by Thrope
These are the worst things about you? If you think killing crabs and looking at crime scene photo's makes you a terrible person you must lead a very sheltered existence. Plenty of little kids get a kick out of slaughtering frogs, lizards, rodents etc because cruelty is a part of nature and they haven't been around long enough to be conditioned out of it by society. If your stomach doesn't turn when you view grisly murder images, all it means is that you're not squeamish. You wouldn't call a crime scene investigator a psychopath just for doing their job. As for the victims, nobody really gives a fuck about them in the long run which is why it's the killers who get all the attention. That thing where you imagine people dying when they're late sounds like it's rooted in anxiety. Also, being able to imagine yourself killing people isn't indicative of a cold blooded nature or real murderous potential. It's not even worth mentioning. Just wondering, why do you feel the need to justify not having killed anyone?
These are the worst things about me I am willing to commit to the indelibility of the internet.
The crab thing, like the others in that section of my post, was an example of an instance of cruelty in which I did not have what would be called "normal" emotional reactions. I mentioned it specifically because it is a peculiarity, even to me. I am not generally a sadist, to the contrary, I am a masochist. However, from time to time, a strange, disconnected -almost dissociative- calm-but-sadistic state takes me over. In childhood, I was unable (or unmotivated, I'm not sure which) to curb the acting out of the impulses I get during this phase. In adulthood, I've found less destructive, more socially acceptable outlets, but the dissociative quality of it has always unnerved me a bit. Almost like being possessed, but watching-on. Tres bizarre.
A crime scene investigator may be able to view the works of a serial killer without vomiting, but it bothers him on an emotional level. You said it yourself, he is just doing his job. His very position in a career in law enforcement speaks towards a likelihood that he has empathy for victims, and their families, that he has a sense of right and wrong that is in accordance with "normal" society and that he feels an internal impulse to do good.
I read about serial killers and become aroused at their intelligence, strength, cunning, and capacity for independent thought. I look at their victims either with detachment, as if they are/never were human, or, often, that they were to blame for their own demise, and thus rewarded themselves for their own stupidity. I was under the impression that in general, most people feel bad for the victims, or that they at least felt that their deaths serve no good purpose- if I am mistaken then feel free to ignore that part.
As I said, there is no anxiety involved. I am not bothered by their death, it is merely an inconvenience. I react to it emotionally the same as I would react to a late bus.
I feel the "need" because it has presented itself in the past. When I have mentioned not feeling guilt, people have always challenged my sincerity by asking why I do not have a mountain of bodies in my wake- as though not caring about killing and wanting to kill were the same impulse. I meant only to preempt the assumption, I afford it no special distinction.