Saturday, March 12, 2005

His Brain is Squirming Like a Toad ...

Aside: Thanks for the comment, Albert. I follow where my reasoning takes me, and if that hits me in the ego, too bad. (I think Cynthia may not return or leave more comments; this isn't the most interesting of journals, after all.)

I like this Diatom. The delta-wing-like formation is repeated, once in light and once in dark. It reminds me of a Mandala.

Sociopaths. What is lacking in the genetic makeup of such an individual that he (or she) can perform acts of such utter depravity? I would hate to have to seriously consider the fact that the Creator might have actually included such a gene in our DNA, so I prefer to think that it is due to some mutation, some freak that removes the societal controls that the majority of us manage to exercise.

I find it interesting that antecursors (I may have just coined a word) to Jack Ruby are alive and well. There are people perfectly willing to kill Nichols for what he is presumed and acknowledged to have done. Apparently in many the impulse to kill lies not too far below the surface. This is discouraging. Have we progressed so little as a species?

Why is someone like Brian Nichols fully capable of cold-bloodedly taking life almost instantaneously, while the impulse to kill is only triggered in others in response to acts committed (or allegedly committed) by someone like Nichols?

Someday, perhaps, there will be answers for these questions.

Bad word of the day:

Sociopathy

Care for each other.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're underestimating both your journal and me.  Your journal really is quite interesting.  This diatom does indeed bring to mind a mandala.  It reminded me of a very specific one on the cover of one of my books.  I think true sociopathy is probably a combination of both genetics and environment, but as a species, I don't think we've progressed all that far.

Anonymous said...

LOL, Cynthia said it first!  Your journal is high-quality stuff, Malcom, enough with the self-depreciating comments, leave those to me!

There was a very interesting article recently in The NY Times about sociopaths and "Evil"... someone has developed a 20-item scale for determining sociopathology, after studying the cases of serial killers and people like Hitler.  Seems like a combination of extreme abuse as a child, grandiosity, zero empathy for others, impulsivity and a few other traits.  

Commenting in your journal requires me to think!  I need more coffee...
--Albert