I find the paradoxical thing about all of this, the event being merely a reflection of a greater reality, is that in terms of sociopathy, some are not understood because they are not understandable, loosely speaking.
What Cho needed was something that this world, by large, finds it difficult to comprehensively give to each and everybody who needs it most: an environment and people who will be able to actually connect with him. To certain peoples' credit, attempts were made in this case, but unfortunately they were insufficient to avert this tragedy.
I would like to claim that I am capable of understanding the kind of situation that Cho may have found himself in. I have known people who have, to a certain extent, fit this kind of profile, and I myself was described as one of them. I was angry with the world, heavily misanthropic (not anymore), given to writing disturbing literature (still do
), loved martial arts (more than ever now!), and was bipolar (still am!) The big difference in my case is that despite various environmental stresses (a horribly strained relationship with my mother at that point in time), I found people whom I could engage with, so that even if I had taken to locking myself away, there was that little smidgen of hope in my fantasies that yes, "somebody out there could understand me". Finding those people really helped.
Sociopathy is a useful term to a limited extent- as a clinical guideline of sorts to describe people who are given, for whatever reason, to antisocial or maladaptive behaviors (since the bulk of our life is preoccupied with how we might observe the various conditions that allow us to live in societies). However, it must be stressed that for whatever predisposition this or genetics that one may be called "susceptible to sociopathy", the biggest and necessary determinant is one's environment (this is now strongly
empirically suggested, too.) That we rely on artificial institutions for "treatment" produces some good results, but IMO is not optimal- this indicates that we as a whole should work on becoming more understanding and accepting, so that some may not feel so alienated, and feel compelled to act out in such ways as Cho did.
I don't think this will happen, however, not in the near future. Humans have a consistent track record of suspending social institutions, and tribal self/not-self mentality is a cornerstone of our cognitions.
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Also, I noticed that the CNN etc. coverage was extremely heavy. Whilst the crits of such behavior I read seemed shallow and blinkered...I mean this:
Police investigating the shootings in Blacksburg, Virginia, were also critical. "We're rather disappointed in the editorial decision to broadcast these disturbing images," state police chief Colonel Steve Flaherty said.
"The world has endured a view of life that few of us would or should ever have to endure," he said.
It's that last sentence that I find interesting. Nonetheless, I do think that, given the times, the heavy coverage struck me as quite irresponsible.
