to it that I don't think they understand if it is real or not.
http://wildcat.arizona.edu//papers/89/104/02_2_m.htmlSociety desensitized to increased violence
Arizona Daily Wildcat
John Keisling
Traveling in the Provence area of France some time ago, I missed the last train out of Arles and had no way to get back to my youth hostel, some 12 kilometers to the north. Since I couldn't afford a taxi, I decided to try l'autostop; that is, to hitch a ride.
As I walked along the highway that led out of town, I knew I should put out my open palm as a signal to the drivers. For the longest time, though, my pride wouldn't let me do it. I was genuinely embarrassed at having to ask for their help.
After about a mile of wrestling with my shame, I at last feebly stretched out my hand and managed to do so for every car that went by. This went on for about four hours, as the sun set and twilight faded into darkness, until at last a French student no ol der than I stopped and gave me a lift. What had struck me during all this was how fast my attitude toward hitchhiking changed, how fast I lost my proud independence. Not only was I unashamed to put out my hand, I very soon began growing angry at the drivers for not stopping, only because I had grown accustomed to asking them. Thus, in only a few hours, I had come face-to-face with a very serious human problem: the problem of desensitization.
Desensitization is of course not new. It is a consequence of the human ability to adapt to different surroundings, to get used to things. Sometimes this trait is very helpful, as it can allow us to weather difficult circumstances, such as a long-term debi litating illness. But it can also be a curse, deadening our reactions to things that should shock and affront us, making it all too easy to regard such things as normal and acceptable.
Some of this is deliberate - desensitization for its own sake. Groups like Queer Nation are notorious for being as high-profile as possible, so as to alter American perceptions of flagrant homosexuality via a sort of moral anesthetic. A Berkeley student n amed Andrew Martinez gained fame as "The Naked Guy" for his refusal to wear clothes, trying to desensitize the campus to nudity. NAMBLA does the same thing, albeit a bit more cautiously (pedophilia still being technically illegal). Doesn't prove one iota about right or wrong, but it's a good psychological tactic.
(snip)