#392 Christopher Ferguson: Violent Media and Its Effects, and How Madness Shaped History
RECORDED ON SEPTEMBER 17th 2020.
Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson is professor of psychology at Stetson University. He is interested in media violence and, in particular, video games. He has been invited to speak at Vice President Biden’s task force and a 2013 Institute of Medicine/CDC panel on the subject and in summer 2018 testified at the School Safety Commission. His research has generally indicated that exposure to media violence has little effect on societal violence. Dr. Ferguson has emphasized the idea that media effects must be studied independently rather than taking a “one size fits all” approach. Thus, advertising may get us to switch from one product to another even if video games don’t turn kids into mass killers. Dr. Ferguson is also interested in the sociology of media research itself…how political pressure, social moral panics and culture war can distort media effects research into “opinions with numbers.”. He’s the author of How Madness Shaped History: An Eccentric Array of Maniacal Rulers, Raving Narcissists, and Psychotic Visionaries.
In this episode, we talk about the psychological effects of media, and How Madness Shaped History. We start by talking about a bit of the history of how people tend to demonize new technology. We then get into specific technologies, like videogames, movies, and series. We address specifically 13 Reasons Why, and screen time. Finally, we cover come of the main topics of How Madness Shaped History, and discuss things like a distinction between madness, mental illness, and insanity; how complicated it is to diagnose historical figures; if mental health professionals should diagnose politicians; and how someone gets mad.
Time Links:
Demonizing new technology
Violent videogames
Sexism in videogames
Does playing videogames improve cognitive function?
Videogame addiction
Screen time
13 Reasons Why
Is the Lord of the Rings racist against orcs?
How Madness Shaped History
Big Man History
Madness, mental illness, and insanity
Diagnosing historical figures
Should political figures be diagnosed?
How people get mad
Follow Dr. Ferguson’s work!
Follow Dr. Ferguson’s work:
Faculty page: https://bit.ly/2FEmghC
Website: https://bit.ly/2ZBxNFz
Psychology Today blog: https://bit.ly/2Fw6Rjo
How Madness Shaped History: https://amzn.to/3khICo8
Twitter handle: @CJFerguson1111