Slipper Slope Argument

Listening to the guest speaker's talk today, I found the concept of what we call in Ethics the "Slippery Slope " Argument very relevant and interesting when connected to the idea of textual studies within the genre of video games. The basic idea is that of one action that is borderline to something else and causes controversy will eventually lead to an action of a higher degree or next level. For example, if one says it is alright to test embryos in stem cell research then is it also alright for one to test infants? One may ask Where do we draw the line? And that is the concept of the slippery slope where one thing may inevitably lead to another which is much worst. Our speaker discussed this slippery slope concept as argued by the media and how the violence in video games will eventually spill over into real life and how that is an argument many hold to be valid within the political and social sectors of the world. To think that those groups all have a vested interest in making the argument changed my perception of violent video games and the actual act of playing as well. It makes one think twice of how the Calvinistic way of thinking has become so automatic in our heads that if an activity is considered idle we think of it as immoral or at least very close to that. I wasn't aware of the concept of an alternate reality that we create for ourselves even as children in which we create those acts that we desire to do but cannot in the "real" world because of social limitations. It almost makes me think that is players wouldn't rid their aggression in video games then maybe they might build up frustration an dwho knows what that would lead to. This might be too extreme a thought but it does make me think of video games as a mode of releasing violence safely and venting rather than traditionally presented by the media as violence builders and increasing violence in society as opposed to acting like a filter and maintaining the sanity of players.