The psychiatrists involved in the Breivik trial did not imply gamers older than 20 are abnormal, no matter what Reddit might tell you.
It's a good story. The sensational trial of mass-murdering berk, Anders Behring Breivik, has fueled a glut of anti-videogame moral panics, largely due to Breivik's claims that he used Call of Duty to "rehearse" for the 2011 Norway terrorist attacks that left 77 dead. Now it turns out that the expert psychiatric witnesses called to testify on Breivik's mental state, are a bunch of game-hating moral crusaders, as the following quote seems to prove.
"I would still like to point out that sitting alone in your room and playing games, no matter what the scope of the matter, call it addiction or whatnot, is not normal for a man in his 20's," reads a translation of the original story.
Juicy. Exactly the kind of "what are they thinking?" anti-videogame nonsense that racks up hundreds of angry comments and keeps clicky-clicky-ten-dollar journalists in wine and Hobnobs. The only problem? It's bollocks. The psychiatrists said nothing of the sort.
The quote actually comes from an agenda-pushing Reddit user whose sloppy translation work was picked up by several gaming websites (I'm not going to name names, I myself was a few hundred words into a writeup before I realized something was askew). According to secondarysources, the translation is either hilariously cack-handed or deliberately misleading.
The psychiatrists were not implying that gaming itself was abnormal for those over twenty, kind of the opposite in fact. They make it clear that one can be completely normal and play games, but argued that the fact Breivik was capable of playing a socially involved game doesn't prove he's not a complete nutcase. They did admit that gaming for more than 14 hours a day could constitute an addiction. That's not an unreasonable statement.
Surely we have enough real anti-videogame arguments to worry about without inventing our own?
That's not what they said! I am norwegian and the translation sucks.
"I would still like to point out that sitting alone in your room and playing games, no matter what the scope of the matter, call it addiction or whatnot... ... "Is not the same as having a normal [social] function."
Sad thing is that even after the truth about it been "badly translated meaning about what was truly said" is brought to light, like it is here, the aimt-video game people will still use the old quote to incite rage& support // That's why I only trust thing on the Internet that have been said by Grey // Some might call that crazy but I'm will to take that risk
Ohlookit'sMatty: Sad thing is that even after the truth about it been "badly translated meaning about what was truly said" is brought to light, like it is here, the aimt-video game people will still use the old quote to incite rage& support // That's why I only trust thing on the Internet that have been said by Grey // Some might call that crazy but I'm will to take that risk
-M
Hey, if they couldn't get anyone else to make up some juicy quotes, they'd do it themselves.
And as for those being incited to irrational hatred of gaming by misquotes mixed with some good ol' fearmongering - do you really think you'll overcome a firmly rooted prejudice with reason?!
DustyDrB: It seemed weird to me because they shouldn't need that kind of sensationalism to get a strong conviction. He seems quite proud of what he's done.
They're still going to go through with the entire hoopla; see all the evidence, hear all the witnesses. Not to mention that in something as emotionally charged as this, you're bound to get some sensationalism.
DustyDrB: It seemed weird to me because they shouldn't need that kind of sensationalism to get a strong conviction. He seems quite proud of what he's done.
They're still going to go through with the entire hoopla; see all the evidence, hear all the witnesses. Not to mention that in something as emotionally charged as this, you're bound to get some sensationalism.
I mean it seemed like the kind of thing a prosecutor would whip out if he was really reaching and desperate for any kind of conviction: A sensationalistic claim followed by some nuanced mental and verbal gymnastics just so people might possibly agree a little bit.
Yeah, high-profile mass-murder cases are inherently sensational. That's not what I meant, though.
That's not what they said! I am norwegian and the translation sucks.
"I would still like to point out that sitting alone in your room and playing games, no matter what the scope of the matter, call it addiction or whatnot... ... "Is not the same as having a normal [social] function."
And by that the psychiatrist meant that just because you sit alone playing video games doesnt prove he is socially functional. Not that playing video games is by nature, non socially functionable, just that the guy said he had a normal social function and the evidence he presented was that he sat most of his day playing video games.
DustyDrB: It seemed weird to me because they shouldn't need that kind of sensationalism to get a strong conviction. He seems quite proud of what he's done.
They're still going to go through with the entire hoopla; see all the evidence, hear all the witnesses. Not to mention that in something as emotionally charged as this, you're bound to get some sensationalism.
I mean it seemed like the kind of thing a prosecutor would whip out if he was really reaching and desperate for any kind of conviction: A sensationalistic claim followed by some nuanced mental and verbal gymnastics just so people might possibly agree a little bit.
Yeah, high-profile mass-murder cases are inherently sensational. That's not what I meant, though.
In this case it wasn't the prosecutor; it was a quote from the psychiatric evaluation.
mad825: So I take it that Reddit users are one step below 4chan users?
Depends on who you're asking. They each have their /b/tard meme spouting sections, and they each have sections for normal people and conversation, it's just that the idiots are louder.
Most of the more sulphuric threads, right here on this very forum, originate in some half-overheard fifth party information, channelled through a source that is notoriously unreliable, if not deliberately deceptive.
Jesus 14 hours? I think the last time I played that long was at the age of 13 when I rented the first Fullmetal Alchemist game from Blockbuster's for the weekend and then played for like 17 hours straight to finish it before Sunday.(it was Easter weekend so I was going to lose a whole day traveling to the big family dinner) I was actually physically ill by 5am Sunday morning. I did finish it before I had to return it though, so by god being up at 5am on Sunday with severe diarrhea and vomiting was worth it.
While I've never done that long of a stretch again, there's still nothing like getting up after a nice uninterrupted 4-6 hour session. Rare though they may be for me nowadays.
Im not sure if this came about as a misunderstanding of the Queens English, but you are a berk if you spill tea on the carpet, not if you mass murder people...it doesnt really convey the right tone.
On the other hand, nice work catching the mistranslation.
See, that's a reasonable statement. Gaming for 14 hours a day is crazy. Even when I have a free day and a new game just came out, I still only manage around 7, and that is very high. It's actually been about a week since I've gamed since I had a concussion, and the most I've played in a day is 12. That was once. Glad the mistranslation was caught. The last thing we need is to go after a man internet-style over something he never said.
Im not sure if this came about as a misunderstanding of the Queens English, but you are a berk if you spill tea on the carpet, not if you mass murder people...it doesnt really convey the right tone.
On the other hand, nice work catching the mistranslation.
Actually, if you like up the original meaning of the word, it's absolutely perfect for this situation.
Im not sure if this came about as a misunderstanding of the Queens English, but you are a berk if you spill tea on the carpet, not if you mass murder people...it doesnt really convey the right tone.
On the other hand, nice work catching the mistranslation.
Actually, if you like up the original meaning of the word, it's absolutely perfect for this situation.
Gaming Media Suckered by Crappy Translation
The psychiatrists involved in the Breivik trial did not imply gamers older than 20 are abnormal, no matter what Reddit might tell you.
It's a good story. The sensational trial of mass-murdering berk, Anders Behring Breivik, has fueled a glut of anti-videogame moral panics, largely due to Breivik's claims that he used Call of Duty to "rehearse" for the 2011 Norway terrorist attacks that left 77 dead. Now it turns out that the expert psychiatric witnesses called to testify on Breivik's mental state, are a bunch of game-hating moral crusaders, as the following quote seems to prove.
"I would still like to point out that sitting alone in your room and playing games, no matter what the scope of the matter, call it addiction or whatnot, is not normal for a man in his 20's," reads a translation of the original story.
Juicy. Exactly the kind of "what are they thinking?" anti-videogame nonsense that racks up hundreds of angry comments and keeps clicky-clicky-ten-dollar journalists in wine and Hobnobs. The only problem? It's bollocks. The psychiatrists said nothing of the sort.
The quote actually comes from an agenda-pushing Reddit user whose sloppy translation work was picked up by several gaming websites (I'm not going to name names, I myself was a few hundred words into a writeup before I realized something was askew). According to secondary sources, the translation is either hilariously cack-handed or deliberately misleading.
The psychiatrists were not implying that gaming itself was abnormal for those over twenty, kind of the opposite in fact. They make it clear that one can be completely normal and play games, but argued that the fact Breivik was capable of playing a socially involved game doesn't prove he's not a complete nutcase. They did admit that gaming for more than 14 hours a day could constitute an addiction. That's not an unreasonable statement.
Surely we have enough real anti-videogame arguments to worry about without inventing our own?
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