> If people are exposed to stimuli, they will pursue increasingly stimulating versions of it. I.e., if they see artificial CP, they will often begin to become desensitized (habituated) and pursue real CP or even live children thereafter.
I have accumulated tens of thousands of headshots in video games but have yet to ever shoot a single real person in the face. More importantly, I have never had the urge to seek out same.
I am not sure that your initial premise has any truth to it.
The point is more "can you conceive of a headshot before you've ever witnessed one?" And the assertion is, no.
I should be explicit -- I am saying the exposure which makes one seek stimulus is merely a catalyst for deeper urges, not a generator of them as such. A certain level of inhibition (e.g. sociopathy) is required but IMO so is a prior conception of the deed.
In your example, if someone is predisposed to wanting to shoot actual people in the head, exposing them to video game headshots may distract in the short term but desensitizes and entrenches the image in the long term, possibly making it easier to decide to pull the trigger later on if they are sufficiently inhibited of social concerns. This does not happen for people with high inhibitions, or at least sufficient self-control.
> The point is more "can you conceive of a headshot before you've ever witnessed one?" And the assertion is, no.
I'm not sure that's true. Our brains can imagine a lot that we've never seen, though maybe not very accurately. Inventors and developers and artists do it all the time, if we are talking about the same thing.
I'm not sure that disproves your premise. Virtual experiences may make real ones easier, but some research and details about where it works, where it doesn't, would be helpful. Many training programs use virtual experiences, such as flight simulators.
They can by definition not perceive a headshot, it is a visual thing. I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here, the difference is not germane to the conversation.
I have accumulated tens of thousands of headshots in video games but have yet to ever shoot a single real person in the face. More importantly, I have never had the urge to seek out same.
I am not sure that your initial premise has any truth to it.