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<blockquote data-quote="Starfox" data-source="post: 7757354" data-attributes="member: 2303"><p>Trigger warning - Xenophobia. Also, all of this is opinions, I am not a scientist in the field.</p><p></p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>.</p><p>Xenophobia - that is what the monsters are. Until you get to know them, your neighbors are monsters. In RPGs, we hide this by making the monsters non-human, but these are really latex masks for "the other" that exists out there. People we don't know. And RPGs are by no means alone in this - what is a zombie movie but a fantasy of legitimately killing the people around you as they reveal their true monstrous nature? Look at tribal conflict in the past. heck, lock at tribal conflict *today*, and you'll see savagery that in RPGs is channeled into orcs and goblins.</p><p></p><p>Now, this makes RPGs and horror films sound as if they were awful, but I absolutely do not think they are. Because xenophobia is a part of the mentality we inherited from our animal ancestry (or from original sin, if you prefer), and to channel it in harmless ways is a great thing. RPGs and zombie movies are harmless outlets that help us get rid of such mental baggage. </p><p></p><p>This is why I am against the "emancipation" of hostile races in RPGs. We need to tell these stories, to channel these impulses, in order to get rid of them. And its a whole lot better tog get rid of this aggression by bashing imaginary creatures than by terrorizing our neighbors that happen to look/speak/worship/think differently from us. If we emancipate orcs, we instantly have to re-invent them as something similar to have as a scapegoat if we are to tell these stories.</p><p></p><p>A counter argument is this; can't people learn this backwards, starts by bashing orcs, find they like it, and go on to bash their neighbors? Sure, it can happen. But these people would likely have gone rogue without RPGs or zombie flicks. Many more are saved than are turned into maniacs. This is the video games scare of the 80s, or the jazz scare of the 30s.</p><p></p><p>As an aside, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is associated with a lack of REM sleep (aside from the triggering trauma). I saw the explanation (some TED talk I cannot now find) that in REM sleep we run various scenarios, variants of the traumatic events, that allow us to work past the trauma. REM sleep sounds to me a lot like a role-playing game - running scenarios in your head that lets you work around problems that could cause mental disorders.</p><p></p><p>I said I couldn't find the TED talk. I did google it, and this is the closest I found:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWkxczP0sE" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWkxczP0sE</a></p><p></p><p>As a finalé, let me say "don't try this at home". In my teens, I tried to bring up some real-life psychological issues in RPGs to get a handle on them. Lets just say it wasn't a good experience. Leave actual, intentional psychology to the psychologists. But RPGs are still a very intense form of the conversation with friends and peers that in many ways are the foundation of sanity and a stable society.</p><p></p><p>Again, this is opinions, I am not a psychologist.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Starfox, post: 7757354, member: 2303"] Trigger warning - Xenophobia. Also, all of this is opinions, I am not a scientist in the field. . . . . . . . Xenophobia - that is what the monsters are. Until you get to know them, your neighbors are monsters. In RPGs, we hide this by making the monsters non-human, but these are really latex masks for "the other" that exists out there. People we don't know. And RPGs are by no means alone in this - what is a zombie movie but a fantasy of legitimately killing the people around you as they reveal their true monstrous nature? Look at tribal conflict in the past. heck, lock at tribal conflict *today*, and you'll see savagery that in RPGs is channeled into orcs and goblins. Now, this makes RPGs and horror films sound as if they were awful, but I absolutely do not think they are. Because xenophobia is a part of the mentality we inherited from our animal ancestry (or from original sin, if you prefer), and to channel it in harmless ways is a great thing. RPGs and zombie movies are harmless outlets that help us get rid of such mental baggage. This is why I am against the "emancipation" of hostile races in RPGs. We need to tell these stories, to channel these impulses, in order to get rid of them. And its a whole lot better tog get rid of this aggression by bashing imaginary creatures than by terrorizing our neighbors that happen to look/speak/worship/think differently from us. If we emancipate orcs, we instantly have to re-invent them as something similar to have as a scapegoat if we are to tell these stories. A counter argument is this; can't people learn this backwards, starts by bashing orcs, find they like it, and go on to bash their neighbors? Sure, it can happen. But these people would likely have gone rogue without RPGs or zombie flicks. Many more are saved than are turned into maniacs. This is the video games scare of the 80s, or the jazz scare of the 30s. As an aside, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is associated with a lack of REM sleep (aside from the triggering trauma). I saw the explanation (some TED talk I cannot now find) that in REM sleep we run various scenarios, variants of the traumatic events, that allow us to work past the trauma. REM sleep sounds to me a lot like a role-playing game - running scenarios in your head that lets you work around problems that could cause mental disorders. I said I couldn't find the TED talk. I did google it, and this is the closest I found: [url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcWkxczP0sE[/url] As a finalé, let me say "don't try this at home". In my teens, I tried to bring up some real-life psychological issues in RPGs to get a handle on them. Lets just say it wasn't a good experience. Leave actual, intentional psychology to the psychologists. But RPGs are still a very intense form of the conversation with friends and peers that in many ways are the foundation of sanity and a stable society. Again, this is opinions, I am not a psychologist. [/QUOTE]
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