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| Neuroscientist Jim Fallon found that his brain scan was identical to the brain scans of sociopathic killers.* |
George Zimmerman is auctioning
The gun he used to kill Trayvon
Martin. Everyone questions, “How
Sick is that?” Our age, so given
To psychotherapy, has to see evil
In some well defined category—
Classified, at least, as if that made
It controllable. Rather scary to
Think human activity can be so
Disordered without exculpatory
Rationale—that can’t be the right
Word certainly. No “normal,
Well-adjusted person” could act
So insensitively. We’re so relieved
When brain scans show unusual
Activity that seems to correlate
With criminal impulse. Life gets
Just the tiniest bit safer when the
Felons confess regretting what
They’ve done: “I don’t really
Know how it happened. I had a
Rage that couldn’t be satisfied.
I kept hitting and hitting him
Until there was nothing left to
Strike.” A rage, ah yes, a rage.
We’ve all been angry near that
Point. What makes some of us
Stop and others not? If only we
Could point to some wound,
A broken organ, to remove our
Choosing from us. Would that
We could see the cause advancing,
Like a rash or bruise, we’d know
To take it to a clinic. Prior ages
Thought one had a demon, another
Actual being come to take over.
Can you blame them? They could
See no outward causes. Fevers
Drove men mad they thought
Despite the lingering fear that
Men had fevers because they had
Demons. Terrible as it is, still
There’s comfort in discovering
The tumors in the brain which
Explain why the beloved shrieks
All day in agony until exhausted.
Much as we’d like we can’t scan
Zimmerman’s brain without his
Permission. We can’t autopsy
Hitler’s ashes. Those sad football
Stars who have agreed their brains
Shall be analyzed after death
To find how much damage
Occurred in their games, do so,
If not to end the games, maybe to
Reduce future injury in others.
But of the healthy killers, what
To make of them: no pathologic
Upbringing, no unbalanced
Hormonal functioning, grew up
In surroundings sometimes better
But often not worse that any we
Encounter, what takes them to
The edge of common morality
And drops them off? Statistics?
Bad luck? One of every thousand
Will covet too much, will risk
A reputation and get away with
It? Temptation and evil? If there’s
No driving force, then anyone of
Us could do evil--under the right
Circumstances.
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