They should save their time. They're like 21st Century Phrenologists, looking for physical clues that will explain the workings of the brain.
The real lesson of Newtown and other school shootings is that people with suspicions should speak up. A CBS story last week included interviews with former FBI agents who researched schools shootings. It showed almost every shooter told people what he was going to do, but nobody acted on the information, thinking the person was kidding or that they were mistaken.
The researchers are right in looking at the brain, but its the brains of those people who failed to report they should really be studying.
It isn't that simple.
ReplyDeleteThere are many, many factors in any situation like this. DNA traits are a possibility, but so are cultural and environmental factors.
We are just beginning to understand the role DNA has in our lives. The role of science is to uncover the secrets of the brain.
As for telling people what he or she might do, again there are many factors. The person might be joking, or might not. Maybe the person who heard the threats were cowed into staying quiet. Maybe it's an old "family secret" that a family member is "a bit teched in the head."
Many factors.