Shifting gears from softer topics, lets consider for a moment, those people who are a part of society but arent really part of civil society. Havent we come across people in newpaper articles, in movies and other media , who are driven by some psychotic reasons to cause harm ? Cases ,where the problem investigative agencies face, is of establishing a motive behind the convict's actions. More often than not, the defendants plead psychological disorders to undergo treatment at an asylum and thts where the proceedings stop.
If you really scratch the surface you would realise that all this while , when a motive was being established or created depending on which side u r , the convicts have stayed silent and displayed a nonchalance that is amusing and scary at the same time. There is this amazing line that I read somewhere which went like," There are some men who cant be reasoned with. They dont treat murder as a crime. They are amused by it and the victim is their toy."
Personally I am yet to see or meet someone like this in person but I find it superbly interesting to read about these cases. But the catch is that what u read is what a third party percieves the case as , so u can never really reach the ABSOLUTE TRUTH if there is any. In normal cases anyway, our opinions are influenced by what we read and see. But have u ever tried going into the brain of a psychopath and see what really goes on in there that provides the drive for so much havoc he creates. One of the most horrific accounts that I have read is of a person who had a chance encounter with a serial-killer and he was pinned down and about to be axed when he saw the attacker's face. He could clearly recall that the face was as innocent as a little child's and had a constant smile on it. For some inexplicable reason, the attacker spared this guy but scarred him for life.He recounts the horror he faces everyday of his existence when he closes his eyes and sees those crystal clear eyes gleaming down on him.
The thing to notice about the horror here is not of the deed itself but the intent behind it which takes the fear to another level. In other words if there is a reason behind such an act atleast the mind can see reason and react accordingly but if someone is just playing and enjoying the process of killing so much, the fear is enough to make anyone go numb.
If one starts to get down to a reason behind the mind of man turning so violent, there could be any number of reasons. Most notably, repression, lifelong restrictions, childhood abuse or even something as innocuous as a snatched toy. The seed of extreme resentment is sown when one is faced with restriction or separation from something one loves or even a backstab from a loved one. For a fickle mind , its very easy to blame society for it and ask for revenge from everyone. There is no reason behind it but all the negative energy that gets stored in the brain such as anger and physicality takes a coldly brutal form in certain cases and creates what one calls a cold blooded, mass-murdering psychopath.
Moving to the other side and viewing it from civil society's perspective , its common sense to go by convention and tag a psychopath as anti-social and a criminal. And on the question of empathy , psychopaths deserve zero marks , again as per societal norms. Keeping this aside, isnt it a fact that these people are the creation of this very society that now chooses to disown them. Arent these psychopaths honest about their intent unlike us -- the members of society , who say something, mean something else and do something totally different. If u judge by character who wud u deem better, a chameleon or a tiger. Yes i may get raised eyebrows and a few chuckles for comparing a psychopath to a tiger but the point is of a single-minded honest intent. Still, nothing justifies taking human lives and all respect should be accorded to it, but judging people on the basis of a criterion that is itself created by flawed humans is a bit misplaced isnt it ???
So, who really is the psychopath?? The demented murderer who kills in cold blood or the scheming calculating civil person who kills by manipulation.
In am yet to figure out but isnt it a tough choice anyway ??
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