The following may contain opinions that people may disagree with. As I have had people react quite harshly when I have posted similar things, I just want to ask people to only respond in a polite conversational manner, and not in a heated angry response to my post.
[spoiler]
I’ve noticed that there are many people who seem to want to commit violent acts in their LDs, as well as other criminal acts. When I am talking about violence here, I don’t mean in the sense like you are acting out a movie or something similar. For instance, I’m not talking about fighting Darth Vader or Zombies. What I’m talking about is when people just want to go around blowing up or killing DCs just for the fun of it. While one of the great things about lucid dreaming is that you can do anything you want in your LD, does that mean that you should do whatever you feel like doing?
I know it’s controversial, and many people don’t agree with the findings; however, there has been some evidence that playing violent videogames can increase a person’s violent behavior IRL. This hypothesized effect is thought to happen because playing the videogame causes a person to actually commit the acts, albeit virtually. This is why it is thought in these studies that violent videogames are worse for people than violent TV or movies. Of course, there is an effect when people simply watch violent media, as they have a tendency to become more violent IRL. For those who may disagree with violent TV shows and movies causing violent behavior IRL, I point not only to the multiple studies (which as a good scientist, I have referenced here lol ), but also to Bandura’s social-learning theory. According to that theory, when people observe others, they learn from those observed people’s behaviors.
Thus, this brings me to my final conclusion. Even if you disagree with the link between violence IRL and violent videogames, social-learning theory does show that observing violent behavior causes violent behavior. Therefore, what you do in your own dreams affects you, and if you believe in the link between violent videogames and violence IRL, then the explanation for that link should scare you away from doing such criminal and violent acts in your dreams. If it’s thought that violent videogames are worse for people than violent TV shows or movies because you are actually participating in the violence, then it follows that literally and consciously acting out the violent crimes, although in a dream, is likely to influence your behavior IRL. In my opinion, people should refrain from such violent behavior in their LDs.[/spoiler]