Just discovered this and your blog. Thank you for this fascinating discussion. There’s value in dissecting what drove Lanza. But I think BlitheringGenius crosses a line in repeatedly lauding his thinking. It borders uncomfortably on admiration.
Intelligence is overrated and fetishized. And there’s a vast difference between intelligence and intellect, or the ability to reason. We make the mistake of assuming every smart person possesses both.
While Lanza was clearly literate and inclined toward elaborate thought, I disagree his musings represent anything deep. He was a smart kid w/ too much time on his hands. He ignored numerous obvious contradictions in his reasoning—e.g., kids are victims of “cultural bullying”, but pedophilia is just fine. It’s all nothing more than pseudo-intellectual masturbation. Lanza earns no points for merely asking the Q’s most people avoid; indeed, he makes the case for why we’re fortunate most folks don’t bother to explore these absurd rabbit holes. In the end, he *was* a madman, and he drove himself there.
Also, Adam Lanza: how sophomoric (which is generous).
I was surprised, by the way, listening to this conversation, to hear no mention of Rousseau (e.g., "...but of course, Rousseau...", etc.) (Of course, this terse one-man list can be expanded.) Or did our Default Friend, or her guest, state the obvious - as I am very nearly doing now - during the few minutes when I had dozed off (not from boredom; I was listening in bed last night, jet-lagged)?
The model for the current GOP can be fairly described as a cross between Lanza and Sidney Powell. Every Republican is somewhere on that spectrum between spectacularly violent and compulsively dishonest.
Are we certain that these shooters would not have been serial killers in 1980? Are we certain they’re not the 1% or so of psychopaths/sociopaths inclined to violence, but adapting to a modern surveillance state?
I'm not -- maybe they would have. I don't think that changes that people are products of their environments. In some places, a schizophrenic is a shaman, in other places, he's a ward of the state.
Catherine the sheer narcissism of us being responsible for climate change..that we are too many for the earth to support...nihlism..to abotlrt an inconvenient pregnancy...resulting from the hedonism of the night befor...we are teaching our kids this. Thanks for bringing nihlism and nwrcissim of liberal culture into stark relief
What was so fascinating to me, and so troubling, is how un-psychotic and rational he sounded. Yes, his theories were deeply peculiar and not necessarily expressed completely coherently, but he arrived at them through a clearly considered thought process. Perhaps the interaction with the commentator he perceived as so hostile is a clue for how, exactly, he got pulled so far into what was clearly an act of evil. When confronted with a challenge to his philosophy his response was to pull away completely rather than reflect and moderate. Indeed, it's that very demand for moderation that seems to be so offensive to him--that's really what culture is doing (at least as he formulated it), moderating our internal instincts.
Anyways, certainly no easy path to address a situation like his. Just ordering up some therapy isn't going to begin to address what's going on in the calculated thoughts of someone like him.
Not to novelize here (but I will) in my head there are so many examples over just my lifetime where people who did horrific shit turned out to be something entirely different than what was presented, and often much more normative / intellectual than anyone would expect.
I think society looked at a guy like Charles Manson and said “Now that is a construction that could be useful.”. Like you couldn’t build in a lab a guy more shit-house rat crazy in deed and demeanor than him. He never actually killed anyone as far as we know, yet he died in prison after 50 years. There was essentially no one out there cheerleading for him to be set free. How hard would that kind of trick be to pull off these days? Recently you have tiktokers thinking Bin Laden got snubbed for a Pulitzer (tho it does all feel rather like some kind of psyop), pretty sure they could find some sympathy with ol Charly… maybe they will posthumously. :D
Either way, If I was a dictator trying to keep a society away from the fringes and on the straight and narrow, I would take that brush out and paint anyone I deemed maladaptive or dangerous with the Manson pastiche. Sells papers (or gets clicks now) AND is both a cautionary tale / clownish parody of what evil can look like. That is what you call an “entertainment value” in my book. Allows many of us to sleep comfortably knowing if you want to look out for monsters, just look for the swastika tattooed on their foreheads.
But thinking on Lanza, it is not one bit surprising to me the kid had some novel views, maybe even bordering on insightful, perhaps even more weighted by his age. Guys like Kaczynski come to mind or even the big baddie Hitler and many of his ilk. I tried to look up other mass shooters to jog my memory about the columbine kids and others, but as perhaps an illustration of how little we seek to understand these broken toys, their names aren’t even listed on the wiki for mass shootings (for reasons one could justify I suppose).
But as I drink my coffee this cold dark AM my two takeaways on this are first, maybe we all underestimate the deep, esoteric, or interesting thoughts being had by others, especially now that the bulk of human knowledge is now at our fingertips. And secondly a phrase I heard the other day on a podcast “The people who cause the most damage are intelligent people with incomplete information” which not only applies to people like Lanza, but perhaps many of us as well.
Really looking forward to listening to the rest of these, I think she said a 4 part series? Tho I have to wager it's not going to end up making me feel particularly sympathetic to Lanza, maybe in a way it will allow me to imagine him next time I am talking to some kid who seems a bit threadbare and in need of anyone to give a shit, even if for a moment.
On a side note: I looked at your reads and didn’t recognize most of them, so thanks for that, might be poking around there. Secondly I was quite disappointed you didn’t actually have an active substack about “The elite civil war chronicles” since it sounded like something I would prolly like reading. :)
i’m excited to hear you discuss everything smiggles. his digital footprint is fascinating to me and i love hearing you talk about it. great episode, made me subscribe!
Both Hitler and Lanza saw the Modern World as Trash and saw any Version of this Current Humanity as Unnatural, may seem Race and Ethically Motivated at first, but consider the Idea that Adolf loved Dogs and Wolves despite them being Filthy and Disgusting and Adam Loving Hamsters and strongly Detesting the Meat Industry, Same with Adolf hating Vivisection and testing, both were into Natural Conservation and saw something as modern Human Sentience as a Plague that destroys everything in its path and that is incompatible with the Naturalist and Eco World, They were Warrriors who fought for a similar Coexistent Goal in different ways, weather it be Primitivism or Accelerationism, and showed how, Albeit Machiavellian, Force and Revolting is necessary to bring back something not so Unfamiliar.
Read anything by Wayne Barlowe,Dougal Dixon,CM Koseman,Ben G Thomas,Dylan Badja,the Future is Wild Series and other Speculative Evolutionary Literature to understand more in depth!!!
Yes I was into Zerzan before Kaczynski or Lanza. I should look at it and you should also check out those Authors and Literature I linked, it would probably be of reference to what we're talking about.
Just discovered this and your blog. Thank you for this fascinating discussion. There’s value in dissecting what drove Lanza. But I think BlitheringGenius crosses a line in repeatedly lauding his thinking. It borders uncomfortably on admiration.
Intelligence is overrated and fetishized. And there’s a vast difference between intelligence and intellect, or the ability to reason. We make the mistake of assuming every smart person possesses both.
While Lanza was clearly literate and inclined toward elaborate thought, I disagree his musings represent anything deep. He was a smart kid w/ too much time on his hands. He ignored numerous obvious contradictions in his reasoning—e.g., kids are victims of “cultural bullying”, but pedophilia is just fine. It’s all nothing more than pseudo-intellectual masturbation. Lanza earns no points for merely asking the Q’s most people avoid; indeed, he makes the case for why we’re fortunate most folks don’t bother to explore these absurd rabbit holes. In the end, he *was* a madman, and he drove himself there.
Hitler and Lanza were both Right💪 💯✅
Did he mention love at any time in the 4 parts?
I see: Adam Lanza was a liberal. That way lies the abyss, watery chaos, the worm and the flame.
Also, Adam Lanza: how sophomoric (which is generous).
I was surprised, by the way, listening to this conversation, to hear no mention of Rousseau (e.g., "...but of course, Rousseau...", etc.) (Of course, this terse one-man list can be expanded.) Or did our Default Friend, or her guest, state the obvious - as I am very nearly doing now - during the few minutes when I had dozed off (not from boredom; I was listening in bed last night, jet-lagged)?
I mentioned Rousseau in the larger piece I wrote in response to BG's piece. https://contra.substack.com/p/mass-shootings-and-the-world-liberalism
Of course you did :) I'm reading it now.
The model for the current GOP can be fairly described as a cross between Lanza and Sidney Powell. Every Republican is somewhere on that spectrum between spectacularly violent and compulsively dishonest.
You're a gem, goosestepping your way to self-ruin.
Are we certain that these shooters would not have been serial killers in 1980? Are we certain they’re not the 1% or so of psychopaths/sociopaths inclined to violence, but adapting to a modern surveillance state?
I'm not -- maybe they would have. I don't think that changes that people are products of their environments. In some places, a schizophrenic is a shaman, in other places, he's a ward of the state.
Catherine the sheer narcissism of us being responsible for climate change..that we are too many for the earth to support...nihlism..to abotlrt an inconvenient pregnancy...resulting from the hedonism of the night befor...we are teaching our kids this. Thanks for bringing nihlism and nwrcissim of liberal culture into stark relief
Been thinking about this podcast all day.
What was so fascinating to me, and so troubling, is how un-psychotic and rational he sounded. Yes, his theories were deeply peculiar and not necessarily expressed completely coherently, but he arrived at them through a clearly considered thought process. Perhaps the interaction with the commentator he perceived as so hostile is a clue for how, exactly, he got pulled so far into what was clearly an act of evil. When confronted with a challenge to his philosophy his response was to pull away completely rather than reflect and moderate. Indeed, it's that very demand for moderation that seems to be so offensive to him--that's really what culture is doing (at least as he formulated it), moderating our internal instincts.
Anyways, certainly no easy path to address a situation like his. Just ordering up some therapy isn't going to begin to address what's going on in the calculated thoughts of someone like him.
Not to novelize here (but I will) in my head there are so many examples over just my lifetime where people who did horrific shit turned out to be something entirely different than what was presented, and often much more normative / intellectual than anyone would expect.
I think society looked at a guy like Charles Manson and said “Now that is a construction that could be useful.”. Like you couldn’t build in a lab a guy more shit-house rat crazy in deed and demeanor than him. He never actually killed anyone as far as we know, yet he died in prison after 50 years. There was essentially no one out there cheerleading for him to be set free. How hard would that kind of trick be to pull off these days? Recently you have tiktokers thinking Bin Laden got snubbed for a Pulitzer (tho it does all feel rather like some kind of psyop), pretty sure they could find some sympathy with ol Charly… maybe they will posthumously. :D
Either way, If I was a dictator trying to keep a society away from the fringes and on the straight and narrow, I would take that brush out and paint anyone I deemed maladaptive or dangerous with the Manson pastiche. Sells papers (or gets clicks now) AND is both a cautionary tale / clownish parody of what evil can look like. That is what you call an “entertainment value” in my book. Allows many of us to sleep comfortably knowing if you want to look out for monsters, just look for the swastika tattooed on their foreheads.
But thinking on Lanza, it is not one bit surprising to me the kid had some novel views, maybe even bordering on insightful, perhaps even more weighted by his age. Guys like Kaczynski come to mind or even the big baddie Hitler and many of his ilk. I tried to look up other mass shooters to jog my memory about the columbine kids and others, but as perhaps an illustration of how little we seek to understand these broken toys, their names aren’t even listed on the wiki for mass shootings (for reasons one could justify I suppose).
But as I drink my coffee this cold dark AM my two takeaways on this are first, maybe we all underestimate the deep, esoteric, or interesting thoughts being had by others, especially now that the bulk of human knowledge is now at our fingertips. And secondly a phrase I heard the other day on a podcast “The people who cause the most damage are intelligent people with incomplete information” which not only applies to people like Lanza, but perhaps many of us as well.
Really looking forward to listening to the rest of these, I think she said a 4 part series? Tho I have to wager it's not going to end up making me feel particularly sympathetic to Lanza, maybe in a way it will allow me to imagine him next time I am talking to some kid who seems a bit threadbare and in need of anyone to give a shit, even if for a moment.
On a side note: I looked at your reads and didn’t recognize most of them, so thanks for that, might be poking around there. Secondly I was quite disappointed you didn’t actually have an active substack about “The elite civil war chronicles” since it sounded like something I would prolly like reading. :)
Will part 2 cover the time Lanza called into a radio show to share his analysis of the Travis the chimp story?
Yes. There will be 4 parts total.
i’m excited to hear you discuss everything smiggles. his digital footprint is fascinating to me and i love hearing you talk about it. great episode, made me subscribe!
Expand on your point!
Both Hitler and Lanza saw the Modern World as Trash and saw any Version of this Current Humanity as Unnatural, may seem Race and Ethically Motivated at first, but consider the Idea that Adolf loved Dogs and Wolves despite them being Filthy and Disgusting and Adam Loving Hamsters and strongly Detesting the Meat Industry, Same with Adolf hating Vivisection and testing, both were into Natural Conservation and saw something as modern Human Sentience as a Plague that destroys everything in its path and that is incompatible with the Naturalist and Eco World, They were Warrriors who fought for a similar Coexistent Goal in different ways, weather it be Primitivism or Accelerationism, and showed how, Albeit Machiavellian, Force and Revolting is necessary to bring back something not so Unfamiliar.
Read anything by Wayne Barlowe,Dougal Dixon,CM Koseman,Ben G Thomas,Dylan Badja,the Future is Wild Series and other Speculative Evolutionary Literature to understand more in depth!!!
Hey, thanks for answering honestly. How’d you find my blog? Are you a national socialist?
Heavily Interested into it but much more of a Anarcho Primitivist or Anti Civilizationist or anything relating to Speculative Evolution.
I’ve done some shows on anprim, one with Zerzan. You should check it out.
Did you find my blog through looking up lanza?
Yes I was into Zerzan before Kaczynski or Lanza. I should look at it and you should also check out those Authors and Literature I linked, it would probably be of reference to what we're talking about.