Are we monsters or saints?
What makes us a loving husband and not a wife abuser, an
honest counselor and not a lying priest, a faithful spouse and not a serial adulterer,
a prayer warrior and not a warring general, a homemaker and not a home-wrecker, a
faithful churchgoer and not a devout Satanist, a nation’s hero and not a country’s
traitor, a law enforcer and not a petty thief, a self-sacrificial councilman and not a
self-serving politician, a life-saver and not a mass murderer,
a feminist activist and not a rapist, a good, and not, an evil man?
Are we the product of
nature or nurture or both, working in varying degrees at different times in our
life?
I always wonder, why am I not a serial killer? And why am I who I am and not who I could have become? And what if I was born in another time or place, would I be different?
Is evil a matter of the ovarian lottery?
Mind you, the investment genius of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet, once said, “The odds for me to have been born in the US were 1 in 50. I won the ovarian lottery. If I had been born in Bangladesh, the chances are that I would not have had such great opportunity.”
I always wonder, why am I not a serial killer? And why am I who I am and not who I could have become? And what if I was born in another time or place, would I be different?
Is evil a matter of the ovarian lottery?
Mind you, the investment genius of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet, once said, “The odds for me to have been born in the US were 1 in 50. I won the ovarian lottery. If I had been born in Bangladesh, the chances are that I would not have had such great opportunity.”
Well,
I could think of worse birthplace and even parentage. Take Henry Lee Lucas for
example. Believe you me, you wouldn’t want his kind of childhood. He
definitely got the short end of the ovarian stick. Very short end.
His father lost both his legs when he fell off a freight train. He was drunk then. Henry senior sold pencils and illegal liquor for a living. Call it genes or whatever, but poor Henry became addicted to alcohol at the tender age of ten.
His father lost both his legs when he fell off a freight train. He was drunk then. Henry senior sold pencils and illegal liquor for a living. Call it genes or whatever, but poor Henry became addicted to alcohol at the tender age of ten.
Then,
comes Viola, Henry’s mother. Viola was a prostitute and, yes, an
alcoholic too. If there was a mother from hell, Viola fits it to the pointed end of a pitchfork. She
had already abandoned four children to a foster home before she gave birth to
little Henry at forty. It was a very cramped family of four (Henry's dad, mum and an elder
brother Andrew who stayed with them). They all shared the same bedroom in a god-forsaken cabin in
Virginia. There was no electricity or plumbing.
Henry
learned of the birds and the bees early in life by watching his mother having
sex with her clients in the same bedroom they shared. Now, you can’t imagine a fate any worse than that right? Talk about ovarian lottery...here's more.
Little Henry was chronically starved and physically abused by his mother, repeatedly. At age seven, his mother whacked him so hard on the head with a wooden board that he fell into a semi-conscious state for three days, lying at the exact spot his mother had hit him. Yes, you heard it right the first time, three days!
Little Henry was chronically starved and physically abused by his mother, repeatedly. At age seven, his mother whacked him so hard on the head with a wooden board that he fell into a semi-conscious state for three days, lying at the exact spot his mother had hit him. Yes, you heard it right the first time, three days!
No
one cared for him until his mother’s pimp noticed that something was wrong and
rushed him to the hospital. The hospital was told instead that Henry fell from
a ladder.
Now, compounding the "ovarian's short end of the stick" for little Henry was the psychological torture that he had to endure in the hands of his mother.
At seven, he was told by her that his natural father was a stranger on the street. Viola actually pointed the man out to him. Henry was devastated by the cruel joke and cried for days. This was followed by a more cruel form of psychological torture.
Now, compounding the "ovarian's short end of the stick" for little Henry was the psychological torture that he had to endure in the hands of his mother.
At seven, he was told by her that his natural father was a stranger on the street. Viola actually pointed the man out to him. Henry was devastated by the cruel joke and cried for days. This was followed by a more cruel form of psychological torture.
One
day, his mother approached him while he was playing with his pet mule. She
asked him whether he liked his pet mule. He nodded. She then took out a shotgun
and shot the mule before his eyes. As if that was not enough, Viola also
whipped and beat the poor child for burdening her with the expenses for
disposing the dead animal.
Alas,
Henry was not spared any mercy in his youth. Not only was he abused by his
mother, his brother once accidentally stuck a
knife in his face when he was making a swing at a maple tree. The accident
punctured his left eye and impaired his vision.
Then,
lightning struck twice when his teacher in school swung her hand to hit another
child and missed, and that swing landed on Henry’s left eye. The impact reopened his wound
and resulted in the loss of his eye. Yes, the same eye his brother stuck a knife into, go figure right?
Now, how much can a child take? I guess Warren Buffet might have turned out very differently if he had to endure what little Henry had to go through.
Now, how much can a child take? I guess Warren Buffet might have turned out very differently if he had to endure what little Henry had to go through.
With
a childhood like that, it is not surprising that Henry became one of the most
prolific serial killers in history. He once confessed to killing about 3000 but
he later recanted. It is believed that 350 was a more credible number. His
death sentence was later commuted by President Bush Junior and he died in prison
by natural causes.
Although I would not say that Henry had a good excuse for his life of crime, I would not say that he was fully in control of his life either. His was quite an extreme case of how genetic and environmental factors had conspired to influence, even dictate, his life’s choices for the worst. Is little Henry by nature evil?
Although I would not say that Henry had a good excuse for his life of crime, I would not say that he was fully in control of his life either. His was quite an extreme case of how genetic and environmental factors had conspired to influence, even dictate, his life’s choices for the worst. Is little Henry by nature evil?
Ovarian lottery struck gold but then...
Here is another life that would turn the tables around on what tip the scale between the monster and saint in us. While Henry was raised in a horrendous home environment with an abusive mother and all, Randy Kraft was raised in a good one.
He was a computer consultant with an IQ of 129. That’s quite high. He came from a middle-class family and enrolled in good schools. He was even placed in accelerated academic classes and managed to attain a degree in economics. But Randy had a dark pedophilic secret. He was quite an accomplished serial killer with this nickname “the Freeway Killer”.
From
the period between September 1971 and May 1983, Randy committed murder in sixty-four different occasions; his victims are mostly teenage boys and adults. His modus operandi was
typical. He would meet up with them for beers, take them cruising in his car, and then drug them. After that, he would bring them to an isolated spot and
playfully tortured them.
After
the torture, he would rape them. To finish the job, he would strangle or shoot
them. Being cool headed and careful, Randy got away with many of the rapes and
murders. But one fateful day, he made a mistake. He was stopped by a California
highway patrol for suspected drink driving. He failed the sobriety test and the
patrol went over to inspect his car.
There
and then, the patrol officer saw a backseat passenger, which appeared to be slouching.
He then tried to wake him up but failed.
So the patrol official opened the door and shook the passenger. There was no response. He then lifted up the jacket that was lying on the passenger’s lap. What he saw shocked him. The passenger’s pants were undone and his penis and testicles were exposed. He also had ligature marks on his wrists. That spelt the end of Randy’s murder spree.
So the patrol official opened the door and shook the passenger. There was no response. He then lifted up the jacket that was lying on the passenger’s lap. What he saw shocked him. The passenger’s pants were undone and his penis and testicles were exposed. He also had ligature marks on his wrists. That spelt the end of Randy’s murder spree.
The
comparison here is uncanny, and only deepens the mystery. On one side is Henry, who suffered an
abusive childhood. And on the other side is Randy, who in contrast had a good
one. So, what made Randy a serial killer?
Is evil also a brain disorder thing?
Is evil also a brain disorder thing?
The
neat answer here would be the brain. Randy had a malfunctioning brain. The
theory goes that Randy is considered a cold blooded murderer with proactive
aggression. This means that he was able to keep his cool under pressure as he
makes diligent and conscious plans to seek out his victims. This accounts for
his proactivity.
Unfortunately,
people like Randy have some parts of their brain damaged. Here are the parts of
the brain where the experts think may have been compromised: angular gyrus, the
hippocampus, the parahippocampal, and the posterior cingulate. I will not delve
further into them to avoid being bogged down by unnecessary details.
But
suffice to say that should any of the parts mentioned above suffer from cell
death (shrinkage), lesions, low glucose metabolism, structural defects or
abnormality due to awry genetic mutation at birth, dysfunctional
neurodevelopment in later years, or head trauma resulting from an accident, it
would increase the propensity of a person towards violence, anti-social
aggression and even murder.
This is a neat theory, but like all neat theories, closer examination usually uncover something more.
This is a neat theory, but like all neat theories, closer examination usually uncover something more.
Unravelling evil as hot blooded killers
Now,
while Henry and Randy sought victims out (which is described earlier as
proactive aggression), there is another class of killers who are generally
reticent and reserved until provoked. And when provoked, they would lose their
head (or cool). They suffer from reactive aggression and are known as hot
blooded killers.
Again, the theory is that they too have brain damage. But the part that is damaged is in the control department, that is, the prefrontal cortex. Most of these killers suffer from the lack of activation (or activity) in their prefrontal cortex.
Again, the theory is that they too have brain damage. But the part that is damaged is in the control department, that is, the prefrontal cortex. Most of these killers suffer from the lack of activation (or activity) in their prefrontal cortex.
Take
James Filiaggi for example. Here we have an accountant by profession with a
pretty good upbringing. He was a smart kid who graduated with honors in
finance. But he had a temper which he could not control.
Due to his violent streak, James attacked many at the slightest provocation, including nuns, when he was young. One night he had an argument with his wife and when she called 911, he took out a gun and shot her in the head. This is what a damaged prefrontal cortex can do to you. It compromises your ability to control your emotions or anger.
Due to his violent streak, James attacked many at the slightest provocation, including nuns, when he was young. One night he had an argument with his wife and when she called 911, he took out a gun and shot her in the head. This is what a damaged prefrontal cortex can do to you. It compromises your ability to control your emotions or anger.
Here
is another case similar to that of James. His name is Herbert Weinstein.
Herbert was a 65-year-old advertising executive. But Herbert had a strange brain defect. He had a large chunk missing from his prefrontal cortex. Imagine that – a hole in his brain. This was in fact his defence at his trial when he pleaded insanity. His lawyers actually brought an expert (the acclaimed neuroscientist Antonio Damasio) into court to successfully testify that due to the missing chunk in his brain, Herbert’s ability to regulate his emotions and make rational decisions were greatly impaired. His crime?
He strangled his wife to death just like what James “the hot fuse” did. The evidence revealed that in a domestic spat, Herbert actually backed away from the argument. He withdrew and retreated. But his wife didn’t want to let go. She charged at him and furiously scratched his face. This caused something in Herbert to snap and he grabbed her by the throat and choked the life out of her in uncontrollable fits of anger.
So, blame evil on the missing prefrontal lobe?
Herbert was a 65-year-old advertising executive. But Herbert had a strange brain defect. He had a large chunk missing from his prefrontal cortex. Imagine that – a hole in his brain. This was in fact his defence at his trial when he pleaded insanity. His lawyers actually brought an expert (the acclaimed neuroscientist Antonio Damasio) into court to successfully testify that due to the missing chunk in his brain, Herbert’s ability to regulate his emotions and make rational decisions were greatly impaired. His crime?
He strangled his wife to death just like what James “the hot fuse” did. The evidence revealed that in a domestic spat, Herbert actually backed away from the argument. He withdrew and retreated. But his wife didn’t want to let go. She charged at him and furiously scratched his face. This caused something in Herbert to snap and he grabbed her by the throat and choked the life out of her in uncontrollable fits of anger.
So, blame evil on the missing prefrontal lobe?
Of
course, it seems like the low hanging fruit syndrome when we choose to blame it
all on a defective brain. But personally, I can’t say that there is a dearth of
credible evidence supporting this theory. Randy, James and Herbert are not the
only people whose brains were impaired or dysfunctional.
The unfortunate case of Phineas Gage.
The
textbook case on how a damaged brain can effectively change someone for the
worse is the story of Phineas Gage. His is a strange story.
It
all happened in September 1848 when Phineas met with a most unusual accident.
He was working at a projected railway track at that time. The operation was to
drill a small hole into a large boulder so as to fill it up with gunpowder. The
aim was to blow the boulder up.
The next step of the operation after filling the hole with the gunpowder was to fill it up with a protective layer of sand. After that, Phineas was supposed to insert the metal tamping rod, which was three-feet-seven inches long, into the hole to compress the sand with the gunpowder. However, the culprit here was the missing sand.
The next step of the operation after filling the hole with the gunpowder was to fill it up with a protective layer of sand. After that, Phineas was supposed to insert the metal tamping rod, which was three-feet-seven inches long, into the hole to compress the sand with the gunpowder. However, the culprit here was the missing sand.
As
Phineas was distracted, and thought that the sand had already been filled, he
inserted the rod into the hole. The exposed gunpowder caught a spark, caused by
the rod when it rubbed against the side of the hole, and it exploded inside.
The sudden pressure turned the rod into a deadly spear and it shot out from the hole. The rod then went through Phineas’ lower left cheek and came out of the middle part of his head. Like a fired missile, it landed eighty feet away. Phineas was rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery.
The sudden pressure turned the rod into a deadly spear and it shot out from the hole. The rod then went through Phineas’ lower left cheek and came out of the middle part of his head. Like a fired missile, it landed eighty feet away. Phineas was rushed to the hospital for immediate surgery.
Everybody
thought Phineas was a goner, dead. Miraculously, although he had lost his left eye,
he was up and about in less than a month. But the miracle only went as far as
his surviving the harrowing accident, and not in redeeming his character.
In the eye-opening book The Anatomy of Violence (by Adrian Raine), the author quoted a friend of Phineas describing most exhaustively how he had changed.
In the eye-opening book The Anatomy of Violence (by Adrian Raine), the author quoted a friend of Phineas describing most exhaustively how he had changed.
“He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times
in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting
but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it
conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet capricious
and vacillating, devising many plans of future operations, which are no sooner
arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more
feasible. Previous to his injury although untrained in the schools, he possessed
a well-balanced mind and was looked upon by those who knew him as a shrewd,
smart businessman, very energetic and persistent in executing all his plans of operation.
In this regard his mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends
and acquaintances said he was “no longer Gage.””
The key word is that Phineas was no longer Phineas.
The key word is that Phineas was no longer Phineas.
Later
in life, Phineas became sexually promiscuous and a drunkard. He also got fired
from his employer. The tragic life of Phineas ended with his death in May 1860
after a series of epileptic seizures.
It
is tempting at juncture to ask, “Is it
really that simple? Is there all to it? The compromised brain is the culprit?”
Of
course, for people like Phineas or Herbert who had suffered a serious brain
injury and loss, especially in the area of the prefrontal cortex, it is
expected that they will go through some personality changes.
Yet, for Herbert, for the last 64 years of his life, he led a clean, crime-free life. He had therefore exercised some self-control nevertheless. No doubt, it was out of sudden provocation that he strangled his wife, but could there be an environmental trigger, and not just one attributed to a defective brain?
And what if his wife did not go berserk and charge at him, will Herbert ever kill his wife? And if so, will he ever find out that he had a missing chunk in his brain?
Yet, for Herbert, for the last 64 years of his life, he led a clean, crime-free life. He had therefore exercised some self-control nevertheless. No doubt, it was out of sudden provocation that he strangled his wife, but could there be an environmental trigger, and not just one attributed to a defective brain?
And what if his wife did not go berserk and charge at him, will Herbert ever kill his wife? And if so, will he ever find out that he had a missing chunk in his brain?
How about Phineas?
Well, the book by Adrain Raine actually caveated Phineas’ case with three others which suffered largely the same injury. They all had prefrontal cortex damage. One fell from a height and landed on spiked metal gate. One of the spikes impaled his head. The second case was a thirteen year old boy who was playing with his father’s pistol and shot his head by accident.
The last case was a thirty three year old man who wanted to end his life due to depression. In the largely similar fashion as Phineas’ case, he held a crossbow to his chin and released the trigger. The arrow went through his chin and lodged itself in his brain.
Well, the book by Adrain Raine actually caveated Phineas’ case with three others which suffered largely the same injury. They all had prefrontal cortex damage. One fell from a height and landed on spiked metal gate. One of the spikes impaled his head. The second case was a thirteen year old boy who was playing with his father’s pistol and shot his head by accident.
The last case was a thirty three year old man who wanted to end his life due to depression. In the largely similar fashion as Phineas’ case, he held a crossbow to his chin and released the trigger. The arrow went through his chin and lodged itself in his brain.
Now, the strange part is that none of them suffered the same post-accident fate as
Phineas. Although the first victim showed signs of being impatience and
impulsive, he did not degenerate into having an antisocial and psychopathic
personality like Phineas. The second victim’s personality did not change much. He
remained largely the same.
And
the third victim was the most unusual of them all. He was in fact transformed
in the opposite direction. He became a quiet, docile and contented man.
Here is how the author described the change of the third man in the book, “The pathological aggression was eradicated overnight. The depression disappeared in a jiffy. It was a miracle cure…he became “inappropriately cheerful” and he simply cheered up.” Was the brain injury then a good thing for him?
If not only the brain, can the environment turn a man evil?
Here is how the author described the change of the third man in the book, “The pathological aggression was eradicated overnight. The depression disappeared in a jiffy. It was a miracle cure…he became “inappropriately cheerful” and he simply cheered up.” Was the brain injury then a good thing for him?
If not only the brain, can the environment turn a man evil?
The
author attributed it mostly to the environment. All of them had supportive and
caring loved ones and friends. It appears that there is no one-size-fits-all theory that turned a man evil (or into a killer) as a result of a brain injury to the prefrontal cortex (or for that matter, any part of the brain mentioned above).
All the four cases above showed different personality changes arising from the same injury. It is therefore clear that the brain alone does not work alone. There are other factors involved. The brain cannot be viewed in isolation from such factors like the environment and one’s genetic makeup.
All the four cases above showed different personality changes arising from the same injury. It is therefore clear that the brain alone does not work alone. There are other factors involved. The brain cannot be viewed in isolation from such factors like the environment and one’s genetic makeup.
Is genes destiny?
Let's consider genes. Is there really a connection here? Is there such thing as killer genes? Is genes destiny?
Let's consider genes. Is there really a connection here? Is there such thing as killer genes? Is genes destiny?
From
what I have written so far, most would resist such a cut-and-dry approach as
this would open a can of monster-sized worms for discriminative criminal
profiling. Imagine being born with such genes and
being condemned for life for having a killer within you waiting to come full bloom.
However, as
strange as this would sound, here's one life that would rattle your ecumenical boat a little. His name is
Jeffrey Landrigan.
The clue about genes here is that Jeffrey was adopted. He was abandoned at a day care center and his adoptive parents were a geologist father and a doting mother. Jeffrey didn't know who or what kind of a person his biological father was; something which I will reveal later.
The clue about genes here is that Jeffrey was adopted. He was abandoned at a day care center and his adoptive parents were a geologist father and a doting mother. Jeffrey didn't know who or what kind of a person his biological father was; something which I will reveal later.
Despite
coming from a reasonably good environment, Jeffrey started to do crime at a
young age. At age two, he was throwing tantrums. That seems normal. But then,
at ten, he became addicted to alcohol. At eleven, he burglarized a home and
begun to skip school, abuse drugs, steal cars and spend time in detention
centres.
His first brush with the law was when he stabbed a friend to death. Only twenty years of age, Jeffrey was imprisoned for second degree murder. However, bars could not hold him. Jeffrey later escaped from prison and continued his life of crime.
Things culminated to the murder of a stranger he met named Dyer. The victim was strangled to death with an electrical cord, and there were pornography cards strewn all over the victim's bedside.
His first brush with the law was when he stabbed a friend to death. Only twenty years of age, Jeffrey was imprisoned for second degree murder. However, bars could not hold him. Jeffrey later escaped from prison and continued his life of crime.
Things culminated to the murder of a stranger he met named Dyer. The victim was strangled to death with an electrical cord, and there were pornography cards strewn all over the victim's bedside.
This
time, after his arrest, Jeffrey was sentenced to death. But in a twist of the most bizarre kind, he
met his biological father, Darrel Hill, in prison.
Jeffrey was in fact a splitting image of his father. And this is where genes (at first sight) uncannily come into play because the splitting images spilled over to their largely splitting histories. Recall that Jeffrey was adopted to good parentage and reasonably sound upbringing.
Jeffrey's father started his criminal career young just like his son. He was also a drug addict and he too killed twice. The parallel lives did not stop there. Darrel also escaped from prison. And to cap it all, Darrel's father (that is, Jeffrey's grandfather) was shot to death in a drug store robbery turned sour in 1961. His grandfather also led a life of crime.
Imagine that, three generation of criminal heritage. Is this random coincidences or genetic destiny? Is evil inherited then?
Jeffrey was in fact a splitting image of his father. And this is where genes (at first sight) uncannily come into play because the splitting images spilled over to their largely splitting histories. Recall that Jeffrey was adopted to good parentage and reasonably sound upbringing.
Jeffrey's father started his criminal career young just like his son. He was also a drug addict and he too killed twice. The parallel lives did not stop there. Darrel also escaped from prison. And to cap it all, Darrel's father (that is, Jeffrey's grandfather) was shot to death in a drug store robbery turned sour in 1961. His grandfather also led a life of crime.
Imagine that, three generation of criminal heritage. Is this random coincidences or genetic destiny? Is evil inherited then?
So, what truly causes evil then?
Personally, I am not inclined to put all my “destiny” eggs into one “genes” basket. To me, the factors are just too multivariate for laser-precision enumeration and identification.
For a start, I see our genes and the environment as no different from our right and left hands. It really takes two to clap. You see, a genetic mutation at birth may incline a child towards antisocial aggression or cause it to remain dormant until triggered by the right mix of circumstances, opportunity and people.
Or it may never find expression (or the same trigger is suppressed) when the environment is constantly nurturing and supportive. If a metaphor helps, I imagine a good environment like a river flowing with fresh water running over dry “delinquency-like” land and preventing the parchness from ever erupting into cracks of violent personality traits.
Personally, I am not inclined to put all my “destiny” eggs into one “genes” basket. To me, the factors are just too multivariate for laser-precision enumeration and identification.
For a start, I see our genes and the environment as no different from our right and left hands. It really takes two to clap. You see, a genetic mutation at birth may incline a child towards antisocial aggression or cause it to remain dormant until triggered by the right mix of circumstances, opportunity and people.
Or it may never find expression (or the same trigger is suppressed) when the environment is constantly nurturing and supportive. If a metaphor helps, I imagine a good environment like a river flowing with fresh water running over dry “delinquency-like” land and preventing the parchness from ever erupting into cracks of violent personality traits.
Even
a serious brain injury, which predisposes the victim to certain self-control issues, could be turned around
for good with the right environment of care and nurture. Of course this works
in the reverse too. Bad social environment and bad genes would be a potent
cocktail mix of a life of crime and killing. Take the unfortunate case of Jolly
Jane Toppan for example.
She
was an orphan and was institutionalized until five years old. That is clearly
the first (but not definitive) environmental trigger to predispose a person
towards a life of crime. Sure enough, Jolly Jane became known by the nickname
"killer nurse". But she had
an morbidly strange way of finishing off her victims.
You
see, she claimed she treasured life and lived to the fullest. However, she also enjoyed witnessing life slowly ebbing out of her elderly patients.
Her killing method was quite simple and perverted. She would overdose her patients with morphine and wait for them to slowly sink into a coma. Just before crossing that flat-liner threshold, she would revive them with a jab. And somehow, this apparent yo-yo-ing between life and near-death gave Jolly Jane a literal sexual high, or as one author described it, as "voluptuous delight." Is that evil personified?
Her killing method was quite simple and perverted. She would overdose her patients with morphine and wait for them to slowly sink into a coma. Just before crossing that flat-liner threshold, she would revive them with a jab. And somehow, this apparent yo-yo-ing between life and near-death gave Jolly Jane a literal sexual high, or as one author described it, as "voluptuous delight." Is that evil personified?
Of
course, most of her patient would die out eventually but this was not before
Jolly Jane took the ultimate orgasmic pleasure of watching life being slowly sucked
out of them.
And she made sure of it with god-like, sadistic, and full control. However crazy this may sounds, Jolly Jane's actions were not without a proximate cause and it is known as "affectionless psychopathy" (a description coined by the renowned psychologist John Bowlby).
And she made sure of it with god-like, sadistic, and full control. However crazy this may sounds, Jolly Jane's actions were not without a proximate cause and it is known as "affectionless psychopathy" (a description coined by the renowned psychologist John Bowlby).
To
me, this appears to be the actions of a really sick mind, wholly insane, evil - full stop. But
then, like Henry, Jolly Jane may have had her share of growing up woes with
little or no affection being shown to her - environmental issues?
Seen
in this light, and in view of the many causes highlighted here, that is, poor
and abusive socioeconomic upbringing, genetic flaws at birth, structural brain
abnormality, and later-life brain injuries like Phineas Gage, I see a mental
picture of a see-saw with multiple long boards branching out from the fulcrum
center, each of them ridden by a cause as stated above and going up and
down at their respective end.
It is therefore a very complex see-sawing of the interplay of many factors or causes that come together at specific time and place to create who we are and what we will become at any given moment in time. Although this does not override the sense of control in our life and the choices we make, they do play some part in leaning us towards certain tendencies or proclivities.
It is therefore a very complex see-sawing of the interplay of many factors or causes that come together at specific time and place to create who we are and what we will become at any given moment in time. Although this does not override the sense of control in our life and the choices we make, they do play some part in leaning us towards certain tendencies or proclivities.
Self-introspection?
Let’s
take a page off my own life. I am an inordinately impatient person. I got that
from my father. My wife however is amazingly patient like her mother; but she has her moments, albeit rarely, when she would breakdown into
self-wallowing pity of the most Korean-like sob-story kind.
I don't know whether this is attributable to genes, social upbringing or too much Korean series, but the question here is, “Will I snap one day and go amok like James and Herbert?” Mm….food for thought? (Maniacal laughter...)
I don't know whether this is attributable to genes, social upbringing or too much Korean series, but the question here is, “Will I snap one day and go amok like James and Herbert?” Mm….food for thought? (Maniacal laughter...)
This
brings me back to the question I first posed in the beginning, "Are we monsters or saints?"
I suspect that most of us are somewhere between the two extremes but never unchanging at one moment in time. The everyday reality is this, most of us are law abiding citizens with a family, whether married or single, and it would be unthinkable for us to even entertain the thought that we would one day snap and plunge into a killing spree in the same macabre fashion like what Henry, Jeffrey or Jolly Jane did. Alas, I am sure most of us cringed when we read their sadistic, callous and shocking stories.
I suspect that most of us are somewhere between the two extremes but never unchanging at one moment in time. The everyday reality is this, most of us are law abiding citizens with a family, whether married or single, and it would be unthinkable for us to even entertain the thought that we would one day snap and plunge into a killing spree in the same macabre fashion like what Henry, Jeffrey or Jolly Jane did. Alas, I am sure most of us cringed when we read their sadistic, callous and shocking stories.
I
guess hell is always other people (a Sartre’s twist) and by this I mean that
when we read about what thieves, cheats, molesters, rapists, and serial killers
do, and their horrible accounts of torture to their innocent and helpless
victims, we occasionally turn the turret at ourselves and confidently say,
"That will not happen to me....no way Hosea!"
In other words, we are so sure that we will not become the monsters that they
are.
As
a fact now, I am sure with a self-assuring smirk that I will not commit those
evil and dastardly acts as described here. And if you ask me, I really can't
see myself strangling my beloved wife (or kids) or torturing/raping young male victims
or snuffing the life out of senior folks. They are completely disgusting to me.
I cringed when I read it. Even stepping on a trail of ants would cause me to
pause for a rueful moment.
But then, did I speak too
soon?
One author, Professor Roy F Baumeister, made a statement that caused me to reflect deeply about this hidden side of our humanity. He wrote in the book Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty this observation: -
"To understand evil, we must set aside the comfortable belief that we would never do anything wrong. Instead, we must begin to ask ourselves, what would it take for me to do such things? Assume that it would be possible."
Mm...that observation rattles me. And here is why.
One author, Professor Roy F Baumeister, made a statement that caused me to reflect deeply about this hidden side of our humanity. He wrote in the book Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty this observation: -
"To understand evil, we must set aside the comfortable belief that we would never do anything wrong. Instead, we must begin to ask ourselves, what would it take for me to do such things? Assume that it would be possible."
Mm...that observation rattles me. And here is why.
I
once had a conversation with my wife and I threw at her what I'd call a "Then/What-scenario.” It went something
like this: "What would happen to you
my dear if I'd to go rogue? What choices would you make if I become unfaithful
and betray you by keeping mistresses and remaining unrepentant about all that.
And that’s not all. To compound matters, your kids all became ingrates and
abandoned you to be with their new families. Then, you were told that you have
a life threatening illness and you took to drinking to drown your sorrow. At
this stage, imagine that you are completely disillusioned with life, have no
one to talk to, feel totally alienated and alone, and even entertained suicidal
thoughts. Then, one night, you meet a caring man who chat you up and you guys
clicked and he then propositioned you. What would you do? Or one of my
mistresses confronts you and tells you she is pregnant with my child and I am
leaving you for good. What would you do? Or you are invited by a group of
equally downtrodden women with unfaithful husbands who are about to sign a
suicide pact by jumping off a cliff. What would you do?”
I
think this is what Baumeister's statement about the banality of evil means to
me. Evil doesn't really need to look like the devil, carrying a pitchfork and
howling like a menacing wolf. The evil of humanity can in fact be an everyday
reality, when one is pushed to the edge of reality.
Here’s
what I mean with three more strange tales as I end.
I read somewhere about how a young mother in 1994 who told the police that her car was stolen by a black man at gunpoint with her two little sons inside. The police and authorities then went on a nationwide man hunt with extensive media coverage.
After a week of futile search, the mother (Susan Smith) finally confessed to the authority that there was no car-jacked. Neither was there a black man nor a gun. She admitted that she had drugged her boys, pushed her car into a lake, and drowned her sons. She admitted to their murder, and the murderer was their own mother. Susan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mm...is the face of that young distraught mother the face of evil?
I read somewhere about how a young mother in 1994 who told the police that her car was stolen by a black man at gunpoint with her two little sons inside. The police and authorities then went on a nationwide man hunt with extensive media coverage.
After a week of futile search, the mother (Susan Smith) finally confessed to the authority that there was no car-jacked. Neither was there a black man nor a gun. She admitted that she had drugged her boys, pushed her car into a lake, and drowned her sons. She admitted to their murder, and the murderer was their own mother. Susan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Mm...is the face of that young distraught mother the face of evil?
There
is another incident where a wife by the name of Lorena Bobbitt sliced off her
husband's penis with a kitchen knife while he was laying in bed. She admitted
to the mutilation but her defence was spousal abuse and repeated rape by her
husband. In the end, both of them were surprisingly acquitted.
The
last case is a man named John Wayne Gacy who murdered his victims by torturing
and sexually abusing them. He would then hide their rotting corpses under his
house. Altogether, he had killed 33 people and they were all buried underneath
his living quarters. I suppose his neighbors had all along treated him like a typical
guy-next-door with no cause for suspicion whatsoever. Brain damaged, abusive environment, short end of the ovarian stick, or all of the above and more?
My
point here is that the monster in us seldom rears its ugly head. And for most
of us, never. Honestly, some of us may have wished for some misfortune to befall on
another out of sheer frustration. Or that a friend of ours was never born. Or that
our colleague would fail miserably. Or secretly long for an early death to our enemy (I
have a wife in a divorce proceeding who admitted to me that, but I guess she was
really angry with her philandering husband at that time).
But
yet, we do not act upon those devious desires or warped urges because our religious
convictions, love of and from family, support from community, reasonable upbringing, conscience, normal brain and genetic makeup, timely
intervention, proper counseling, rallying optimism, and self-control,
collectively or in varying measures, somehow keep us from crossing over to a
point of no return. Imagine taking away
some of that and then sit back and watch how the self collapses like dominoes.
We
should therefore thank god or consider ourselves fortunate that we are on the
whole normal. And a normal life generally follows a normal, predictable, and
law-abiding routine, right?
Conclusion...in comes Rudolf Hoess.
Mm...maybe I have a little time to squeeze in a final tale about a (self-claimed) normal, mad man, most evil but otherwise loving in other ways. Let me unveil to you history's greatest murderer, Rudolf Hoess (and I am leaving Mao and Stalin out for now. Mind you, Mao is revered in China even until today despite the millions that died under his crazy revolutionary rulership).
Conclusion...in comes Rudolf Hoess.
Mm...maybe I have a little time to squeeze in a final tale about a (self-claimed) normal, mad man, most evil but otherwise loving in other ways. Let me unveil to you history's greatest murderer, Rudolf Hoess (and I am leaving Mao and Stalin out for now. Mind you, Mao is revered in China even until today despite the millions that died under his crazy revolutionary rulership).
Hoess
was the commandant of Auschwitz. He once admitted to have put to death 2.5
million Jews. In the book Mission at Nuremberg, the author Tim Townsend had this
to say about Hoess: -
"(He) was involved in every aspect of Auschwitz evil. He said later that he was present at most, if not all, the gassings. When typhoid broke out in one of the hospital barracks, Hoess gave the order to kill all the patients and anyone who had worked in the hospital. One day, as SS men slowly worked at the drudgery of throwing corpses into the massive burning pits, Hoess arrived, grabbed the body of a small child by the leg, and threw it into the pit. His example cheered morale, and the SS men nearby each grabbed the body of a small child and threw it into the flames."
"(He) was involved in every aspect of Auschwitz evil. He said later that he was present at most, if not all, the gassings. When typhoid broke out in one of the hospital barracks, Hoess gave the order to kill all the patients and anyone who had worked in the hospital. One day, as SS men slowly worked at the drudgery of throwing corpses into the massive burning pits, Hoess arrived, grabbed the body of a small child by the leg, and threw it into the pit. His example cheered morale, and the SS men nearby each grabbed the body of a small child and threw it into the flames."
When
asked by an Army psychiatrist whether his horrific crimes in the concentration
camps had come back to haunt him, Hoess answered that he never had nightmares.
Then, he added that he was entirely normal. He continued, “Even while I was doing this extermination work, I led a normal family
life." ...pause for thought?
As far as Hoess was concerned, he was merely performing his patriotic
duty. And what kept him going was that he had to do the job well. His job was to
exterminate human beings like anyone of us would exterminate pest at home. What
is therefore normal to us in our homes was normal to Hoess in Auschwitz.
However
despicable his actions were, Hoess had no remorse. In fact, in the eyes of his
country at that time, before its fall in WWII, Hoess was rewarded for his
tireless commitment to a cause he thought was right, justified, and morally
necessary. How's that for a normal day in
the office?
I wonder how many of us
would have unleashed the monsters in us, with monotonous cruelty and mechanical
apathy like Hoess, in the name of patriotism, honor and duty?
I trust that most of us would resist that warped kind of “normalcy” with our life but yet, I suspect that there will still be some of us, hopefully a handful only, who would follow in the footstep of Hoess. I guess that sometimes what is grotesquely abnormal to most of us is subjectively normal to some of us.
I trust that most of us would resist that warped kind of “normalcy” with our life but yet, I suspect that there will still be some of us, hopefully a handful only, who would follow in the footstep of Hoess. I guess that sometimes what is grotesquely abnormal to most of us is subjectively normal to some of us.
But the question that
persists is this, which line of the divide will we eventually fall on if we were
now abruptly taken from our protected and comfortable surroundings and made to
survive most savagely in a world that stretches our neurological, emotional and
physical faculties to the limit on a daily basis?
Alas, I
started this letter with the monsters and saints divide and fired a series of
questions juxta-positioning good and evil for the purpose of teasing out the
fragility and vulnerability of humanity when faced with circumstances that are
very much beyond our control.
Such circumstances include being born with a brain abnormality, bad genes or abusive parentage, and in an affectionless environment or being struck down by a serious accident damaging the brain. All these factors would in some way affect us in our life.
Such circumstances include being born with a brain abnormality, bad genes or abusive parentage, and in an affectionless environment or being struck down by a serious accident damaging the brain. All these factors would in some way affect us in our life.
My point in
all this is to bring to our awareness the many factors that maketh a saint and
a monster. Some of these factors are beyond our
control and some are not.
In the end,
I hope in writing this that we will bear in mind what Confucius once said,
"When you see a good man, think of
emulating him. When we see a bad man, examine our own heart." This
self-reflection exercise is done not to excuse the seemingly evil behavior, but to understand
ourselves more.
And if we take the time to understand ourselves, in the light of what is written so far, we will then be able to see that the good in us is no more than the evil in us earnestly seeking, and at times, even struggling, to return to the path of redemption and repentance.
And if we take the time to understand ourselves, in the light of what is written so far, we will then be able to see that the good in us is no more than the evil in us earnestly seeking, and at times, even struggling, to return to the path of redemption and repentance.
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