As the cultural obsession with Cho continues, it reveals a deep human need to understand, explain, and feel in control of this type of situation. We think that if we can predict every warning sign and every maladaptive personality trait we can avoid these types of situations. Unfortunately, part of living in modern society is dealing with tragedies like these, and living with the fact that regardless of the barriers and changes we make, there is always a risk.

Furthermore, the task of attempting to discover the difference between people who simply have violent thoughts and those that will actually carry out such a disaster is extremely difficult, and it risks violating individual rights in the process. The Boston Globe has a great piece on how violent thoughts and fantasies are common for people to have, and that the line between a killer and a literary genius is very thin in this realm.

Sadly but perhaps positively, this tragedy, like September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, or other national scale disasters, forces us to take inventory of our lives, reset our values and priorities, affirm our connections with our loved ones, and bravely face the inevitable risk that comes from being alive in 2007.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 22 Apr 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.