A psychological question

[Radical Raven]

Hey everybody. I've just been visiting out friends at TZWatch (don't worry, this thread isn't about them), and I came across a thread with a link to one of the more interesting TZ locked threads; the ballad of Fido MccokeFiend.

Talking trash about banned members is taboo, I think, so I'm not going to talk about him. It seems likely that whole thread was a hoax anyway. But, hoax or not, we know that people with worldviews like that exist. Think of Daniel Petric, the kid who shot his parents after they took his copy of Halo 3. Or those two Korean parents whose child died while they were playing World of Warcraft. Or that Japanese guy who wanted to marry a manga character. My question is; to a fan of all those genres, how is such a nihilistic view possible?

From the day we are born, if we are lucky ("lucky" defined as "not abused, kidnapped, or homeless"), we are bombarded by good morals. Not just through our peers and parents, but through our entertainment. We watch Sesame Street, and thus we learn about making friends and being nice. We watch Snow White and learn about being brave and not being vain. Eventually, we get into the heavy stuff, and we learn about redemption, and love, and mercy, and all the rest of that good stuff. We are, basically, raised to be heroes; from a strictly metaphorical view, of course.

Now, lets look back at Daniel Petric. Again, shot his parents over Halo 3. Does that sound like something Master Chief would do?

The TZ member (who I'm not even going to name again), was a big anime fan. How can one watch stuff like Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, One Piece,- hell, even Pokemon! Without taking any sort of lesson from it? When watching a TV series, don't we generally aspire to be like the series protaganists (who are often, of course, unachievably heroic; but we do good by even trying)?

I think it's an interesting point, anyway. I'm basically trying to put nihilism in a box. What do you folks think?

[WolfieKiwi]

Hey everybody. I've just been visiting out friends at TZWatch (don't worry, this thread isn't about them), and I came across a thread with a link to one of the more interesting TZ locked threads; the ballad of Fido MccokeFiend.

Talking trash about banned members is taboo, I think, so I'm not going to talk about him. It seems likely that whole thread was a hoax anyway. But, hoax or not, we know that people with worldviews like that exist. Think of Daniel Petric, the kid who shot his parents after they took his copy of Halo 3. Or those two Korean parents whose child died while they were playing World of Warcraft. Or that Japanese guy who wanted to marry a manga character. My question is; to a fan of all those genres, how is such a nihilistic view possible?

From the day we are born, if we are lucky ("lucky" defined as "not abused, kidnapped, or homeless"), we are bombarded by good morals. Not just through our peers and parents, but through our entertainment. We watch Sesame Street, and thus we learn about making friends and being nice. We watch Snow White and learn about being brave and not being vain. Eventually, we get into the heavy stuff, and we learn about redemption, and love, and mercy, and all the rest of that good stuff. We are, basically, raised to be heroes; from a strictly metaphorical view, of course.

Now, lets look back at Daniel Petric. Again, shot his parents over Halo 3. Does that sound like something Master Chief would do?

The TZ member (who I'm not even going to name again), was a big anime fan. How can one watch stuff like Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, One Piece,- hell, even Pokemon! Without taking any sort of lesson from it? When watching a TV series, don't we generally aspire to be like the series protaganists (who are often, of course, unachievably heroic; but we do good by even trying)?

I think it's an interesting point, anyway. I'm basically trying to put nihilism in a box. What do you folks think?

I'm gonna try and take a stab at this so please bear with my rookie debate logic if it sounds confusing or states the obvious. ;;

It may sound cliche and dumb but I think things like these happen because people are only human. Someone from a hard upbringing doesn't always come out to be a crook and someone who comes from a good family isn't guaranteed to become a saint. In that sense, things taught in a persons' childhood don't necessarily build the foundation on their image of what they come to be. It's not until we step outside into the world, take what society shows us and mix "that" with what we know in order to learn for ourselves and by ourselves. (That is not to say that no matter what happens, we're all going to be susceptible to the cold reality of the real world to the point where we all collapse.)

--However, in the case of these people; the kid who killed his family over a game, the family who severely neglected their child and the man who wishes to marry an inanimate creation, this is the result of an unstable mind.

[KPTitan]

The thread that Fido started pratically horrified me. And if it was a hoax, that's something that shouldn't be made fun of, let alone faking it to get attention or whatever...

But true, there ARE people in this world that are like that. I actually ran across a few people like that, and it's sad that people let anime or any other type of entertainment get in the way of their life and the real world as we know it.