So what can be done to prevent this, other than gun control

Slip you think the world is going to point fingers yet again at video games, movies, certain genres of music, etc etc?

Or is this time going to be different? I see a lot of people talking about "social isolation, bullying, mental illnesses, etc".

Just curious on your opinions. Thanks.

 

Not Slip, but I think you will always have the same people blaming the same things. You may bring in more voices, but I think overall, you are going to see a lot of blaming video games, movies, and music, like you normally do.

 

This just in off the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6567143.stm

Excerpt:

Five similarities. I was struck most by the pattern including the top two issues (maybe because these are the only ones that we can really 'do' anything about).

I think the 'underlying psychological problems' is a gross understatement that goes without saying. It also shows that eliminating secondary/incidental factors (music, video games, violent movies/TV, etc) won't address the real issues.

 

I wonder if the concept of evil comes into this.
I'm just tossing an idea in here but seems these days everyone who does something wrong is mentally ill. There is then a host of reasons to blame - social alienation, mental health problems, etc.

Is it possible that someone could be sane and commit such actions?
Have we eradicated evil these days or did it ever even exist?


*Disclaimer - I'm not saying that this particular guy wasn't mentally ill or that he didn't have "issues".

 

I personally think that the idea of evil can be translated into sociopath. Most people label anyone that does anything extreme or violent as a psychopath but, the psychopath is someone suffering from dementia/schizophrenia. Their perception of the world doesn't correspond with the majority's.

The psychopath may kill someone because they believe they are a demon or an agent of the deposed king of Reztaculon VII here to usurp the power of the mole people in hopes of regaining his lost throne. In other words, they are what people simply call 'crazy'. They may have lost all ability to determine right from wrong because the information they are getting is misinterpreted/skewed.

Now the sociopath knows what right and wrong is they simply don't care. They see other people as one of two things: 1) a stepping stone to their goals. 2) a hindrance to their goals.

Evil exists just as good exists. Not in any kind of mystical, other worldly biblical framework but, simply put: some people are kind, caring and selfless others are mean, hateful and selfish. I think that there are plenty of evil people walking around in daily life and that most of them don't do anything near on the scale of the recent killings at Virginia Tech.

However, they are the ones do things as mundane as take someone's parking spot at the mall all the way up to stalking, raping and murdering children. They have needs and they seek to satisfy them regardless of the cost to others.

 

I think the answer to the original question is: nothing.

The kid who did this was obviously unhinged (for whatever reason.) You cannot totally eliminate the chances of people becoming mentally unstable, so you have to ensure that they do not have the means to go on killing sprees.

The notion of doing this without gun control is redundant, because the USA already has gun control - although it varies from state to state. Surely the question is how do you make that gun control more effective? That could mean changing the scope of the regulations, or it could mean improving the enforcement of the existing regulations. (Or both.)

 

This korean nutcase responsible for the virginia killings obviously had some sort of superiroty complex going on along with sheer unsocial, perverted perspectives of fellow students.

I noticed his wording of "I didn't have to do this" and several similar comments he makes in the documents he mailed to NBC. Sorta sounds like he did this to prove something to himself, just to prove he could do it, and somehow justified the immoral venture of it all be picturing himself as a prophet like Jesus.

I know what I think on the matter, that it would only take one person who wasn't afraid and knew what they were doing to disarm this guy and put him down and out. As a result of lack of self defence knowledge, over 30 people died at the hands of JUST ONE MAN AND A GUN!!! A gun he would've reloaded several times to perform such a massacre.

Though that is a pretty harsh thing to say, really the fault is on the killer for doing this in the first place, but I still think the real tragedy is how a whole school of people could not take out one guy with a hand gun. we're not talking a bleeding semi automatic rifle here. But a pistol wielded by a weakling. A pistol that could only fire so many shots and need multiple seconds to reload.

People can stop a gunman. But if they're absolutely terrified it's allready over. A man with a gun isn't as scared as you will be, but take his gun and everything changes. What upsets me is the general view that a man with a gun is an unstoppable immortal only an armed police force can handle.

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Such incidents are inevitable in a society in which violence has been normalized to the degree it has in the US.

 

Duuuuuuuude - talking or playing games on the internet does not constitute full-on social interaction. It has some of the aspects of it, but it is no replacement for actually being around people. Can we agree there?

 

OMGDZZZZ You are a bad bad man fruitjuice. I feel sorry for the gun weilding, college student massacring madmen in your vicinity!!!!

 

absolutely! my point was that lacking social interaction from playing games is a ridiculous thought as it pertains to the guys state of mind.

 

Dealing with bullies, dealing with messed up families, not giving psychopaths with mental health issues guns would be a nice start.