So, now we begin to hear that Adam Lanza wanted to imitate or even outdo Anders Brevik, that he honed his skills and desensitized what bit of humanity he may have ever had to the idea of killing by playing violent video games. So, we have an already troubled young man, seemingly devoid of social connection and empathy, exposure to media and Internet details about what another sociopath did, and the access to games that can both train him and desensitize him to killing others. We have a mother who, while perhaps trying anything to connect to him in some way, both allowed him to practice with and have access to her firearms.
And THEY keep saying it was all about the guns?
These people are out there. Brevik could find people to feed his paranoia. Lanza could find examples to follow, a way to be come relevant in a world that didn't give a shit about him. The Internet allows them to find each other and learn from each other. Parents are living with and raising children like this with little support and while they may do the best they can, there are going to be less than desirable outcomes. Sometimes their answer to to allow the child to sink into a fantasy world. Video games bring that world of virtual surreality to them, on their surface much like those simulations that law enforcement and military use for training. With them, the budding killer creates skills, becomes desensitized to killing and can engage in sick fantasies blurring the line of reality and surreality, between a virtual and a real world.
And THEY keep saying it is all about the guns?
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