"May you live in interesting times." Depending on the circumstances and to whom you say this, it could be taken as a blessing or a curse. For my money, having the freedom and the courage to move beyond the norms of intellectual thought is a boon. It’s where we get our new ideas from and it’s one of the most stimulating things you can do.

Trouble is most folks don’t like it, it’s way out of everyone’s comfort zone and if you aren’t used to that sort of venture, you can freak. Denial kicks in and people start screaming, ‘No!’ and pointing fingers. Yeah, we've all done it.

Well, that still shouldn’t stop the world turning, so here goes. A recent article from The Business Shrink looks at some fledgling research that seems to turn a bunch of assumptions on their heads. Previously, we have believed that the link between violence and things like pornography and rape was a causal relationship. Watch porn, commit rape, watch violence, commit violence, and rape.

Well, hang on to your hats, this research suggests, or raises the question of whether or not that is really or always so. The research suggests that in watching violence movies, potential perpetrators then committed less violent crimes. Were they too wrung out or sated from the make-believe violence to be able to engage in the real thing? Hey, the virtual world comes up trumps.

Then again, some research is suggesting that where pornography is entertaining the male masses, less real world rape is going down. Sated? Exhausted? Not enough time in the day to do both? No one knows yet, or even if the stats stack up. There could be other factors at play that undermine there being any link between these key activities.

But, it’s awfully interesting food for thought, hey? And that's what's so good about jumping intellectual boundaries, you start moving in new directions, even if they aren't the initial ones indicated.

Read for yourself and watch the net for future research and dialogue on this issue over the next few years. Additionally, it does suggest interesting possibilities for offenders and wannabes – doses of a virtual world that leaves them productive citizens? No, just harmless cits in the real world would do.