hal@finney.org writes:
> I don't think most people are ready to kill. I don't think they are
> prepared to personally take a human life. From what I've read, for most
That's true, but this is something which can be trained.
> people (not all) this is a tremendously traumatic experience. To kill
> a human being carries the ultimate degree of finality. You take away
> everything he will ever have and will ever be. There is no chance of
> reconciliation, no chance of recovery, no chance of reparing the damage
> which has been done and beginning to start anew. It's over, permanently
> and forever.
I don't think such philosophical ruminations occupy a major part of
your mind when you're being mugged. I suspect you're just scared
shitless, period. Muggings and most of violet crime requires this
frozen rigid/literally scared out of your wits behaviour to occur in
order to be successfull.
> It seems to me that preparing yourself psychologically for this action
> requires a certain amount of distancing and depersonalizing your
> attitudes towards other people. You can't think of your target as a
> human being with hopes and aspirations, struggling under the weight of
> damaging experiences and harmful thoughts. He needs to be thought of
> impersonally, as a threat to be eliminated.
The only mental decision you have to do is whether to allow reflexes
to take over, or not.
> In the long run, isn't it possible that this psychological adjustment will
> be damaging to your relationships with other people? Aren't killers (and
> potential killers) going to be a little more cold-blooded, a little more
> impersonal and hard-hearted? Might they not face a burden in setting up
> alliances and working together with other people, compared to those who
> are more trusting, open and accepting of human limitations and weaknesses?
Like those neo-nazis which baseballbat people to death in plain view
of other citizens, who are too scared to intervene, for fear of being
killed or seriously wounded?
> Taking the responsibility of carrying a gun is going to change you.
> It forces you to think of yourself as a killer, as one who is willing
> to kill. Admittedly, if you actually save your life by carrying the
> gun then any costs it imposes are worthwhile. But the chance that you
> will actually be killed by violence are highly remote.
It highly depends on where you live and which areas you frequent
when. A young black in a bad neighborhood is probably more likely to
die of acute lead poisoning than of anything else.
> Given the very small probability of this outcome, the costs in terms
> of your alienation from society must be considered significant. In the
> long run your survival prospects will be hurt by having a lesser degree
> of social connectivity.
I think it's a private decision.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 02 2000 - 17:38:47 MDT