I like your essay, and I've been struggling along the same lines. I know the studies and results, and as you say all good research is done by forming a hypothesis and trying to prove yourself
wrong. NOT to prove yourself
right.
I'm into that common sense stuff you speak of and here's where I land:
How can we, on the hand, say to kids, "practice your 3-point shot/knitting/nine-times-tables/whatever, learn from your mistakes, and you'll get good at it." And think that practising for hours and days and years in a high-res, player initiated violent video game has zero effect on a developing brain? A WSer posted a great article a few pages, back called something like "Your Kid's Brain on Video Games". And it talks about the human neuro-chemical reaction that plays out during the fight, flight or freeze response that is triggered by the
live or die kind of ethos of violent video games present.
I think an individual's ability to metabolize cortisol plays a huge role in determining why the VAST majority of gamers don not go on murderous rampages and some do.
(from wikipedia):
"
Sleep, stress, and mood
Sustained stress can lead to high levels of circulating cortisol, which can create an
allostatic load.
[39] An allostatic load can lead to various physical modifications in the body's regulatory networks.
[39] Changed patterns of serum cortisol levels have been observed in connection with abnormal
ACTH levels[
citation needed],
mood disorders(such as
major depressive disorder),
anxiety disorders,
psychological stress, and physiological stressors such as
hypoglycemia, illness,
fever, trauma,
surgery,
fear,
pain, physical exertion, or
temperature extremes. Cortisol levels may also differ for individuals with
autism or
Asperger's syndrome.
[40] Also, significant individual variation is seen, although a given person tends to have consistent rhythms"