myself clearly: of course children will say they know that Pokemon isn't real, but what I am saying is that once the information is in the brain, whether it's fuzzy animals fighting on a screen or their own parents fighting, the brain can't distinguish between the two. So, if a child spends all it's time looking at fighting(real or imaginary), it is likely that this will either affect the behaviour of the child directly(depending on the nature of the child), or will affect it's view of the world and the level of violence it finds acceptable there. This effect will be increased if parents show approval of the games and act as if the content is acceptable.

I spent my childhood fighting dragons, aliens, Nazis, evil ninja masters, trolls, the Black Knight, Imperial Stormtroopers and orcs with sticks, I played video games like Streets of Rage, Sonic, Mario (condones killing of tortoises by jumping on them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Desert Strike, Ecco the Dolphin (condones the killing of sharks by shouting at them or battering them across the face with your nose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Road Rash (condones driving a motorcycle at 100 mph and punching other motorcyclists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I watched super-violent cartoons like Bravestar (slavery, gunfights, greed), Thundercats, Tom and Jerry, Popeye (He beats the crap out of people, and as I remember indigenous tribes get oppressed?), this all while I was pre-school into primary school... Oh and I played Pokemon in my mid-teens (and still do!), watched the anime, watched far more mature anime than that and know plenty more kids who grew up just as I did. I'm a kind and gentle person, forward-thinking nad independently-minded, who loves animals so much as to actually have a degree in Zoology...

What's your point?


Actually there is one massive oversight here.... Pokemon are not animals. They are, in fact, Pokemon. Might as well say that digging up potatoes is condoning the killing of animals.

Edited by Urisk, 11 October 2012 - 12:35 PM.

[kobolds]

Quote

The animal rights group has launched a campaign against Pokemon Black and White 2

what do you call for a person that unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.

[Junior Chubb]

Urisk, on 11 October 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

I'm a kind and gentle person, forward-thinking nad independently-minded, who loves animals so much as to actually have a degree in Zoology...

What's your point?

Your post seemed a bit aggressive to me, considering all you are doing is disagreeing with somebodies opinion.

Too many violent video games as a kid?  

[ShadowOfMothman]

PETA should be destroyed. The've gone too far....
It's time we...


Seriously, all of their claims about so-called "animal abuse" are ridiculous.

[ouija ouija]

Urisk, on 11 October 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

What's your point?

Well, ummm .......... my point is in the quote of mine that you refer to: 'depending on the nature of the child' (although we've only got your word for it that you are a 'kind and gentle person' ............ and as Chubb says, your reply does rather radiate aggression ).
What are you doing with your degree in zoology?

[Urisk]

Junior Chubb, on 11 October 2012 - 12:39 PM, said:

Your post seemed a bit aggressive to me, considering all you are doing is disagreeing with somebodies opinion.

Too many violent video games as a kid?  

Oh yeah, haha. The bold is more an attempt at sarcastic humour in the form of feigned outrage at the quite obviously horrid and lifelike images depicted in such early games. Perhaps this wasn't apparent. I knew I should've put some "ZOMG" and "OH NOES" in there, just to add to the OTT-ness of the statements. I am in a sort of "today let's go completely overboard and lay it on thick" kind of mood but I forget that doesn't translate well in text. So appologies for the percieved aggro there.

And Oija Oija, I was working as a Countryside Ranger, but now I'm not using my degree so much. I am planting lots of native wild trees and apple trees, and trying to rally local communities to come out and volunteer to make their local, highly deprived town just that wee bit nicer However it might come in handy for the badger survey training I'm about to undertake.

"Nature of the child" yeah, perhaps. But is that the medium under scrutiny's fault? We are built differently, and to some extent I do agree with you there. But I think outside influence has a lot to do with it (peer pressure etc) as opposed to cartoons, games etc, and generally people can distinguish between fantasy and reality. What does annoy me, and probably got me a little riled up here is that things, especially media, always gets the blame; as if people look for easy scapegoats, and this time Pokemon is once again the victim. The kind of music I hold very close to my heart has been under scrutiny countless times, and blamed for many things, when it should be the individual that should be scrutinised. I guess that is what I was trying to get at here- strip away the scapegoats that get attached- someone that was going to do something wrong would doubtless do so regardless of what television they watch, what games they play and what music the listen to. Which to me renders PETA's condemnation of Pokemon to be moot.

Edited by Urisk, 11 October 2012 - 01:44 PM.

[Junior Chubb]

Urisk, on 11 October 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

I am in a sort of "today let's go completely overboard and lay it on thick" kind of mood but I forget that doesn't translate well in text. So appologies for the percieved aggro there.

Lol, no apologies needed Urisk, glad you saw my post for what it was rather than seeing it as an attack.

[Farmerboy]

ouija ouija, on 11 October 2012 - 01:19 PM, said:

Well, ummm .......... my point is in the quote of mine that you refer to: 'depending on the nature of the child' (although we've only got your word for it that you are a 'kind and gentle person' ............ and as Chubb says, your reply does rather radiate aggression ).
What are you doing with your degree in zoology?

Ive been playing the game since i was 8/9 and rather than put animals in balls and make them fight now I have a degree in zoology and a Masters in Animal behaviour and welfare......I now have a better idea of the welfare issues than most members of peta.
If you listen to the theme tune its about being friends and defending the world etc this guy sums it up nicely

Edited by Farmerboy, 11 October 2012 - 01:49 PM.

[Urisk]

Junior Chubb, on 11 October 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

Lol, no apologies needed Urisk, glad you saw my post for what it was rather than seeing it as an attack.

Nae worries, it was also an apology to Oija Oija as I wasn't aiming any personal attack at anyone, in case that's how it came across. It was an attack on the system, maaaan! On the human condition that we always have to blame something else. It's what I gather from the PETA article.

[ouija ouija]

Urisk, on 11 October 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

And Oija Oija, I was working as a Countryside Ranger, but now I'm not using my degree so much. I am planting lots of native wild trees and apple trees, and trying to rally local communities to come out and volunteer to make their local, highly deprived town just that wee bit nicer However it might come in handy for the badger survey training I'm about to undertake.

"Nature of the child" yeah, perhaps. But is that the medium under scrutiny's fault? We are built differently, and to some extent I do agree with you there. But I think outside influence has a lot to do with it (peer pressure etc) as opposed to cartoons, games etc, and generally people can distinguish between fantasy and reality. What does annoy me, and probably got me a little riled up here is that things, especially media, always gets the blame; as if people look for easy scapegoats, and this time Pokemon is once again the victim. The kind of music I hold very close to my heart has been under scrutiny countless times, and blamed for many things, when it should be the individual that should be scrutinised. I guess that is what I was trying to get at here- strip away the scapegoats that get attached- someone that was going to do something wrong would doubtless do so regardless of what television they watch, what games they play and what music the listen to. Which to me renders PETA's condemnation of Pokemon to be moot.

I have several questions:
Who are you surveying badgers for, and to what end? (tree-planting = good, interference in the life of badgers = usually not good).

Were you a 'kind and gentle' child?

Are you 'kind and gentle' in all areas of your life?

'..... this time, Pokemon is once again the victim' ........ so PETA is not the first group to criticise/ show concern, regarding Pokemon?

A person can distinguish between fantasy and reality, and still be influenced by the fantasy!!!!

Yes, lazy parents look for scapegoats .... 'twas ever thus.

You say that if some one is going to do something wrong they will do it regardless of influences around them, I beg to differ. People are influenced by what goes on around them, at work, at school, at home, what they see in the media ....... children, as they grow up, largely accept what is around them as normal and 'the done thing'. They have no reason not to(animals, and we are animals, are born with an instinct to copy their parents and immediate community ..... it's the best way to ensure survival), and they have nothing to compare it with. You only have to consider the effect of religion on people who have been steeped in it from birth, or the effect childhood abuse has; so often the victim grows up to abuse others, even though they, above all others, know it to be wrong. The more violence, selfishness, thoughtlessness and self-centredness there is in a society, the more children are affected. The effect may be difficult to pinpoint, but it is there nevertheless.

[Urisk]

ouija ouija, on 11 October 2012 - 02:33 PM, said:

I have several questions:
Who are you surveying badgers for, and to what end? (tree-planting = good, interference in the life of badgers = usually not good).

Were you a 'kind and gentle' child?

Are you 'kind and gentle' in all areas of your life?

'..... this time, Pokemon is once again the victim' ........ so PETA is not the first group to criticise/ show concern, regarding Pokemon?

A person can distinguish between fantasy and reality, and still be influenced by the fantasy!!!!

Yes, lazy parents look for scapegoats .... 'twas ever thus.

You say that if some one is going to do something wrong they will do it regardless of influences around them, I beg to differ. People are influenced by what goes on around them, at work, at school, at home, what they see in the media ....... children, as they grow up, largely accept what is around them as normal and 'the done thing'. They have no reason not to(animals, and we are animals, are born with an instinct to copy their parents and immediate community ..... it's the best way to ensure survival), and they have nothing to compare it with. You only have to consider the effect of religion on people who have been steeped in it from birth, or the effect childhood abuse has; so often the victim grows up to abuse others, even though they, above all others, know it to be wrong. The more violence, selfishness, thoughtlessness and self-centredness there is in a society, the more children are affected. The effect may be difficult to pinpoint, but it is there nevertheless.

Survey of badgers for their protection. It's not interference. With more information and understanding we can maybe one day quash this notion that culling badgers is the answer to the bovine TB problem. Also badger-bating and killing go on, which are both highly amoral and illegal- this is a real issue against animal cruelty unlike the Pokemon  issue. With survey and keeping tabs on the population we can then take steps to ensuring that these despicable acts are minimised. The training is to ensure that no badgers are interfered with

As for Pokemon, yes it's gripped the headlines before. An episode was shown in Japan with strobed effects. Some kids felt a little unwell. Brittish press reported that lots of kids had full-blown seizures. One kid was stabbed by another in the playground because of a rare Pokemon card. But the kid who committed the crime WAS carrying a knife. Could've been about football cards, poggs, dinner money.

I am not kind and gentle in all aspects of my life, I have  acted out of character in the heat of the moment at times and lost my temper or made decisions that might hurt others, but I strive to live my life in as best I can and be theb est person as I can. So for the majority of my life, yes, I am a kind and gentle person. Nobody is infallible and we do things we regret, we blow up or lose the rag, we act selfishly. We get angry. It's what we do. What I never do, however, is blame things other than myself as it's human nature. I happly shoulder the blame of any misdeeds I have done, and atone for them by learning from the outcome and either working to right my wrongs or make sure I don't repeat that mistake.

[ouija ouija]

Farmerboy, on 11 October 2012 - 01:47 PM, said:

Ive been playing the game since i was 8/9 and rather than put animals in balls and make them fight now I have a degree in zoology and a Masters in Animal behaviour and welfare......I now have a better idea of the welfare issues than most members of peta.

Heavens! Yet another person with a zoology degree ........ this thread is awash with them. Trouble is, not everything connected with a  qualification in zoology is for the benefit of animals, is it? Just because you are interested in animals doesn't automatically mean that you have concern for them or consideration for them. And your qualification doesn't qualify you to speak knowledgably about the effect of animal cruelty on humans, children in particular.

[ouija ouija]

Urisk, on 11 October 2012 - 02:55 PM, said:

Survey of badgers for their protection. It's not interference. With more information and understanding we can maybe one day quash this notion that culling badgers is the answer to the bovine TB problem.

35yrs ago I was involved in this type of study ....... and that was exactly the conclusion they came to then: culling, or even eliminating badgers altogether will not eradicate TB. The only way to eliminate TB is to take proper care of cattle, to keep cattle healthy and in a natural(to them) environment. All this has been done before. The result is known, the trouble is, it doesn't suit those who want to make money from cattle, so off we go again on a pointless round of surveying and research.

[Urisk]

I'd say it's more of a case that you're showing an interest in animals, and taking a degree in Zoology is one way of showing that love of animals. There are lots of other ways of course, but it's how some people can find a way of putting in positive work, or finding out more about animals (and plants! Let's not forget plants, they're equally as fascinating and beautiful) or whatever. Some people might go into something controversial, some people may never use it, some people will put it to use in conservation. I can't talk for others, but my course certainly had a strong onus on conservation, on ecology and our own interactions with the natural world, and it certainly opened my eyes. I've always loved nature documentaries, but my time at Uni definitely helped me on my way.

ouija ouija, on 11 October 2012 - 03:09 PM, said:

35yrs ago I was involved in this type of study ....... and that was exactly the conclusion they came to then: culling, or even eliminating badgers altogether will not eradicate TB. The only way to eliminate TB is to take proper care of cattle, to keep cattle healthy and in a natural(to them) environment. All this has been done before. The result is known, the trouble is, it doesn't suit those who want to make money from cattle, so off we go again on a pointless round of surveying and research.

So you'll know about the merits of survey work and studying animals in their natural habitat. That's why I want to carry on the work. Rather than giving up, if we keep bashing on about it, maybe people will begin to listen. Otherwise what's the point.

Edited by Urisk, 11 October 2012 - 03:15 PM.