Well, ISIS has claimed the attack actually, there's just no independent evidence linking him to ISIS yet.Well, here we are again. This time, the perpertrator's motives seem completely impossible to discern. No criminal history, no history of violence, no affiliation with terrorist organisations. — Wayfarer
I don't find it inherently irrational. I mean I can imagine someone who feels they are approaching the end of their life and are motivated by a dangerous evil ideology to engage in such crimes.How do you rationalise something inherently irrational? — Wayfarer
An interesting hypothesis. But there certainly have to be some factors which make one susceptible to such demonic possession no? I mean could it just happen to anyone? Could me, or you, suddenly turn into mass killers?I wonder if it is something like a form of 'demonic possession' - a person becomes seized by an idea or a complex of ideas, so powerful it drives them to commit ghastly, unimaginably awful and irrational acts, and kill themselves after doing it. It really is as if a malevolent demon has possessed the body of an otherwise normal human. — Wayfarer
Yes, but why would they do that? I mean what's the chain of thoughts that leads someone to do such a thing?Although I suppose the more mundane explanation is simply that the 'mass murder meme' has now become a template for a certain form of behaviour, and there will continue to be those in whom this idea hatches, and who will then carry it out. — Wayfarer
Yes, I agree that it is in large aspects a cultural issue, and not only about gun laws. Somehow this form of mental illness propagates itself, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we don't understand it very well.the world's most powerful and advanced political economy has somehow created a culture which is powerless to stop them occurring. — Wayfarer
But there certainly have to be some factors which make one susceptible to such demonic possession no? I mean could it just happen to anyone? — Agustino
3k were killed on 9-11, by people who believed the act would plant them in heaven. — praxis
Yes, I think this is on the right track. But how does it happen that someone loses their intrinsic connection to reality?minds that have lost any intrinsic connection to reality — Wayfarer
Reality ain't what it used to be ;-) — Wayfarer
violence is on the rise and will probably continue to rise as we enter in the coming dark age — Agustino
But how does it happen that someone loses their intrinsic connection to reality? — Agustino
The banality of [the shooter's] existence makes the Las Vegas massacre even more frightening than even the record-breaking death toll would suggest. The lack of any obvious motivation makes the terror of a random act of violence even deeper and more random. If an ordinary guy, with no obvious ties to extremists groups, no ideological motivations, an apparently placid personal life, stable finances, and no psychological abnormalities—the kind of guy who eats burritos, has a couple beers at the karaoke bar, waves to his neighbors, but largely keeps to himself—can emerge as the deadliest shooter in modern U.S. history, what hope can there be to identify suspects like him before they attack?
Another dreadful mass-shooting, with an alienated man murdering nine strangers then killing himself. This time in Germany - but the world is a global village.
I can't help but think that this has become a meme; and that for a certain type of mentality, the behaviour has become normalised. So at any given time, there are probably many thousands of men - it's always men - who will be thinking 'I could do that'. Presumably, their lives are full of sufficient inner torment and self-hatred to provide the impetus for such terrible crimes.
The Nice truck-murderer told an acquaintance 'you wait, soon everyone will know about me'.
And then, when they occur, they trigger world-wide media coverage, and inspire (if that is the right word) the next hideous example.
It's a pity society doesn't believe in hell any more. As it is, these people believe, among other things, that as they will take themselves out with their final, despicable act, they will never have to suffer the consequences. So I can't see any way to prevent these acts from regularly occuring from now on. I think it is an extreme manifestation of the attitude that nothing matters, and that everything is simply a spectacle - a complete disassociation from reality. — Wayfarer
If we want to be people who tolerate senseless, preventable violence, there is probably not much any academic, legislator, clergy, social activist, etc. can do to stop the mass murders. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday referred to the gunman, Stephen Paddock, as “disturbed,” but said that much of the past 10 years of his life was a mystery. “What we know is Stephen Paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood,” he said.
“Don’t you think the concealment of his history, of his life, was well-thought-out?” the sheriff asked. “It’s incumbent upon us as professionals to dig that up.” — New York Times
There is a complete 'disconnect' between guns and consequences. I'm not talking about squirrel, duck, and deer hunters.
Sheriff Joe Lombardo of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on Wednesday referred to the gunman, Stephen Paddock, as “disturbed,” but said that much of the past 10 years of his life was a mystery. “What we know is Stephen Paddock is a man who spent decades acquiring weapons and ammo and living a secret life, much of which will never be fully understood,” he said.
“Don’t you think the concealment of his history, of his life, was well-thought-out?” the sheriff asked. “It’s incumbent upon us as professionals to dig that up.”
— New York Times
"Disturbed"? You think?
"Mystery"? What mystery?
"Secret life"? What secret life?.
The pile of guns and ammunition that Paddock had in his hotel room were legally obtained, presumably, on the open gun market. It's all for sale--semi-automatic guns and 'bump stock' devices to enable the automatics to overcome the deficiency of being merely 'semi' automatics. The only "disturbed" Paddock (instead of the stark raving mad Paddock) had further equipped his rifles with enhanced sites that enabled him to target individuals from a distance of 1200 feet. In addition he had enough ammunition to fire away for what, 9 minutes?
The deployment of his arsenal in Las Vegas follows the logic of the legally sold product: A large share of the 300 millions guns in private hands are designed to kill people--mostly one, two, or three at a time, but more complicated and entirely legal guns are on sale that are designed to kill dozens, and injure a few hundred in just a few minutes more.
At this very moment, Thursday, 12:30, p.m., central time zone, potential killers are browsing the legal, public, socially accepted displays of guns, ammunition, and accessories and are opening their wallets to buy.
Are to suppose that Stephen Paddock is the last person who will follow the logic of the product and that no one else will ever fulfill the purpose for which the (in effect) machine guns are designed--killing lots of people? No. — Bitter Crank
If we want to be people who tolerate senseless, preventable violence, there is probably not much any academic, legislator, clergy, social activist, etc. can do to stop the mass murders. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
The 151,000 deaths are objective. Which deaths we regard as newsworthy and culturally meaningful is purely cultural. It's an illusion. The deaths are real. The horror over this 59 and not the 21,000 dead children is cultural and political. — fishfry
We don't really know why these mass murders are happening. — WISDOMfromPO-MO
accidental shootings — Wayfarer
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