The reason why mass murderers are often commented by neighbors is goodness

James Holmes, a 24-year-old, who in 2012 killed 12 people at the screening of Dark Knight Rise in Aurora, Colorado (USA) is always seen by friends as a "super friendly kid".

Another case, Ed Gein, also known as "The Plainfield Butcher" , who killed two women in the 1950s to add them to the collection of corpses he collected from the graveyard . He was described by neighbors as "a guy who is often asked to sit with children when I and my old lady want to go to the fair".

There are many similar comments about other violent criminals that show, the triviality of serial killers is now a standard, to an almost empty level compared to those cruel crimes. . But the neighbors' comments or childhood friends are not mistaken, they are correct.

The face of James Holmes, the killer who killed 12 people at a movie screening in 2012.

There is almost no reliable way to predict, whether someone can become a killer: science cannot recognize any signs that a person who seems normal is on his way to becoming violent crime.

Neuroscientist Robert Burton said, even after 30 years of efforts to research and monitor models, psychiatrists and psychologists are still very poor at predicting acts of violence . Those who are capable of doing horrible things seem like everyone else, until one day they cross the boundaries of violent acts, and then suddenly, they become unlike us.

Extreme acts are part of our biological nature

That raises the question: If we can't afford to know what other people are capable of, do we know what we can do? On top of that, almost everyone thought of killing people.

David Buss, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas Austin, who surveyed 5,000 people for his book (The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill), realizes that 91% of men and 84 % of women thought about killing someone, with victims and specific methods in mind.

91% of men and 84% of women thought about killing someone, with victims and specific methods in mind.

There is a frightening fact that we are programmed in biology to become violent in specific situations . Douglas Fields, a psychologist and author of Why We Snap, thinks that our brains have evolved to control danger and the outburst of flare as a defense mechanism against any perceived danger. any way.

"We all have the ability to be violent because in certain situations, it is essential for our survival ." He said. "You don't need to be taught how to aggressively defend, because it is a pity that sometimes needs to be regrettably".

These reactions must be fast, to effectively deal with dangerous situations. But the problem is, they can become overly sensitive . "Of course, sometimes it gets wrong, just like any alarm system will sometimes misjudge." Fields said. "Our brains never evolved to deal with situations and threats encountered in that environment. The modern world forces defense mechanisms in a way that could lead to mistakes."

We often see this, when someone gets mad at traffic jams or responds to insults with physical extremes. We can assume that people are angry because traffic is something, and it can't happen to me. But Fields stressed that stress can make anyone too sensitive to potential threats. Even ordinary people who seem good - even you - can be pressed to do something terrible.

"It's not a concept, it's a reality," Fields said. "Look at the number of crimes committed during anger, not planned criminals, but anger-induced reactions. These are people who had no reason to believe they were tend to be so aggressive ".

Being aware of how our brains work can help us calmly react to cognitive threats.

Awareness to control and control extremism

That does not mean that we completely follow these extremes. Fields thinks that being aware of how our brains work can help us calmly react to cognitive threats. Ideally, we find that stress makes us overly sensitive, and therefore understand, that you feel angry when someone is interfering with your traffic when you're late for a meeting is a mistake, instead of an appropriate response.

According to Fields, middle and high school students should be taught about biological stimuli, which are seen as the task of the prefrontal cortex - part of the brain to control and control detection mechanisms. threat - not fully developed in adolescence.

"You can use biology to help a teenager understand specifically why they are angry, and that it is a mistake, so there is no benefit to an overreaction." Fields said. "I think it will be helpful and it's better to tell them to control their anger. You are asking them to do something their brains are not equipped to do it."

Social pressures, including cultural and legal standards, cause biological impulses that direct us to murder, and the rate of human violence has changed dramatically over time and Different cultures. But while we are not controlled by evolutionary impulses in our brains, we are not completely free from them. It is comfortable to think that any use of violence is a crime and basically different from me. Many criminals also thought so.