I like this thread.
I actually sit in my school library and pick out books specifically about serial killers. Fascinating bunch, the lot of them.
When you label someone insane of psychotic, think about how that would come about. Do you think it just is? Insanity comes from imbalances in the brain's chemical structure, just like EVERY other feeling humans have. For example, the notion for suicide comes from a lack of a certain chemical reaction(I forget the name. It's usually said on commericals for anit-depressants) . These people aren't "evil", they're just dysfunctional. If I were to mess with the chemicals in ANY humans brain, I can make them do whatever I like. I can make them cry, be angry, or actually have the notion to go out and WANT to kill someone.
Not only this, but also social enviroment can cause someone to go out and commit crimes.
Example of the former: The Son of Sam had an imbalance that made him think that a demonic dog ordered him to kill people.
Example of the latter: Ted Bundy just wasn't loved enough for his standard. He hated women because of his mother.
Originally posted by shaber
How do you get to differentiate between "evil" and dysfunctional?" The evil ARE dysfunctional! How difficult is it to behave oneself properly? The only sensible thing to do with those like Bundy would be to destroy every last trace of them.
If I were to lobotomize you, you wouldn't be able to behave the way you wanted even if you tried your damnedest, therefore it would be very difficult. The psychotic are sort of...naturally lobotomized.
"Evil" is just a perception, an explination for something that really isn't there. Kind of like love, as pointed out earlier. Labeling the dysfunctional 'evil' isnt very fair, since they aren't under control.
Now, let's take someone who is completely sane and knows exactly what they are doing, and get a kick out of killing people. First off, the police would never catch him, and second, HE could be labeled evil. Someone without a dysfunction in the brain killing for joy would be evil. Someone who acts because of an imbalance in their brain isn't really acting of their own free will, now are they? It isn't their fault that they were f*cked up.
Originally posted by shaber
And that grave misconception is the long standing failing of the US Justice System.
I don't see how you can label that a misconception. I just provided facts that they aren't under their own stable control. If someone were to f*ck with the chemicals in YOUR brains, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from killing either. This rule applies to EVERYONE. Does this make EVERYONE on the planet evil?
Anyone who thinks they are entitled to commit mass murder is wrong, plain and simple. Quibbling over such ridiculous abstractions as what disorder they have is beyond ludicrous. 'Disorder' Labels are applied to all conditions nowadays however trivial. All serial killers should be destroyed, whether they think they are more important than others or whether they have one of those phoney "insanity" diagnoses, as it makes no difference at all.
I have a chemical imbalance. I have threatened and attacked family members as a teen. I aspired to kill. I was violent and anitsocial. I felt great hatred for the happy world becuase I was in such pain. I was in constant, grinding pain and horror of the world itself. Looking at the people who took news of child abuse etc in stride and went on with their lives without rejecting humanity as I did- well I saw these people as so empty and self-indulgent that I wanted to kill them. Thoughts of killing them were my only comfort. It seemed the just desserts of their obliviousness. It seemed the only way I could express my horror and hatred in a way that reduced the internal pressure of it. Surely, I thought, their callousness contributed to the source of my pain. Killing them was the only possible last desperate act of resistance to this ugly world they embraced, and which scalded me.
I ended up in juvie, was given meds, became my true self, a person not any different than most, who abhors violence and has chosen a career that involves helping those with chronic pain and terminal illness to live as well as possible. Every day I am thankful that I can show my concern and fellowship to these individuals.
I am not evil. What I was was not evil. Just a computer running a faulty routine. There is so much less free will than people imagine. Chemistry is the soul.
Why didn't I kill anyone? Just a little more hope left in me than perhaps some others were able to hold on to. Hope.
I'm not saying that the psychology of most killers is like mine. I'm just offering a personal example of how the mind is so affected by chemistry.
Re: Speaking of Serial Killers and evil....
Originally posted by Jedi Priestess
I was reading the what is evil thread and serial killers came up a couple of times. I have read alot of books about killers in general. People who kill in a moment of passion, serial killers etc etc. I have always wondered though just what is it that makes a serial killer tick? Probably 90% of them come from horrific childhoods, but then you have the Ted Bundy's who didnt have a bad upbringing. SO I guess what I'm asking is, do you think these people were born this way? Do you think their circumstances were solely to blame? In other words, why do some people become serial killers? 😕I myself think that there is some kind of something in their makeup that leads them down that path.
Hi ya, Priestess 😛 Ok, No, i don't thk you're born that way, that would be taking your free will away. I do think its circumstance around you. I thk what most KIDS don't reasize, if that they could be makeing serial killers...by being mean to that 1 kid every day. Imagine every day of your life having to go to school, knowing everyone makes fun of you. You're either, hit on, made fun of, the center of every joke, Thats hard for a kid to take. Shooting that have taken place, ummm alot (not all) of them are from kids that are made fun of and they get sick and tired of it and thats their way of fighting back.
you can have 2 people grow up in the same envirnment, 1 will stray off the other will go forward, Choices. I know this family that that happened to, I actually went to church w/them when i was a kid. There was 4 kids, all of them turned out great but 1. He ended up being in prison 2 times, the 2nd time being, he murdered a lady in one of the most horrible ways, all becz she tried talking to him and telling him that him dating his cousin was wrong. He even went as far as helping everyone look for her, when her husband and kids reported her missing. The things he did to her......i don't know if words could explain. I grew up w/this kid!!! A few years ago he comitted suicide on the annv of the killing. 🙁
Originally posted by fever red
I have a chemical imbalance. I have threatened and attacked family members as a teen. I aspired to kill. I was violent and anitsocial. I felt great hatred for the happy world becuase I was in such pain. I was in constant, grinding pain and horror of the world itself. Looking at the people who took news of child abuse etc in stride and went on with their lives without rejecting humanity as I did- well I saw these people as so empty and self-indulgent that I wanted to kill them. Thoughts of killing them were my only comfort. It seemed the just desserts of their obliviousness. It seemed the only way I could express my horror and hatred in a way that reduced the internal pressure of it. Surely, I thought, their callousness contributed to the source of my pain. Killing them was the only possible last desperate act of resistance to this ugly world they embraced, and which scalded me.
I ended up in juvie, was given meds, became my true self, a person not any different than most, who abhors violence and has chosen a career that involves helping those with chronic pain and terminal illness to live as well as possible. Every day I am thankful that I can show my concern and fellowship to these individuals.
I am not evil. What I was was not evil. Just a computer running a faulty routine. There is so much less free will than people imagine. Chemistry is the soul.
Why didn't I kill anyone? Just a little more hope left in me than perhaps some others were able to hold on to. Hope.
I'm not saying that the psychology of most killers is like mine. I'm just offering a personal example of how the mind is so affected by chemistry.
Wow I thk thats all i can say is: wow I know there is chemical imbalances, Thats great that you got the help you needed 😄