http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/19291.html Looking for Something to Blame by Declan McCullagh 8:55 a.m. 23.Apr.99.PDT WASHINGTON -- Just minutes after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold gunned down over a dozen of their high school classmates, the world began searching for an explanation. The massacre seemed too abrupt, too painful, and too inexplicable not to probe into the young men's psyches, just a little. A profile of the duo soon emerged in news reports. They were Hitler admirers, outcasts, possibly Y2K buffs, and certainly loners. They were also reportedly computer geeks, fans of Doom and Quake. Harris had, like many avid players, created additional levels of the game. His alleged Web site on America Online, since yanked by the company, reportedly detailed plans for constructing bombs. [...] Trying to shield vulnerable members of society from disruptive influences is a response as old as humanity itself. Circa 500 BC, the Greek philosopher Anaxgoras was tossed in a dungeon after claiming that the gods were mythical abstractions, not reality. A jury in 1852 convicted a Franciscan friar of burning a King James Bible in violation of Irish law. [...] Congress' reaction this week is not new. In congressional hearings in 1952, mental health experts from the Mayo Clinic blamed delinquency on TV "murder, violence, shooting, hanging, kidnapping, and the doings of wicked witches." Laboratory studies in the 1960s -- since called into question -- seemed to confirm that violent films or cartoons led to violent behavior. [...remainder snipped...] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology To subscribe: send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this text: subscribe politech More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------
