Lizzie Borden Society Forum

I read a most intriguing book review yesterday. I'm gonna try to find the book locally, and if I can't, I'll order it. It's called "The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill." The author is David M. Buss, a UTex psychology professor. Buss challenges the theory that it takes a special kind of person to commit murder -- someone who has been desensitized by growing up in a subculture of violence. He began by asking students to complete a questionnaire that included the question: "Have you ever thought about killing someone?" He was astonished by the result. Most of the students reported at least one incident in which they had had fantasies about killing someone. He then undertook a global study of over 5,000 people, finding that 91% of men and 84% of women, whatever their culture, have thought at some time of killing a specific person. (I'll pause for a moment here while we all think of our favorite specific victim.)

Buss concluded from his studies that our brains are hard-wired to kill and that murderous thoughts, and sometimes acting on them, are a result of the evolutionary process. He argues that murder has been so constant in most societies for thousands of years and so beneficial to evolution that it's a wonder it isn't more prevalent than it is. On a more positive note, he says that "in response to the threat of murder, we've developed a well-honed set of defenses against it, and they have acted as powerful deterrents." The reviewer, Steve Weinberg, concludes by postulating that Buss's theory "shows promise of becoming the new conventional wisdom."

So, if Buss is correct, the people who thought (and think) Lizzie to be incapable of murder might well be wrong. I have to admit that I fall into that peculiar 16% of women who haven't fantasized about murder. However, I do recall having vivid fantasies about hiring someone to beat up a former boyfriend while I watched. Close, but no cigar!

That sounds like an interesting line to explore. I'm really not surprised that so many people seem to have thought of committing murder at one point or another. I guess the key is the leap betwen thinking/fantasizing about murder and committing murder.

I went into Amazon.com because they often give you the first few pages of a book as teasers. Didn't find that this time -- but here's a link where you can scroll down to some fairly well-written reader reviews about Buss's book. Two seem to like it -- two don't -- and the two who don't give detailed reasons why they're not buying his theory.

Hope this link works -- it's very long ....

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... ce&s=books

Edisto @ Mon Jun 20, 2005 2:59 pm wrote:
So, if Buss is correct, the people who thought (and think) Lizzie to be incapable of murder might well be wrong.

I for one do not believe that anyone will ever understand how or why any one person can kill. I think it's an anomaly, never to be explained. But even if he is correct, I do not see how this would go to prove that Lizzie may not have been capable of murder. There are people, as it is very evident, that are capable of murder. Lizzie could also very well have been one of those people.

I must not have expressed myself very well. What I meant to say is that Buss's theory, if correct, would tend to prove that Lizzie might indeed have been capable (not INcapable) of murder. If we buy his theory, it would mean that Lizzie would probably have been one of the 84% of women who fantasize about murder as a way out of a given situation. Buss seems to think that the mere fantisizing means a person is "capable" of murder.

I acquired the book last night and have read about a quarter of it. I'm somewhat disappointed in it and don't think it's going to become the "new conventional wisdom" as the reviewer said. One thing that bothers me is that Buss seems to lump killings in "war" with one-on-one homicides. I put "war" in quotes, because he uses historical examples that might not have been declared, society-sanctioned wars in all cases but that were the rough equivalents. If one's country presses one into service and gives one the weapons and training to kill, that's a very different thing from suddenly deciding unilaterally that one's mate deserves to die.

I also wonder about the people this guy Buss hangs around with. He gives at least three examples of friends of his who have homicidal tendencies. For reasons of self-preservation, I try to stay away from people like that.

Thanks, Edisto, it is an intriguing theory. But, I'd be interested to know, out of the percentage of people who thought about murdering someone, how many actually went through with it? I've fantasized about alot of things, but, would never, ever act upon them. It makes me think of suicide. I've known people who contemplated doing it at some point in their lives, but, when push came to shove they couldn't or wouldn't do it. Please keep us posted on the rest of Buss' findings.

Sorry, double post.

This would be a good topic for a Poll, "do you know
anyone who could murder.." I was thinking that
the sleeziest person I've ever known, my younger
sister's x redneck creep of a husband.. and even
he would be too much a coward to actually murder
someone.