Whats up with the Jack Thompson obsession?
I don’t think Jack Thompson should be given the time of day unless he is doing something newsworthy… He is not a threat to the industry because no one respects him. Judges don’t respect him, his fellow lawyers don’t respect him and most of all the Florida bar does not respect him. He is quite literally a joke to everyone he encounters.
So who is the threat since Jack Thompson quite obviously is not? The mainstream media that enables him. Concentrating on Jack Thompson is a terrible tactic as he is not the real problem. Ever wonder what Jack Thompson would do if he couldn’t effortlessly get a segment on Fox immediately following a school shooting? He would continue fighting his losing battles in court. He would continue going to court and being threatened with contempt of court because of his bizarre court behavior. I really am tired of people turning Jack Thompson into some kind of legitimate force to be reckoned with. It is the media! The people who give him the time of day and I am sad to say that even though many pro-game websites covers Jack Thompson in a more honest light than many other sources… they too are guilty of being obsessed with this fool. If Jack were not around there simply would be another anti-game activist that would be given the attention and the time on national TV to make false claims and bogus theories about video games.
Ignoring this man is the answer whether you like it or not. This idiotic claim that “oh it didn’t work in the past so it can’t work now” is victim of faulted logic and is actually considered to be an opinion with some kind of valid meaning. It isn’t and it never was. It is just a foolish tactic to dupe individuals that don’t understand the meaning of logical reasoning. Now if you want to hold a discussion with some kind of logical validity behind it and agree to drop this foolish “it didn’t work then so it can’t work now” faulty argument then I’ll be happy to contribute. But right now it seems like so many individuals are playing right into Jack Thompson’s game. Doing exactly what he wants them to do.
Fox loves Jack… does Fox even know of any pro-game sources? I’m sure you see the writing on the wall. Why continue fighting Jack in this manner? Fighting faulty logic with faulty logic? Not exactly a good idea….
Also… to the “Jack Thompson’s can’t be the only voice” crowd:
Many times this argument is also guilty of faulty logic. This argument is actually implying that you have to talk about Jack Thompson to have a voice against his message. This is simply not the case and is absolutely misleading. I know those who use this line really do mean well but lets take a closer look at the claim for a moment. Of course he can’t be the only one with the voice.
Please understand that it is possible to do a story that shows the other side of the situation without even mentioning the man’s name. You can divorce Jack Thompson’s name from the issue. That way it is not really just another story about Jack Thompson but another story about the issue. You might get more comments from a Jack Thompson blog article but the meaning of the article is distorted and it becomes more of a rant about Jack Thompson instead of a stand against a particular issue at hand. Quite honestly it is more important to provide people with persuasive and informative article about why a particular stance on an issue is correct rather than an article about why this individual is wrong for taking this particular stance. Concentrating in this obsessive manner over the man Jack Thompson simply distracts from the important issue and gives him far too much credit.
It is the issues and the resolutions to those issues which should be at the forefront of the the pro-gamer’s list of priorities… not some fool that holds a stance that is full of faulty logic. I completely realize that this article is mainly about Jack Thompson but I get really pissed when I try to read about game-related news and issues that the game industry faces and see this man’s name spread across important articles. Many do not even consider the media to be the problem and that is unfortunate because they are the ones enabling the man. Mainstream media needs to start looking at the other side of the issue. Why can’t that be the focus of the pro-gamer effort? Why focus on a washed up lawyer that spews faulty logic like verbal diarrhea onto all available ears and eyes? You must realize that joining his name with any of the issues he speaks of is what he wants and ultimately plays against all pro-game efforts.
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Actually, I’m rated A/V by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating possible for a lawyer as to ethics and skill. The reason why the video game industry is “obsessed” with me is because I scare the crap out of them and with good reason. Be very afraid.
Jack Thompson, Attorney
I suppose that the entire Florida bar issue is just the Florida Bar showing their affection for you? Yea, you are absolutely right I’m sure they love you.
While you are here Thompson, lets also discuss ethics as it does seem to come to mind when your name comes up. It seems you have a personal vendetta against video games. Is it ethical to bring your personal vendetta into law? I personally wouldn’t say it is ethical but that is just me.
Would you also enjoy discussing what a free society entails? A free society would ensure liberty in the realm of art. If you do not enjoy it then you do not have to consume it. Also, if you do not like it you are free to talk about how much you don’t appreciate it. But when you start trying to prohibit things or even prevent them from existing in the first place you start playing against a free society. So tell me, Mr. Thompson, are you for or against personal freedom?
It really does seem to me as if many people do not understand what a free society means. As long as you are not harming anyone or threatening to harm anyone you should be in the clear. Right?
Now I understand that your “theory” plays to make video games harmful… But just let me CONSIDER that your provably false theory is true for a moment.(Just for the sake of argument) Shouldn’t it still be up to the parents of that child to determine what kind of art or entertainment is consumed? You must understand when the government begins to make laws that “protect the children” they are not only playing as the parents of that child but parents of the parents themselves. This is detrimental to the freedom to raise your child as you please and I honestly do not believe that tactic would be good for the health of a free society. Forcing morals onto people will never be the answer and I’m sure you know that by now. History shows that it is a tactic that is destined for failure.
But of course I believe your theories are provably false as games such as Counter Strike couldn’t possibly educate anyone on how to commit a violent crime. First lets discuss how a gun works. There are safety mechanisms on guns that control the firing mechanisms on the gun. Without knowledge of this you are not going to successfully operate a firearm. Also, consider the way the player holds the controller. On a computer it is one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the mouse. On a console it is two hands on a gamepad. Please enlighten me on any firearm that can be operated in this fashion as I have no knowledge of it. I’m going to completely ignore the maneuvering tactics as Counter Strike is commonly a jump fest and since guns are heavy I’m completely against the idea of a gunman jumping several feet into the air as if they were experience a lack of gravity. It is amazing what simple observations will reveal.
How about motives. What motivates these sick individuals to take another life? Again you argue video games provide this motivation. I beg to differ once again and as always I have excellent reason.
Have you considered the parents as being responsible for some of these unstable school shooters? Parents are quite possibly the most influential people in terms of role models for children. Children are greatly impacted by parenting and also the lack of parenting. There might be something there so if you really are concerned about stopping these school shootings that may be a good place to start.
Another excellent road to take would be the life as a student. Do you understand what it is like to be a student? You absolutely must take this into account because without understanding the life of students you can’t possibly come to a real conclusion about the cause of this phenomenon. The stress of student life is completely different than the stress of real life. Many people actually belittle the stress of student life without realizing that by doing that they are causing even more of a problem. One excellent reason for this is that students pay, or agree to pay, for their education and in the real world people are paying them to work. This alone will play towards creating a different mindset. Employees and students are entirely different entities with entirely different behavior patterns. So this commonly used line “you think school is hard… try making it in the real world” actually does more harm than good. It will make the student feel as if they are not feeling a completely regular stressful emotion and the begin to wonder what is wrong. Nothing is wrong. Now I’m not claiming it should be illegal to utter those words but it should be known that it is a faulty argument in the first place.
You may very well think that student’s interaction with the other students may be next on my list but you’d be wrong. Sure I think it may play a role in the motivation behind disturbed individuals but I think something greater should be considered. I’ll include a clip from a previous post I’ve made.
“It is a problem that can be directly linked to the elitist hierarchy that is present in many schools. This elitist hierarchy, which was present in all public schools I’ve attended, is to blame for most negative situations that were present in school. Sometimes this hierarchy is actually encouraged by the school. Of course, they are not going to encourage the students to form their own groups and label themselves as jocks, nerds, preps, slackers or whatever other silly name you can think of. HOWEVER, the way they structure aspects of student life such as classes, athletic programs, student groups, student government and all extra curricular activity will, in fact, encourage the formation of an elitist hierarchy. This is where the solution of many of these problems lay. Blaming video games is just an idiotic attempt to distract from the real issues which is a failed education system.”
Also in that very post I talked about school entering home life. I do not think school belongs in any portion of the students life besides the portion they spend in school. Of course if they choose to participate in extra curricular activities that is fine but for teachers to overstep their boundaries and begin speaking of the students personal life is absolutely infuriating to a student. They aren’t parents they aren’t even family so why the hell should I be forced to hear them speak on these issues. The student shouldn’t. NEVER. Teachers should stay out of the personal life of students until they are invited because of the need for help.
Of course non of these ideas can hold a candlestick to the grandest reason that these school shootings happen. The shooter is mentally insane. They have more than a few screws loose. They are unstable. However you wish to coin the term it always trumps every other theory. Why are they insane? I can certainly tell you it isn’t the video games as killers have been around for ages and video games are fairly new to society. The invention of guns increases the body count but the usual problems with society and the human mind cause the creation of a killer.
Enough about why your theories are incorrect…
I don’t think the industry really fears you. Now I can’t speak for everyone but I certainly do think it is more along the lines of being annoyed by you. Hell I think some can even claim they are entertained by you. Personally you only bother me when you are on the news polluting the minds of the general public.
I do appreciate you stopping by. I’m not entirely sure how you found such a small-fry like myself but its pretty interesting to any way. Please return, I’d love to discuss things further.
P.S. - Has anyone ever questioned the accuracy and authenticity of the Martindale-Hubbell ratings?
But really as much as I believe that the man is dead wrong I really think it is more about the issues. What I’d like to focus on is why his theories are false.
To put it lightly, many anti-game activists are already reflected upon as a joke by many that I’ve met in the game industry. Why exactly should the pro-gamer voice be preaching to the choir when we should be trying to enlighten those who might not exactly know a lot about what is happening? It is absolutely important to have a voice and let it be heard.
Posts on a blog and even comments such as the ones I’m leaving now are absolutely meaningless because they aren’t exactly being heard by anyone. Gamers need an outlet to the world. Be it through games, music or television news there needs to be some kind of outreach. I believe that this will happen in a few short years. At least I hope it will.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation
Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Selenium.