Bill Scott said: "I don't think these troops grew up a[s] psychopaths, but they are acting as such in their occupations. Do we want this to be the result of our boot camps and on the job training? Are we providing the proper discriminative stimuli"
Bill, I was mostly following you up to that point. But you went on to say, "to make sure that our trained psychopaths know the difference between their job and their home? We obviously can't teach them to discriminate between cameras and guns." Given the video and what it shows, I do understand your frustration. What we see is completely unacceptable and even, it seems likely, criminal. On the other hand, what evidence is there that these particular individuals are not exceptional (exceptionally bad examples!). In other words, what is the evidence that military training begins with normal folk (non-psychopaths) and creates them. It would seem logical to me that a normal young person trained by the military would be a normal person with military training (allowing also for issues of the effects of the horrors of what the soldiers, etc. experience). It seems especially problematic to assume that these individuals were not somehow damaged before their military training given that the military is voluntary. One might easily imagine factors that would pre-dispose such flawed personalities to choose to join the military. It is troubling, of course, that the military doesn't understand this or, at least, doesn't appear to from what we see here- perhaps the issue is how someone with those tendencies would be allowed to receive the training and be allowed to wear the uniform for our nation. I know many soldiers, life-timers who are now retired, and etc. and I find very few to be classifiable as anything other than kind and caring people- that would include my father, my step-son, and many of my neighbors and friends. As unacceptable as this video and what it depicts is, I don't accept the characterization I seem to perceive that all who've served us should be characterized by the actions of these. . . words fail me. Have a good weekend. Tim _________________________________________________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chairperson of Psychology The College of Idaho 2112 Cleveland Blvd Caldwell, ID 83605 teaching: Bio and neuropsychology, history and systems, general, psychopharmacology tshea...@collegeofidaho.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=1876 or send a blank email to leave-1876-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
