Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Reflection on What to Decide
In the chapters from How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer, there was a part that I found really interesting to think about was the story of John Wayne Gary. It was fascinating to me to think that he was not “thinking about the feelings of others, sympathizing with their states of mind” (page 169) when he murdered “thirty-three boys” (page168) at his house. It is mind blowing to think that someone could be “killing without the slightest sense of unease” (page 169). There must be something wrong with the person’s brain to make them feel no emotion while they murder people. In my opinion, psychopaths are scary, monstrous, unmerciful and evil in every way. I really never understood why someone could act this way and am very curious of how they become these people. I wonder if these people were born psychopaths or didthey chose to be psychopaths. Also, I am curious about what makes these people “make poor---sometimes dangerous---moral choices,” (page 168)? A normal person would show emotion and empathy in making moral choices toward other people but I guess psychopaths are incapable of doing these things. They only think about themselves but I am wondering if they are aware of what they are doing to other people and why they act the way they do. I am guessing that on some level they do as regards to what they want out of what they are doing like paying someone for sexual satisfaction like John Wayne Gary did. But they don’t seem to learn from their evil deeds and feel nothing toward the people they kill. I don’t know but all I know is that these people are dangerous and need serious help. We just don’t know if people are normal people all the way around or if they just act normal on the outside to cover up the evil person they are inside. You really don’t know a person until you get closer to them on a personal level. But if that person is a psychopath it might be too late to save your life if they perceive you as threat to revealing who they really are. So it is best to be careful and watch your back if things get dangerous with people like this. Anything can happen when you least expect it especially with a psychopath who could strike at you at anytime.
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In reading "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer, I was overly drawn to his writing about John Wayne Gacy. I thought long and hard about this man's action and his none remorseful emotions toward killing these young boys. This malicious act had to warrant more than just a superficial sexual desire, but elude a deeper issue one of which might prove that he himself had been hurt in one way or another or possibly by someone else. It has been said time and time again that "hurt people, hurt other people". Gratification of hurtful acts or intentions towards another person is strange and usual behavior, and there is a thin line between sane and insane, but where do we draw the logic in this? John Lehrer put things into great perspective when he said, “Hurting someone else is just another way of getting what he wants, a perfectly reasonable way to satisfy desires. The absence of emotion makes the most basic moral concepts incomprehensible."(172) As we walk along the street, people on our jobs, our neighbors, the postman, family, our co-workers, who are they? There are many people that we entertain but really don't know. We all have desires, but how far will we go to scratch an itch? The act to commit murder is one of the highest ranked no, no's, and why, because once that person is gone you can never bring them back. People that feel no emotions and is not easily moved by another person pain or suffering has to be emotional suppressed and/or a strong candidate for psychoanalysis. Everything goes back to having morals and values about you; I think that this can be particular situation can be seen in my service learning. We have to have emotion towards assisting others that are suffering, not only physically, but are emotionally distraught. To not be emotionally attached to anything is very dangerous and it allows my mind to wonder, how can I help people that are in need of shelter and food, if I don’t feel any remorse for their situation?
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