PureInsight | October 31, 2005
[PureInsight.org] Lao Zi wrote in The Classics of Tao and Morality (《道德經》), "The five colors turn a man blind. The five sounds turn one blind. The five tastes please one's tongue. Excessive hunting for pleasures turns one wild." It means that indiscriminate pursuits for sensual stimulations are harmful to one's physical and mental health. Today's scientists have confirmed Lao Zi's doctrine.
According to a report by New Scientist on August 12, 2005, "Researchers have finally found evidence for what good Catholic boys have known all along – erotic images make you go blind. The effect is temporary and lasts just a moment, but the research has added to road-safety campaigners' calls to ban sexy billboard-advertising near busy roads, in the hope of preventing accidents." [1]
According to the report, "The new study by US psychologists found that people shown erotic or gory images frequently fail to process images they see immediately afterwards." [1] Traditional Christian education maintains a similar theory.
The study was conducted by David Zald, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Marvin Chun and colleagues from Yale University in Connecticut. Zald explained, "We think there is essentially a bottleneck for information processing and if a certain type of stimulus captures attention, it can jam up the bottleneck so subsequent information can't get through," Zald explains. "It appears to happen involuntarily." [1]
"The researchers think emotion-induced blindness could lead to drivers simply not seeing another car or pedestrian if they have just witnessed an emotionally charged scene, such as an accident or sexually explicit billboard." [1]
A spokeswoman from Brake, a UK road safety organization, said, "It's the responsibility of drivers to ensure that when they are behind the wheel they keep their eyes on the job in hand." [1]
A lot of video games feature violence, blood and gore. Are there any consequences of playing violent video games?
Two studies by psychologists Craig Anderson, Ph.D, and Karen Dill, Ph.D, looked at the effects of violent video games in the lab and in real life. This powerful combination of two studies presents persuasive evidence that violent video games do indeed increase aggression in some players. [2]
Craig A. Anderson, Ph.D., is a psychologist at Iowa State University of Science and Technology. According to Dr. Anderson, "One study reveals that young men who are habitually aggressive may be especially vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects of repeated exposure to violent games." The study result reminded Dr. Anderson of the shooting rampage at Columbine High School in 1999. [3]
Some parent organizations and lawmakers agree. They believe that playing violent video games, such as Doom, increases a person's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior in actual life, which has already been repeatedly verified in scientific and social studies. Although some disagree, lawmakers have started taking action to handle this issue. Each launch of a new violent video game brings a new threat to society. In May 2003, Washington State has passed a law to prohibit selling realistic violent video games to customers less than 17 years of age. [2]
Teacher said, "A person is like a container, and he is whatever he contains. All of what a person sees with the eyes and hears with the ears are: violence, lust, power struggles in literary works, struggles for profit in the practical world, money worship, other manifestations of demon-nature, and so on. With his head filled with these, this kind of person is truly a bad person, no matter what he appears to be. A person's behavior is dictated by his thoughts. With a mind full of such things, what's a person able to do? It is only because everyone's mind is more or less contaminated to some extent that people cannot detect the problem that has surfaced. Incorrect social trends that are reflected in every aspect of society are imperceptibly changing people, poisoning mankind, and creating a large number of what people call 'anti-tradition,' 'anti-upright,' and 'anti-moral' human beings with demon-nature. This is what's truly worrisome! Even though society's economy has made progress, it will be ruined in these people's hands since they do not have human ways of thinking.
On the other hand, if a person accepts the kind, traditional thoughts of humankind that have prevailed for thousands of years, believes in proper human behavior and standards, and is filled with all good things, what will this person's conduct be like? Whether or not this person shows it, he is genuinely a good person." (From "Melt into the Fa" in Essentials for Further Advancement.)
References:
[1] NewScientist.com: Erotic Images Can Turn You Blind: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7845
[2] PureInsight.org: The Potential Danger of Violent Video Games to Society http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2005/10/24/3422.html
[3] ScienceDaily: Violent Video Games Can Increase Aggression http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/04/000424094004.htm
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2005/8/16/33483.html
