Nature vs. Nurture

3.3

I can't stop thinking about an event I went to recently where Dr. Scott Bonn who has studied and interviewed serial killers, talked about our fascination with them.

He discussed nature vs. nurture. What makes someone go down the path of violence ence while others rise above. Nature is something in their brain is broken that takes away their empathy. They cannot be fixed as they will never care. They will not stop if you plead with them and it's all about control.

Nurture is how they are brought up. This one is a bit scary because this one, any of us could potentially go down this path. I think this is one of the reasons we are fasci with serial killers is because somewhere in the back of our minds, we're afraid of ourselves becoming a monster and we're looking for signs is our abuser could potentially be one.

The other fascinating thing I discovered while listening to Dr. Bonn was how most of what he talked about with serial lines was how close and how similar they think vs. how our abusers think. I know that maybe sounds redundant, but I mean how it's just a fine thread of difference and makes me wonder how close we are to actually living with some who can flip and be a murderer.

Having said that, I also stated that I believe my dad murdered my mom by his treatment of her. I feel like saying I was a bit surprised how similar living in an abusive situation is stating the obvious, but I think we convince ourselves that it can't happen to us, that our abuser must love us deep down inside. Again making excuses for their behavior.

I know them and they won't cross that line. They've had a rough life, or they didn't mean it. Whatever excuse they use, we try to convince ourselves that's the reason.

It just makes me pause and wonder how close are we to being murdered? I think it's closer than we think