{"id":2779,"date":"2021-07-26T16:10:59","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T06:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2021-07-09T16:14:48","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T06:14:48","slug":"vet-ethics-virtual-animals-real-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2779","title":{"rendered":"Vet Ethics: Virtual animals – real consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2021, video games\nare big business \u2013 bigger in dollar terms than Hollywood and North American\nsports combined. Video games are not just for children: many parents and other\nadults play video games on a regular basis. Games such as Grand Theft Auto<\/em>\ncan be both hyperviolent and a lot of fun; they seem to lock into the brain\u2019s\ndopamine reward centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, there has been interest in how video games portray animals\u2014in particular, their violent treatment. Although this may seem like a trivial issue, the way animals are presented to us in various formats arguably has wider effects on our ethical attitudes to them. I wrote about this with a colleague last year in an article called The \u201cdigital animal intuition:\u201d the ethics of violence against animals in video games<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Consider some of the\nways that animals are portrayed in video games. Virtual animals are often given\nno agency of their own. They may be presented as convenient and disposable\ntools or resources. Wild animals in games can seem to be infinitely killable\nand renewable, even if in reality they are endangered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There can also be\ndifferential treatment of animal species. So, gamers may be invited to treat\ncompanion animals well, while killing or torturing non-aggressive wild or farm\nanimals. Even a cartoonish game such as Minecraft<\/em> can do this sort of\nthing. Some games glorify hunting for trophies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Violence to animals\ncan be built into the logic of some games. Harming animals can be necessary for\nthe player to progress to new levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, however,\nanimals are portrayed more sympathetically. As blogger Michael Swistara points\nout, virtual animals can be rendered as helpers. This occurs in the game Ghost\nof Tsushima<\/em>, where birds lead the gamer to hidden locations and foxes lead\nthem to shrines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another game focuses\non a hedgehog called Leo and his natural habitat and burrow. Says one\ncommentator: \u201cAll of a sudden [students] have to think about life from [Leo\u2019s]\npoint of view, what his life is like and how things are different from his\nperspective.\u201d This could potentially encourage more humane and environmentally\naware views amongst players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many video games have\nmorality systems. For example, in the game series Red Dead Redemption<\/em>\nyou can lose honour points for shooting your own horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns about video\ngames that portray animals as killable resources might seem like moral panic.\nAfter all, virtual animals are just pixels on a screen. Setting them on fire or\nclubbing them to death does not hurt them! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, evidence\nthat playing violent video games make gamers themselves more likely to go out\nand commit acts of violence is weak\u2014or at least strongly contested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, perhaps the broader\ncontext<\/em> is important in how we should understand and interpret video game\nviolence against animals. In real life, animals are often treated as tools and\ndisposable commodities. They are also more vulnerable than most humans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, some\npeople, like children and minoritised groups, are also more vulnerable in\nreality. That may be why video games often don\u2019t allow players to single out\nchildren or certain racial groups for especially violent treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some commentators have\nsuggested that video game designers might increase sympathetic portrayals of\nanimals. It is suggested that designers might give more personality to animal\ncharacters and enhance players\u2019 emotional connections with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designers could create\nmore games that allow players to step into the paws or hooves of an animal, and\nto see the world from their perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While video games have traditionally got some bad press, these days more and more people argue that video games have benefits beyond enjoyment. For example, some believe video games can not only boost creativity and critical thinking, but also empathy and emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SIMON COGHLAN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2021, video games are big business \u2013 bigger in dollar terms than Hollywood and North American sports combined. Video games are not just for children: many parents and other adults play video games on a regular basis. Games such as Grand Theft Auto can be both hyperviolent and a lot of fun; they seem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2337,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[94,2179,306,85,307,312,2180],"class_list":["post-2779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-abuse","tag-computer-games","tag-ethics","tag-opinion-2","tag-simon-coghlan","tag-vet-ethics","tag-virtual-animals"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":82,"name":"Opinion","slug":"opinion","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":83,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":94,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":82,"category_count":94,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Opinion","category_nicename":"opinion","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"In 2021, video games are big business \u2013 bigger in dollar terms than Hollywood and North American sports combined. Video games are not just for children: many parents and other adults play video games on a regular basis. Games such as Grand Theft Auto can be both hyperviolent and a lot of fun; they seem to lock into the brain\u2019s..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",2601,2923,false]},"categories_names":{"82":{"name":"Opinion","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=82"}},"tags_names":{"94":{"name":"abuse","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=abuse"},"2179":{"name":"computer games","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=computer-games"},"306":{"name":"ethics","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=ethics"},"85":{"name":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=opinion-2"},"307":{"name":"Simon Coghlan","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=simon-coghlan"},"312":{"name":"Vet Ethics","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=vet-ethics"},"2180":{"name":"virtual animals","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=virtual-animals"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",267,300,false],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",184,207,false],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",400,450,false],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",534,600,false],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",911,1024,false],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",85,95,false],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/file.jpeg",2601,2923,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2780,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions\/2780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}