Adam Lanza was not wired correctly. His brain did not work the way it should. He was not a normal human being.
He could not feel physical pain.
He did not look people in the eye.
He could not bring himself to communicate with others.
He was "Autistic", which likely means he also lacked an ability to feel empathy for others, an ability to understand that other people have feelings, an ability to communicate his own thoughts and feelings.
Human Beings attempt to find meaning in the events around us.
When we attach human motives to the actions of animals or objects or forces it is called ANTHROPOMORPHISM.
Attempting to attach meaning to the murders committed by Adam Lanza is a kind of Anthropomorphic activity. It is absurd. It is stupid.
It is wrong.
Adam Lanza is, was, and always will be insane. His actions lack meaning. The workings of his brain are absurd.
The very fact that his, apparently, very loving mother attempted to normalize his life, and failed is testament to the fact that he is insane.
The attempt was Anthropomorphic from the beginning. It was doomed to failure.
In a case like that of Adam Lanza, we may not have known the he was incapable of normal human cognition when he started school, but once we found out, the experiment should have been discontinued.
The reason it is wrong to participate in this kind of behavior is because it is absurd. Thought dedicated to absurdity, to lack of meaning, is wasted thought, it is wasted energy. And, it leads to chaos.
Chaos is dangerous to society.
Adam Lanza is the very embodiment of this fact. Adam Lanza's mother attempted to treat Adam as if he could be loved into normality. He could not. He is insane. He does not process love as love.
The fact that she attempted to give him a normal life, giving him access to normal experience, means that she introduced an element of chaos into society.
She sowed the wind, and we have reaped the whirlwind.
Attempting to give normal human meaning and motive to the behavior of an Autistic person with a personality disorder makes as much sense as attempting to understand a hurricane through an appeal to human motivations.
Hurricanes lack human motivations, and Autistic people in many cases, also, lack normal human motivations.
Because killers like Adam are invariably completely insane, completely lacking in normal human motivations, I propose that. in the future, we do not speak of killers like Adam by their names.
Instead, I propose we give them a number. Not a name. A number. A numeral without meaning, with no appeal to rational sense. No relationship to anything in society.
We have been touched by the irrational, and it is only fitting that we remember these irrational beings as irrational.
When we give them names, and when we attempt to overlay human motivations on their actions, wondering if perhaps they were bullied, taken advantage of, ignored, we only detract from the truth of their behavior.
They are evil, chaotic, and absurd. Their actions are inhuman.
That is the truth. And that is how they should be remembered and forgotten.
UPDATED -
I've thought about this a little more and I'm realizing that I am wrong in this post.
Here's why:He could not feel physical pain.
He did not look people in the eye.
He could not bring himself to communicate with others.
He was "Autistic", which likely means he also lacked an ability to feel empathy for others, an ability to understand that other people have feelings, an ability to communicate his own thoughts and feelings.
Human Beings attempt to find meaning in the events around us.
When we attach human motives to the actions of animals or objects or forces it is called ANTHROPOMORPHISM.
Attempting to attach meaning to the murders committed by Adam Lanza is a kind of Anthropomorphic activity. It is absurd. It is stupid.
It is wrong.
Adam Lanza is, was, and always will be insane. His actions lack meaning. The workings of his brain are absurd.
The very fact that his, apparently, very loving mother attempted to normalize his life, and failed is testament to the fact that he is insane.
The attempt was Anthropomorphic from the beginning. It was doomed to failure.
In a case like that of Adam Lanza, we may not have known the he was incapable of normal human cognition when he started school, but once we found out, the experiment should have been discontinued.
The reason it is wrong to participate in this kind of behavior is because it is absurd. Thought dedicated to absurdity, to lack of meaning, is wasted thought, it is wasted energy. And, it leads to chaos.
Chaos is dangerous to society.
Adam Lanza is the very embodiment of this fact. Adam Lanza's mother attempted to treat Adam as if he could be loved into normality. He could not. He is insane. He does not process love as love.
The fact that she attempted to give him a normal life, giving him access to normal experience, means that she introduced an element of chaos into society.
She sowed the wind, and we have reaped the whirlwind.
Attempting to give normal human meaning and motive to the behavior of an Autistic person with a personality disorder makes as much sense as attempting to understand a hurricane through an appeal to human motivations.
Hurricanes lack human motivations, and Autistic people in many cases, also, lack normal human motivations.
Because killers like Adam are invariably completely insane, completely lacking in normal human motivations, I propose that. in the future, we do not speak of killers like Adam by their names.
Instead, I propose we give them a number. Not a name. A number. A numeral without meaning, with no appeal to rational sense. No relationship to anything in society.
We have been touched by the irrational, and it is only fitting that we remember these irrational beings as irrational.
When we give them names, and when we attempt to overlay human motivations on their actions, wondering if perhaps they were bullied, taken advantage of, ignored, we only detract from the truth of their behavior.
They are evil, chaotic, and absurd. Their actions are inhuman.
That is the truth. And that is how they should be remembered and forgotten.
UPDATED -
The problem is not the truth of what I am saying. It is indeed dangerous to society for people to refuse to accept reality. It is, indeed, a negative when we look at children who are not performing and we want to keep throwing resources at these children as if the problem is lack of money and attention, when the problem is the kid is just not capable of normal thought, feeling or behavior.
I'm also very bothered by the fact that the media publicizes the names of these kids and overlays normal human motivations on the kids, wondering whether we did not try hard enough to love them, teach them, help them, etc., maybe they were bullied, they felt lonely, they felt outcast?
Of course, they felt outcast. Where would a person like Adam Lanza not feel outcast? In a group of people like Adam Lanza?
No, he is just going to feel outside, because he is built like that. It is unfortunate, but it is true.
So, here's where I think there is a problem with what I am saying. It sets a bad precedent. If we begin labeling people as irrationals then we will continue doing so, and very quickly that label will become exploited and politicized. That is very dangerous.
So, we have to continue on treating each human being as if they have the potential for being a normal human moral agent, capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, when everyone can see that they are not.
We can still acknowledge that they do not live up to that potential, and we can still put them away and medicate them so that they are not a danger. But, we can not just label them as irrationals and move on because of the danger the precedent sets for society.
9 comments:
lacked an ability to feel empathy for others, an ability to understand that other people have feelings
The same is true of a psychopath.
Sometimes, there is a fine line between certain forms of autism and sociopathy.
The two moderately-affected Aspies whom I personally know were brought up in households of the Christian faith, latched onto that faith, AND had parents with realistic expectations of their sons; the parents also sought out psychiatric counseling and mentors (Yes, I have mentored two Aspies); the parents made sure that their sons received learning therapy for years; the parents wouldn't allow guns in the house, paintball games, video games, etc.; the parents actively pursued developing their sons' gifts -- in the case of these two Aspies respectively, music and videotech/computer science.
Did Nancy Lanza do any of those things with her son? I see no evidence that she did.
I believe that having a minor form Aspergers Syndrome is very, very common, and in most instances, doesn't interfere with their having successful lives. In fact, many geniuses may well be successful Aspies.
Adam Lanza, if he indeed had Aspergers and not schizophrenia, did not have a minor form of Aspergers. I've come to this conclusion via extensive research over the weekend.
Right.
When I was a kid, my mother babysat a kid who was "different".
I referred to him as "mentally retarded". My mother and father told me he was not retarded, but that he was "different", or some such word.
What made him different was that he would not play with other kids EVER.
He would stand at the curb and spin around for hours at a time, making sounds that sounded like explosions and things breaking.
One time (maybe it was raining) he was doing this in our house and he broke something.
My mother got upset with him and tried to tell him he should not do this activity in that area of the house.
His response was, "It's ok, Mrs. ---. It's ok, Mrs. ---"
over and over for what seemed like an hour.
Even as a kid I knew that what this kid was attempting to do was to make it ok because he said it was ok.
In other words, he had no concept that it was not ok. But he did have a concept of the idea that someone else thought it was ok.
So, he knew his feelings, but he did not recognize the feelings of my mother.
If you would have asked me if Andy was a bad kid, I would have told you, "no, he just does not understand."
In other words, even as a kid I would have known what the mental health field of today does not know.
The kid does not understand.
If he does not understand, how can he be expected to live in a society with others?
Pastorius,
Tactile sequencing is the best "treatment" that I know of for the conditions we're discussing.
In fact, tactile sequencing worked a miracle with Mr. AOW's recovery! The mother of one of the autists I mentioned above did tactile sequencing with Mr. AOW for months on end.
But I saw major improvement after the first session of tactile sequencing. Following that session, Mr. AOW looked to his left for the very first time.
Now, he doesn't have left neglect to any great degree. And I credit what my friend did for this miracle.
Autism is brain damage. Stroke is brain damage. It does make logical sense that the same treatments and therapies could work for both.
BTW, the medical profession doesn't recognize tactile sequencing as a possible treatment. Some organizations for learning disabilities do, however.
So, you're saying, then, that you think there is a treatment for Autists which can restore an ability to process moral decisions, and empathy for other human beings, when it was not there in the first place?
Pasto,
Not one treatment per se, but a combination of approaches may well help SOME autists to make "the connections." At least to the point of not being dangerous to society.
PS: Neurology is one of my hobbies. So is abnormal psychology.
I know. ;-)
'Neurology is one of my hobbies. So is abnormal psychology.'
The first is a science. The second?
VOODOO with a veneer which works for some people who believe.
Epa,
I have not formally studied abnormal psychology. But I have found some things of interest in the abnormal psych textbooks.
I don't believe in abnormal psychology in toto. However, the spectrum of the field is very broad.
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