And nobody's gonna go to school today
She's going to make them stay at home
And daddy doesn't understand it
He always said she was as good as gold
And he can see no reason
'Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be sure
Tell me why
I don't like Mondays — Bob Geldof
https://www.historyextra.com/period/viking/the-truth-about-viking-berserkers/The most probable explanation for ‘going berserk’ comes from psychiatry. The theory is that the groups of warriors, through ritual processes carried out before a battle (such as biting the edges of their shields), went into a self-induced hypnotic trance. In this dissociative state they lost conscious control of their actions, which are then directed subconsciously. People in this state seem remote, have little awareness of their surroundings and have reduced awareness of pain and increased muscle strength. Critical thinking and normal social inhibitions weaken, but the people affected are not unconscious.
This condition of psychomotor automatism possibly resembles what in forensic psychiatry is described as ‘diminished responsibility’. The condition is followed by a major emotional catharsis in the form of tiredness and exhaustion, sometimes followed by sleep. Researchers think that the short-term aim of the trance may have been to achieve an abreaction of strong aggressive, destructive and sadistic impulses in a socially defined role.
The Old Norse social order and religion were able to accommodate this type of behaviour, and it is understandable that the phenomenon disappeared after the introduction of Christianity. A Christian society considered such rituals and actions as demonic and thought that they must have resulted from supernatural influences.
And nobody's gonna go to school today
She's going to make them stay at home
And daddy doesn't understand it
He always said she was as good as gold
And he can see no reason
'Cause there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be sure
Tell me why
I don't like Mondays
— Bob Geldof
about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. — unenlightened
And already folks are blaming Trump, and blaming gun laws But there are no reasons, what reason do you need to be sure? The El Paso shooter put out a 'manifesto' of racial hate and fear, but I believe him even less than the reports that it is Trump. — unenlightened
A couple of mass shootings in the US today, Dayton, and before that El Paso. The nothing-newness of this is obvious and much as philosophers would like there to be, 'there are no reasons.' Facebook would think it racist of me to mention that we are usually talking about white males. — unenlightened
A couple of mass shootings in the US today, Dayton, and before that El Paso. The nothing-newness of this is obvious and much as philosophers would like there to be, 'there are no reasons.' Facebook would think it racist of me to mention that we are usually talking about white males.
And already folks are blaming Trump, and blaming gun laws But there are no reasons, what reason do you need to be sure? The El Paso shooter put out a 'manifesto' of racial hate and fear, but I believe him even less than the reports that it is Trump — unenlightened
One should think the reason, regardless of demographics, behind the murder is frustration. I'd think that when the decision to murder is reached, no other options seem viable. Powerlessness. Asserting control. — Hanover
One should think the reason, regardless of demographics, behind the murder is frustration. — Hanover
Good job no one said then, because a lack of perspective is a major symptom of incipient mass murder.To try to say this is some kind of epidemic of Viking berserkers shows a lack of perspective. — T Clark
The guilt precedes the crime. As a kid might act out to give concrete object to Dads angry sulk, that kid not being able to comprehend the idea of nursing a wound brought home from work. — csalisbury
Hmm. Perhaps I have a different idea of what reason is. The thrust of the op is is that 'I don't like Mondays' does not count as a reason, even if it counts as a cause, and neither does 'I don't like foreigners'. — unenlightened
What is the perspective thats lacking? What does that perspective reveal? — csalisbury
For what it's worth, the murder rate in the US is half of what it was in 1980. 650,000 die of heart disease annually. Cancer 600,000. Let's put our energy there. — T Clark
"The Modern American social order and religion are able to accommodate this type of behaviour... " — unenlightened
But apart from being the cradle of democracy, having a penchant for bloody invasions of other countries, being despised and feared around the world, and having plenty of berserkers, how is the US like a Viking nation? — unenlightened
Well... school shootings would be less... likely if... there were... less readily available gu-
I'll be over there in the corner. — fdrake
Actually, I misunderstood where you were going with the OP. This issue is what I really wanted to talk about, but I didn't want to go off on a tangent. — T Clark
I think all the outrage put into trying could better be spent elsewhere. — T Clark
They are primarily a 1980s band. — T Clark
That explains it. I was busy in the 1980s studying classics, advancing the sexual revolution, going crazy, working... — Bitter Crank
Good job no one said then, because a lack of perspective is a major symptom of incipient mass murder.
Nevertheless, as I pointed out, there are parallels between the US and Viking cultures, and one of them is the centrality of the hero, the individual of power to individual and national identity, hence the abhorrence of anything "social". — unenlightened
I am comfortable around guns and generally believe that seriously restricting gun ownership in the US won't work. I think all the outrage put into trying could better be spent elsewhere. On the other hand, I know conservative gun owners who believe that reasonable restrictions are a good idea. — T Clark
High school shootings should probably be considered domestic terrorism; the actions of the perpetrators should be condemned, but the issues that lead them to it should be understood so that they can be addressed. — fdrake
Yes. Compassion good. That kind of article that portrays high school shooters as misunderstood loners in need of love, not so good. No one's ever been around for that. — fdrake
We modern Americans have become rather fussy about these little clusters of deaths brought about by armed individuals. Suppose the media stopped being the media and stopped reporting each one with loving care. Do you think the incidence of mass shootings would go up or down? — Bitter Crank
It does reveal a shocking lack of perspective. 6 people were killed in a head on collision near my home town. 1/2 of the 6 were decidedly in the wrong (they were on the wrong side of the freeway). Where was the outrage? — Bitter Crank
I think it reveals that our society is unable to understand what is important. 120 people. It makes me sick when TV and other media broadcast hysterical reports full of outrage and fake tears. It's such bologna. The worst thing is that the kind of action that really can address violence does not come from attitudes of horror and outrage.
For what it's worth, the murder rate in the US is half of what it was in 1980. 650,000 die of heart disease annually. Cancer 600,000. Let's put our energy there. — T Clark
We're more like the British, I would think. — Bitter Crank
I think the Viking theory is silly. Again, it's people trying to say something to make themselves feel better, more in control of frightening things. — T Clark
There is a lot of energy being put there though. — csalisbury
Un's post - and mine for that matter - don't strike me as outrage, much less the outrage of a rube grifted by yellow journalists. — csalisbury
when the same thing keeps happening again and again in a society over decades, it cannot be sensibly regarded as an aberration. Universities inevitably have dropouts, and hero-worship inevitably has berserkers. This is our normal. — unenlightened
You're not going to save a significant number of lives by any action you take. — T Clark
If you think the topic is of no significance, what are you doing posting so much about it? Feel free to turn your attention to significant issues any time. — unenlightened
You are talking complete bollocks anyway; should we ignore presidential elections because they don't happen 'again and again' by your ridiculous interpretation? — unenlightened
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