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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 3578684" data-attributes="member: 177">I think a large part of the issue sits in the fact that it really is only pretending.&nbsp; As such, the real nature of the human race as killers (or not) does not really enter into it, or does so only tangentially (as I';ll note in a bit).&nbsp; It is fiction, and we know it.&nbsp; For mentally and emotionally healthy players, the actions of our characters really don't reflect anything about our real-world moral or ethical nature.&nbsp; It is a gedanken experiment, nothing more.Form there, we can be more general - why to we enjoy playing characters that can do anything we don't normally do in real life?&nbsp; Because we have complex brains that like to get some exercise now and then.&nbsp; Now, put together the fact that the hobby does not have real-world moral consequences with the fact that we are not far removed from our brutal past.&nbsp; I wouldn't say we are &quot;wired to kill&quot;, but we did develop under conditions where life was pretty violent.&nbsp; So, violence is still in our mental lexicon of possible solutions to tough problems.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 3578684, member: 177"] I think a large part of the issue sits in the fact that it really is only pretending. As such, the real nature of the human race as killers (or not) does not really enter into it, or does so only tangentially (as I';ll note in a bit). It is fiction, and we know it. For mentally and emotionally healthy players, the actions of our characters really don't reflect anything about our real-world moral or ethical nature. It is a gedanken experiment, nothing more. Form there, we can be more general - why to we enjoy playing characters that can do anything we don't normally do in real life? Because we have complex brains that like to get some exercise now and then. Now, put together the fact that the hobby does not have real-world moral consequences with the fact that we are not far removed from our brutal past. I wouldn't say we are "wired to kill", but we did develop under conditions where life was pretty violent. So, violence is still in our mental lexicon of possible solutions to tough problems. [/QUOTE]

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