Week of 7/30/2018 – 8/3/2018
We are finishing up Monster Theory and causality. See if you can find an article that you can use for your essay on either monsters or causality.
You can also write about anything that reminds you of the class and discussion.
Requirements. 250 word summary and response to the article/post/news/etc; aka text.
Comment below with a link to the text and your summary/response.
Professor Ramos' Blog 
In this video, psychologist Dr. Judy Ho discusses what happens inside the mind of a serial killer. She gives us insight on the most probable causes leading to killings. She discusses that there are a lot of factors to consider, both internally and externally, going on in the mind of a serial killer. Some of these factors are more clear than others. She explains that many of the serial killers that have been studied, tended to view the world differently. They believed that they are the victim of society and acted upon what they believed was right. Dr. Ho also mentions that serial killers tend to show different brain wave activities. Meaning that their brains produce less stimulation than that of a normal brain. These symptoms are difficult to treat as there is no cure. The discussion ends with a word of caution to the viewers toto look for certain signs in people before they snap.
This should not be new information for a lot of people. Research always points that killers, or would be murders suffer from an extreme stressor, such as bullying, a troubling parent child relationship, or other life changing event. Pair that with the fact that most murders are mentally unstable to begin with and you get the very typical recipe of a serial killer. To make matters worse, they are always the person we least expect. We live in a troubled society and just like the ongoing gun debate in this country, creating serial killers is a problem that does not have a simple solution.
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https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/wicked-deeds/201409/here-s-why-we-love-serial-killers
The article examines why we are fascinated with serial killers. Despite the terrifying or mind blowing actions taken upon victims, why are interested or invested into figuring out what is in the mind of these seemingly ordinary people. Serial killers appear throughout the years but no matter how gruesome the incident, there is no denial upon fear with them, however that does not stop people from wanting to be interested in it.
There are five reasons why society desires to have an obsession or analysis of the killer. First, the killings or behavior are natural. The rarity brings the interest, causing curiosity to wander. Second is victims are selected upon personal preference, enhancing the fear of those who meet the criteria of the murders. Third is serial killers commit multiple murders over a period of time, meaning it was not one impulsive act. Fourth is the motive behind the murders; beyond normal common feelings or jealously and rage, it is an inner demon or desire to commit such acts. Fifth is the adrenaline rush that simulates to monster films in the media. Because media presents monsters as a mixture of fear, anger, or sadness, the emotional bundle up into this rush of excitement of development of a new fear.
The article highlights all of Cohen’s Monster These from desire to monsters dwelling at the gates of difference. Monsters challenge our current beliefs or how individuals perceive the world. Monsters help us reevaluate our assumptions and peace. They are a fantasy in our imagination, satisfying our escape of reality and present what happens when we cross the line into impulsive acts.
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People have a fascination with psychopaths in our society, but why? A study done by UCLA showed that psychopathic traits persist in society. Psychopaths don’t play by the rules and are usually not cooperate. The study showed that students volunteers who scored higher on a test of psychopathy acted more ruthless towards people they felt disrespected by them or would unlikely see them again. The study also showed that having psychopathic traits could be to an advantage in society. The students were given a questionnaire and those who scored higher based on the study meant that they were more psychopathic. These students were more likely to be betraying to people around them. The findings show that people who were psychopathic were flexible in their ability to cooperate with others. This was said to not explain psychopathy but could explain for the persistence of the traits. This article is saying that people who have the traits of a psychopath can manipulate how they are with other people, that being that psychopaths can get people to do the things they want them to do. Certain personality traits can predict the tendencies and exploit the people wo are psychopaths. This connects to our monster theory and the fact that serial killers are most psychopaths. The monsters we know, are smart and can manipulate things in their favor. Psychopathic people are in movies and the monsters we love to watch, but the ones in our everyday society are almost desirable, like Cohen says, ‘the monster is a kind of desire.”
https://www.livescience.com/27618-why-psychopathic-traits-exist.html
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https://www.voanews.com/a/crews-gain-ground-on-monster-california-wildfire/4518943.html
Wildfires are extremely devastating, and California has seventeen major wild fires raging throughout the state. The article states that more than 1,500 buildings have been destroyed at the hands of the seventeen wildfires raging across California. The article specifically focusses on the Mendocino Complex fire. It is stated that the fire is 300,00 acres in size and is nearly the size of Los Angeles. The article states that the fire was 47% contained as of Wednesday morning. The Mendocino complex fire is now the largest fire in the history of California. The articles title is “Crews Gain Ground on Monster California Wildfire”, they describe the wildfire as being a monster. Why am I writing about this? Well, wildfires are terrifying monsters; thinking in retrospect I would have rather done my Evaluation on fires if that would have been allowed. Wildfires may not be a living object, however, the induce fear among the lives of all of those who the fire threatens to destroy their homes and belongings, and even their lives. The best monster thesis to apply to wildfires is Theses II: The Monster Always Escapes, for wildfires always return. We can do many things to reduce the risk of wildfires and prepare to stop them, but the truth is that wildfires have been around longer than humans, and they aren’t going anywhere. The wildfires always escape, one-year humans will put out the largest wildfire in history, and the next year the possibility of another one of that magnitude is present. These monsters will be with us throughout our entire existence and will continue to horrify and devastate the lives of humans.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monster-energy-drink-maker-sued-for-14-year-olds-death/
Cause and effect is often linked together incorrectly. This was done by the parents of a 14 year old girl named Anais Fournier, after she went into cardiac arrest after drinking two, 24-ounce Monster Beverage Corp. drinks within a 24-hour period. Anais’ parents claimed that the energy drinks caused the death of their daughter and Monster Beverage Corp. should be held accountable.
The autopsy showed that Fournier had died of cardiac arrhythmia, which is a inconsistent change in the rate or rhythm of an heartbeat, because she had too much caffeine in her body and it was complicating the amount of blood her heart could properly pump out.
Fournier had inherited a disorder from her parents that can weaken her blood vessels. Usually the disorder is harmless, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, but in this case, the caffeine from the energy drinks took things over the edge.
Although this is a very sad event, I feel the cause and effect is incorrect because I think the Monster Beverage Corp. should not be responsible for how much someone consumes their product. And it even says on the can not to have a certain amount of caffeine in a 24 hour period. With a child at the age of 14, the parent should be monitoring what their child is consuming. It would be the responsibly of theirs to make sure their child is being healthy, especially if they know they passed on a disorder that affects blood pressure and heart complications. Although the drinks may have been a contributing factor in this tragic event, the real cause was the negligence of monster loving 14 year old.
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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/special-reports/causeway-attack/article1941239.html
On May 26th, 2012 a man in Florida who later became known as the “Miami Zombie” attacked an elderly homeless man in one of the more disturbing assaults of recent at the time. Thirty year old Rudy Eugene stripped off his clothes, approached the sixty five year old Ronald Poppo, and stole his bible. Rudy then beat Ronald unconscious and proceeded to remove his pants and bite off most of Ronald’s face, including his left eye, and damaged his other eye bad enough to leave Ronald completely blind. It was originally thought that they had no previous affiliation, but as it turns out, Rudy had worked at a homeless community and met Ronald there, though the extent of their relationship is unknown. While still gnawing on the poor old man’s face, the police arrived to the scene and ordered him to stand down. When he refused to stop biting on Ronald’s face and began growling at the officer, the police fired. One bullet proved ineffective and they had to put four more into him before he went down. Ronald Poppo was immediately taken into medical care where he received surgery to reconstruct his face, though he would never regain his eyesight. He was given permission to stay under the care of the medical facility indefinitely.
This story has baffled and disturbed everyone who has tried to investigate it. Why did he do it? The only foreign substance found in Rudy’s body was marijuana so what exactly cause his outburst. Regardless of the reason, the media dubbed him the Miami zombie.
Mankind has a tendency to crave making their monsters real, whether it be outlandish rumors or news stories, people love to label each other as monsters. “Check out these real life vampires.” “Real zombies! People who came back from death!” Drawing in publicity with the promise of real monsters has become a tried and true tactic in media and you can bet that if anyone ever gets mauled by a hairier than average person, the boys will cry werewolf.
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