Perception is all-important in the digital age. Tiny mistakes can be made into huge problems that can ruin a person or make them a hero–whether deserving or otherwise. More relevant to anyone living in a country with a representative government is that facts can be worded to mean whatever a person wants them to. Sandy Hook is now an example of that.
During the investigation of the killer (whose name will not be appearing in print in my writing), it was found that he had a huge spreadsheet of previous mass killers and their victim counts. It was literally huge, seven feet long and four feet wide. The research involved in creating this sheet, which included over 500 names and information down to the weapons they used, was compared to a doctoral thesis.
Investigators are fairly certain that the killer was looking to put his name at the top of that list. More alarmingly, an anonymous source described the spreadsheet as a score sheet.
They don’t believe this was just a spreadsheet. They believe it was a score sheet. This was the work of a video gamer, and that it was his intent to put his own name at the very top of that list.
Those words are a dangerous combination of fact and assumption, one that could be run with if someone wanted to keep harping on the evils of violent video games. The only part of the spreadsheet that surprised investigators was the amount of research involved in it, something that paints a very dark picture of the killer’s mental state. It is entirely normal for serial or mass killers to show a fascination for previous killers, and topping their death toll is also a common link between them, hence why police generally try to keep exact death tallies quiet.
Time will tell if those words are used to once again point the finger at video games, but it’s a good cultural lesson regardless. Be mindful of your words. People will read them through their own perception, not yours.
