…and this is a 
School shooting in Finland
Category: Evil
Posted on: November 7, 2007 10:57 AM, by PZ Myers
There has been another tragic shooting at a school, this time at Jokela secondary school in Tuusula, Finland. It was a single gunman on a rampage, and at least seven people have been killed.
We're going to hear much more about this because the murderer claims to have carried out this act in the name of natural selection. Some of the murderer's files are available online (so far; that link may not function for long), and they portray a sick man with a distorted view of evolution that he used to justify his actions.
He planned this action. One file is called "Attack Information", and contains his goals.
ATTACK INFORMATION
Event: Jokela High School Massacre.
Targets: Jokelan Lukio (High School Of Jokela), students and faculty, society, humanity, human race.
Date: 11/7/2007.
Attack Type: Mass murder, political terrorism (altough I choosed the school as target, my motives for the attack are political and much much deeper and therefore I don't want this to be called only as "school shooting").
Location: Jokela, Tuusula, Finland.
Perpetrator's name: Pekka-Eric Auvinen (aka NaturalSelector89, Natural Selector, Sturmgeist89 and Sturmgeist). I also use pseydonym Eric von Auffoin internationally.
Weapons: Semi-automatic .22 Sig Sauer Mosquito pistol.
His motives, of course, were not "much much deeper." He's an alienated loser lashing out. He also wrote out a list of what he hated and loved.
What do I hate / What I don't like?
Equality, tolerance, human rights, political correctness, hypocrisy, ignorance, enslaving religions and ideologies, antidepressants, TV soap operas & drama shows, rap -music, mass media, censorship, political populists, religious fanatics, moral majority, totalitarianism, consumerism, democracy, pacifism, state mafia, alcholohics, TV commercials, human race.Mitä rakastan / mistä pidän?
Eksistentialismi, itsetietoisuus, vapaus, oikeus, totuus, moraali- ja yhteiskuntafilosofia, persoonallisuus- ja sosiaalipsykologia, evoluutiotiede, poliittinen epäkorrektius, aseet, ampuminen, naisten alistaminen, BDSM, tietokoneet, internet, nopea ja aggressiivinen elektroninen sekä industrial rock- ja metallimusiikki, väkivaltaiset elokuvat, FPS -tietokonepelit, sarkasmi, ironia, musta huumori, makaaberi taide, massa- ja sarjamurhaajatapaukset, luonnonkatastrofit, eugeniikka
I assume the last part in Finnish is his list of things he likes (any Finns want to translate?), most of which I can't understand, but it looks like "eugenics" is one of them.
He had a number of youtube videos up, glorifying guns and violence — his account has since been suspended. There is one video that consists of a view of Jokela High School that transitions to a photo of himself (presumably) with a gun. He characterizes himself as a "cynical existentialist, antihuman humanist, antisocial socialdarwinist, realistic idealist and godlike atheist." I think he was a narcissistic ass.
Natural Selector's Manifesto
How Did Natural Selection Turn Into Idiocratic Selection?
Today the process of natural selection is totally misguided. It has reversed. Human race has been devolving very long time for now. Retarded and stupid , weak-minded people are reproducing more and faster than the intelligent, strong-minded people. Laws protect the retarded majority which selects the leaders of society. Modern human race has not only betrayed its ancestors, but the future generations too. Homo Sapiens, HAH! It is more like a Homo Idioticus to me! When I look at people I see every day in society, school and everywhere... I can't say I belong to same race as the lousy, miserable, arrogant, selfish human race! No! I have evolved one step above!
Naturality has been discriminated through religions, ideologies, laws and other mass delusion systems. Individual, who is going through his/hers natural power process and trying to live naturally, but is being told that the way he acts or thinks is wrong and stupid, will usually have some reactions which might be considered as "psychological disorders" by the establishment. In reality they are just natural reactions to the disruption of natural power process. They will have some of the following (depending on individual's personality): feelings of inferiority / superiority, hostility, aggression, frustration, depression, self-hatred / hatred towards other people, suicidal / homicidal thought etc... and it is completely normal.
Humans are just a species among other animals and world does not exist only for humans. Death and killing is not a tragedy, it happens in nature all the time between all species. Not all human lives are important or worth saving. Only superior (intelligent, self-aware, strong-minded) individuals should survive while inferior (stupid, retarded, weak-minded masses) should perish.
There is also another solution to the problem: stupid people as slaves and intelligent people as free. What I mean is that they who have free minds, are capable of intelligent existential and philosophical thinking and know what justice is, should be free and rulers... and the robotic masses, they can be slaves since they do not mind it now either and because their minds are on so retarded level. The gangsters that now rule societies, would of course get what they deserve.
Of course there is a final solution too: death of entire human race. It would solve every problem of humanity. The faster human race is wiped out from this planet, the better... no one should be left alive. I have no mercy for the scum of earth, the pathetic human race.
Collective Deindividualization: Totalitarianism & Delusions Of Democracy
Collective deindividualization is a phenomenon where individual will be trained as part of the mindless herd controlled by state, corporation, church or some other organization, group, ideology, religion or mass delusion system and adopt it's rules, morality and codes of conduct. This phenomenon has been familiar in all despotic, authoritarian, totalitarian, monarchist, communist, socialist, nazi, fascist and religious societies troughout history. Also, the modern western democratic republics have the same phenomenon. It is just done so that people will think they are free and don't realize they are being enslaved. Majority of people in society are weak-minded and ignorant retards, masses that act like programmed robots and accept voluntarily slavery. But not me! I am self-aware and realize what is going on in society! I have a free mind! And I choose to be free rather than live like a robot or slave. You can say I have a "god complex", sure... then you have a "group complex"! Compared to you retarded masses, I am actually godlike.
Totalitarian governments rule people through education system, consumerism, mass media, monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force (police, military) and laws discriminating people who think differently than the majority. Democracy... you think democracy means freedom and justice? You are wrong. Democracy is a dictatorship of the moral majority... and the majority is manipulated and ruled by the state mafia. Modern western democracy has nothing to do with freedom or justice; it is totalitarian and corrupted system. Laws are made over the heads of the people and people are being brainwashed to support the system and connected to the institutional structures immediately after their birth. Societies are being ruled by manipulative and charismatic politicians who only care about the interests of majority, and who do not base their decisions on reason but emotions and feelings of the masses. These masses let the authorities of state to make all the important decisions for them. The masses will get an education, they study, get a job, go to work and vote in elections. They think they are free and don't criticise or question the system. They have become robots. It is like a constructed mechanism in mind, that leaves little choice for an individual to think, talk and act independently.
Three Kinds Of Humans
There are three kinds of human personality types in this world:
1) individualistic human (3% of the world population)
2) manipulative human (3% of the world population)
3) mass human (94% of the world population)#1 & #2 type of personalities are intelligent, creative and self-aware. They have chosen bit different paths paths. #3 type of personalities are less intelligent and less creative, weak-minded people controlled by #2 type of personalities. The percentages are only estimations though but are based on Gaussian distribution and history of human race and how humans have organized into societies. And this is the way it has always been ever since humans started to organize into communities.
Another way how to divide people is bit different but is based on the same facts, human nature and history. The division is based on the level of intelligence and quality of mentality:
1) intelligent (3% of the world population)
2) slightly retarded, so called "normal people" or "robots" (94% of the world population)
3) highly retarded, "vegetables" (3% of the world population)Total War Against Humanity
Hate, Im so full of it and I love it. That is one thing I really love. Some time ago, I used to believe in humanity and I wanted to live a long and happy life... but then I woke up. I started to think deeper and realized things. But it was not easy to become existential... knowing as much as I know has made me unhappy, frustrated and angry. I just can't be happy in the society or the reality I live. Due to long process of existential thinking, observing the society I live and some other things happened in my life... I have come to the point where I feel nothing but hate against humanity and human race.
Life is just a meaningless coincidence... result of long process of evolution and many several factors, causes and effects. However, life is also something that an individual wants and determines it to be. And I'm the dictator and god of my own life. And me, I have chosen my way. I am prepared to fight and die for my cause. I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection.
You might ask yourselves, why did I do this and what do I want. Well, most of you are too arrogant and closed-minded to understand... You will proprably say me that I am "insane", "crazy", "psychopath", "criminal" or crap like that. No, the truth is that I am just an animl, a human, an individual, a dissident.
I have had enough. I don't want to be part of this fucked up society. Like some other wise people have said in the past, human race is not worth fighting for or saving... only worth killing. But... When my enemies will run and hide in fear when mentioning my name... When the gangsters of the corrupted governments have been shot in the streets... When the rule of idioracy and the democratic system has been replaced with justice... When intelligent people are finally free and rule the society instead of the idiocratic rule of majority... In that great day of deliverance, you will know what I want.
Long live the revolution... revolution against the system, which enslaves not only the majority of weak-minded masses but also the small minority of strong-minded and intelligent individuals! If we want to live in a different world, we must act. We must rise against the enslaving, corrupted and totalitarian regimes and overthrow the tyrants, gangsters and the rule of idiocracy. I can't alone change much but hopefully my actions will inspire all the intelligent people of the world and start some sort of revolution against the current systems. The system discriminating naturality and justice, is my enemy. The people living in the world of delusion and supporting this system are my enemies.
I am ready to die for a cause I know is right, just and true... even if I would lose or the battle would be only remembered as evil... I will rather fight and die than live a long and unhappy life.
And remember that this is my war, my ideas and my plans. Don't blame anyone else for my actions than myself. Don't blame my parents or my friends. I told nobody about my plans and I always kept them inside my mind only. Don't blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the games I play or the books I read. No, they had nothing to do with this. This is my war: one man war against humanity, governments and weak-minded masses of the world! No mercy for the scum of the earth! HUMANITY IS OVERRATED! It's time to put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!
Justice renders to everyone his due.
- Pekka-Eric Auvinen (aka NaturalSelector89, Natural Selector, Sturmgeist89 and Sturmgeist).
I also use pseydonym Eric von Auffoin internationally.
This vile little shit is not representative of either atheist or biological thought; his babbling about devolution and the meaninglessness of killing and his status as a more highly evolved individual are complete nonsense, the product of a deranged mind trying to rationalize his own hatred and egotism. His plans are incoherent — he wants both the extermination of the human race and for a revolution that will see him as a hero. His words and actions reveal him to be that which he denies: "insane", "crazy", "psychopath", "criminal", and what may hurt him even worse, ignorant and stupid.
It's not clear yet whether he has been arrested or is among the dead. Uncharitable as it is, I hope it's the latter, and I hope he suffered horribly. I only wish he'd merely ended his own life without trying to drag others down with him.
Politics
Comments
Crazy nut! And now the Creo folks will have friggin' ammunition!
Posted by: Coturnix | November 7, 2007 11:10 AM
This guy is just full of bogeymen for the wingnuts! Not just eugenics and his distorted views of biology, but existentialism and BDSM. Using my advanced powers of ESP, I can sense Dennis Prager and the rest of the wackos drawing the dots for their crowd. ;-)
Oh, and the anti-gun writers doing the same.
Posted by: Russell | November 7, 2007 11:11 AM
I'm short, slow, and extremely nearsighted. My hearing is only so-so and I don't smell so good. On the African savannah 50,000 years ago, I'd be dead meat -- literally. I suppose my continued existence counts as de-evolution. On the other hand, I don't live on the African savannah of 50,000 years ago. My environment includes opticians and lots of sedentary ways to make a living. I'm quite well-adapted to that environment, thank you.
Posted by: CJColucci | November 7, 2007 11:12 AM
Batshit crazy.
Posted by: Retired Catholic | November 7, 2007 11:15 AM
Good grief!
Perhaps the fact that "antidepressants" are on his hate list has more than a little to do with it...
Posted by: Dunc | November 7, 2007 11:18 AM
Unfortunately they'll focus on the eugenics crap, but this guy was an equal opportunity bigot. I'm sure Dinesh will have his own psychotic ramblings to add injury to insult.
Posted by: Danley | November 7, 2007 11:20 AM
A friend of mine translated:
Existentialism, self knowledge, freedom, justice, truth, moral and communal philosophy, personality and social phsychology, evolution science, political incorrectness, guns, shooting, subjugating women, BDSM, computers, Internet, fast and aggressive electronic and industrial rock- and metal music, violent movies, FPS-games, sarcasm, irony, black humour, macabre art, mass- and serial murder cases, natural disasters, eugenics
Posted by: Nerull | November 7, 2007 11:21 AM
Possibly a real norse berserker, but a bit too much ranting, methinks. And no battle.
Posted by: jdw | November 7, 2007 11:21 AM
This is going to be all over the US news, and here's a prediction: they're going to dwell on the fact that he's a "Darwinist". I'm sure Ben Stein will bring it up in his next interview.
Funny, though, how when the Virginia Tech killer's motivations were found out to be Christian, the coverage didn't mention that at all (that I remember).
Posted by: BigHeathenMike | November 7, 2007 11:22 AM
Great. He included first person shooters among his 'likes'. Jack Thompson is going to be all over this, too.
Posted by: LM | November 7, 2007 11:28 AM
A couple points that I've made in the past with creationists claiming that school shooters were following evolution's call:
1. Human actions produce artificial selection, technically. So calling oneself "Natural Selector" demonstrates a lack of understanding.
2. Mass murder will either get you killed or sent to jail for the rest of your life. Neither of which is going to increase your reproductive fitness.
3. Teenage suicide is not a reproductive strategy.
Posted by: Reed A. Cartwright | November 7, 2007 11:29 AM
Oh, no. This reminds me of when the DC snipers were caught. A black friend said her heart sank when she saw they were black. Obviously this guy is just a nutcase.
Posted by: Lana | November 7, 2007 11:29 AM
People prone to shooting other people up in the name of artificial selection against one's own species are highly likely to get themselves killed.
Therefore, natural selection strongly favors people who don't go on killing sprees. Lesson natural selection teaches us from this horror and similar ones: Being non-violent is good. Being violent will get you killed by violence.
Posted by: Bronze Dog | November 7, 2007 11:31 AM
BigHeathenMike, I never heard that about the Virginia Tech murders -- now I am curious. Can you provide details and sources?
Posted by: Petter Häggholm | November 7, 2007 11:34 AM
The press doesn't care about "Darwinists". He was into first person shooter games if Nerull's friend is correct. That is all anyone needs to hear to lay blame. Ben Stein may bring it up, but the press is going to focus on the games. Video game violence is a really hot topic right now, it's guaranteed to sell newspapers. Rants about evolution working backwards is not a hot topic and most people would probably care less. It is too complicated of an issue, a guy playing violent video games and then carrying out the violence in real life is much simpler and easier to understand and fits much nicer in a soundbyte.
Posted by: TheBlackCat | November 7, 2007 11:34 AM
Recalibrate your irony meters, because the same folks who whinge that one can't judge religion by its extremists are going to be all the fuck over this guy.
Posted by: Rey Fox | November 7, 2007 11:35 AM
Sad story.
"Individual . . . will usually have some reactions which might be considered as "psychological disorders" by the establishment. . . You will proprably say me that I am "insane", "crazy", "psychopath", "criminal"."
Yup.
"What do I hate? Equality, tolerance, human rights ... enslaving religions and ideologies, religious fanatics.
Has this loony never understood that opposites don't belong together?
Of course, many religionists will embrace this piece of tripe as 'proving' their contention that all atheists are villains. How some of them do love absolutes.
Posted by: salient | November 7, 2007 11:35 AM
Let's see, who misunderstands evolutionary biology, and misapplies it? This guy in Finland, and creationists.
It's not evolution that's the problem. It's ignorant and self-righteous people misusing evolution--that's the problem.
Posted by: The Professor | November 7, 2007 11:37 AM
{sigh number 1}
I feel terrible for those poor families and people in Finland who have suffered at the hands of this person. My thoughts are with them.
{sigh number 2}
I feel terrible that this chap was obviously unhappy and unwell and felt he had no recourse to more sociable means to express himself and break what would appear to be a cycle of depression.
{sigh number 3}
I await the cawing of the usual religious crows about this young man's very confused and conflicting ideologies.
Some days the world is a very sad place. Happily, other days there's ice cream!
Louis
Posted by: Louis | November 7, 2007 11:39 AM
@Peter:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/06/jesus_made_him_do_it.php
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061801732.html?hpid=topnews
Posted by: TheBlackCat | November 7, 2007 11:40 AM
this is insane. No other name for it fits. Insane. not even evil or monstruous. Insane. As if the reality I was used to, were slowly blending with a surreal horror story.
Sad fact is, that here in europe many people *really* believe that crap. When I was first time confronted by fundamentalist image of "amoral monster darwinists" I laughed at them and told them that this fairytale creture exists only in their paranoid fantasy.
Then I found out that MANY of the people I believed to be my fellow atheists, really DO believe such ideas. Diluted and watered down to, besure, rarely said explicitely, and of course not turned into actual artrocities.
But this sort of "no god=>no morality, evolution=>dog should eat dog" social darwinism is too common, at least where I live, to be dismissed as singular cases of madness.
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 11:43 AM
Goddamnit! I share more than half of his likes! Are they going to try to ban metal and FPS games yet again?
On the other hand, he hates democracy, so, who knows? Maybe they'll try to bring that back...
Posted by: Valhar2000 | November 7, 2007 11:50 AM
Well, the fundies are still ahead on the death counts. Seung Cho was from a fundamentalist Xian background. But really, he and the Finnish guy are just crazy.
Posted by: raven | November 7, 2007 11:50 AM
Truly a tragedy.
Also, unfortunately as has been pointed out, we're going to see idiots point to this as "proof" of the evils of Darwin. Generally these same morons would also argue that the VA-Tech shooting was also "proof" of the evils of Darwin.
For these folks the logic is simple, when non-Christians do bad things, it's proof that Christianity is good, when Christians do bad things, it's proof that Christianity is good.
Posted by: dogmeatib | November 7, 2007 11:52 AM
Alas, this sort of thing doesn't totally surprise me. Finns are great people, but this is the dark side of all the jokes about their silence.
All the comments about him just being crazy are simplistic. Just saying "he was nuts" is an easy non-explanation - it's as useful as "it was God's will". There will be a lot of soul-searching in Finland over why this happened.
My sympathies, of course, are with the families and friends of the victims.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | November 7, 2007 11:52 AM
They are crazy, I agree, but we can't continue to deny that something is very wrong with our societies which is causing people to kill. I'm not saying I sympathize with him entirely, but I also don't think we should just ignore this problem. It's easy to write them off as nuts, but look deeper.
Posted by: Kcanadensis | November 7, 2007 11:53 AM
T_U_T, where do you live?
Posted by: Valhar2000 | November 7, 2007 11:54 AM
But not for the teaching of evolution. I think it's probably more that we're cultivating sociopaths who run around with a sense of entitlement, and they're creating their own interpretation of science as a post hoc justification for their sociopathic behavior.
What we really need to do is stop dismissing all of these shootings with sanctimonious bead-wearing pop-psychologists spouting things about "dark, quiet loners" and really make an effort to understand what causes this. I don't mean to suggest that we try to profile students based on their history of mental health since there is very little in any kind of history that would predict this, and acting as though there is might actually make the problem worse by driving kids who are disturbed over an edge that they might not have gone over if left on their own. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't offer any good advice on what is causing this behavior or how to stop it, but something is clearly wrong and needs to be addressed in a better way than we have been.
Posted by: Dustin | November 7, 2007 11:56 AM
slovakia
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 11:56 AM
So far 8 of the 13 victims are dead. The shooter himself is in critical condition at the hospital. Shot himself to the head.
Turning that finnish part to english:
What do I love / what do I like?
Existentialism, self-assertion, freedom, justice, truth, morale and society philosophy, personality and sociality psychology, evolution science, political grievances, guns, shooting, subjugating women, bdsm, computers, internet, fast and agressive electronic and industrial rock and metal music, violence movies, fps computer games, sarcasm, irony, black/dark humour, macabre art, mass- and serialmurder cases, natural disasters, eugenics
Posted by: Maxx | November 7, 2007 11:58 AM
"The shooter himself is in critical condition at the hospital. Shot himself to the head."
Killing himself before he could reproduce. Real Darwinian of him.
I wish just once they could catch one of these smug assholes and put them in custody. Let 'em think long and hard about what they've done.
Posted by: Rey Fox | November 7, 2007 12:07 PM
The latest word on the perpetrator is that he's hospitalized for self-inflicted gunshot wounds and has a low chance of survival. A tiny part of me is overjoyed at this.
A larger part of me is aghast, as my mother is a viceprincipal of a large school and has had her share of troubled students.
Posted by: Sampo Rassi | November 7, 2007 12:07 PM
Well let's keep it simple: killing people is artificial selection. A disease that wipes out a population lacking necessary adaptations to fight it is natural selection. A bullet is artificial.
He also goes on and on about how stupid people don't deserve to live. Well, you don't get to determine the adaptations that you think are beneficial. Again, natural selection means the environment determines which individuals are suited to living in it.
Obviously this little shit is deeply disturbed. And he's an idiot, too. When mental illness meets stupidity and a sense of entitlement (c.f. Dostoevsky's "extraordinary man" theory from Crime and Punishment; if you don't remember, ask a high school student) tragedy ensues. I mean, just look at what's infesting the White House right now.
Posted by: Alex | November 7, 2007 12:08 PM
Alez wrote
"Well let's keep it simple: killing people is artificial selection. A disease that wipes out a population lacking necessary adaptations to fight it is natural selection. A bullet is artificial."
The "artificial" part of artificial selection does not refer to an artifact, like a bullet. It means that humans are doing the selection for traits of interest to humans. IEA, this sad event is in no way selection, artificial or not.
Posted by: shiftlessbum | November 7, 2007 12:18 PM
Watch the videos made by this serial killer:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=90d_1194444897
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=369_1194449557
This is what he writes about himself:
-------
Name: Pekka-Eric Auvinen
Age: 18
Male from Finland.
I am a cynical existentialist, antihuman
humanist, antisocial socialdarwinist, realistic
idealist and godlike atheist.
SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM! JUSTITIA SUUM
CUIQUE DISTRIBUIT! SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!
I am prepared to fight and die for my cause.
I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I
see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of
natural selection.
You might ask yourselves, why did I do this
and what do I want. Well, most of you are too
arrogant and closed-minded to understand%u2026 You
will proprably say me that I am%u201Dinsane%u201D,
%u201Ccrazy%u201D, %u201Cpsychopath%u201D,
%u201Ccriminal%u201D or crap like that. No, the
truth is that I am just an animl, a human, an
individual, a dissident.
I have had enough. I don%u2019t want to be
part of this ****ed up society. Like some other
wise people have said in the past, human race is
not worth fighting for or saving%u2026 only worth
killing. But%u2026 When my enemies will run and
hide in fear when mentioning my name%u2026 When
the gangsters of the corrupted governments have
been shot in the streets%u2026 When the rule of
idioracy and the democratic system has been
replaced with justice%u2026 When intelligent
people are finally free and rule the society
instead of the idiocratic rule of majority%u2026
In that great day of deliverance, you will know
what I want.
Long live the revolution%u2026 revolution
against the system, which enslaves not only the
majority of weak-minded masses but also the small
minority of strong-minded and intelligent
individuals! If we want to live in a different
world, we must act. We must rise against the
enslaving, corrupted and totalitarian regimes and
overthrow the tyrants, gangsters and the rule of
idiocracy. I can%u2019t alone change much but
hopefully my actions will inspire all the
intelligent people of the world and start some
sort of revolution against the current systems.
The system discriminating naturality and justice,
is my enemy. The people living in the world of
delusion and supporting this system are my
enemies.
I am ready to die for a cause I know is right,
just and true%u2026 even if I would lose or the
battle would be only remembered as evil%u2026 I
will rather fight and die than live a long and
unhappy life.
And remember that this is my war, my ideas and
my plans. Don%u2019t blame anyone else for my
actions than myself. Don%u2019t blame my parents
or my friends. I told nobody about my plans and I
always kept them inside my mind only. Don%u2019t
blame the movies I see, the music I hear, the
games I play or the books I read. No, they had
nothing to do with this. This is my war: one man
war against humanity, governments and weak-minded
masses of the world! No mercy for the scum of the
earth! HUMANITY IS OVERRATED! It%u2019s time to
put NATURAL SELECTION & SURVIVAL OF THE
FITTEST back on tracks!
Justice renders to everyone his due.
Country: Finland
Occupation: Unemployed Philosopher, Outcast
Companies: Human Race (evolved one step above
though)
Interests and Hobbies: Existentialism,
Freedom, Truth, Misantrophy, Social / Personality
Psychology, Evolution Science, Political
Incorrectness, Women, BDSM, Guns (I love you
Catherine), Shooting, Computer Games, Sarcasm,
Irony, Mass / Serial Killers, Macabre Art, Black
Comedy, Absurdism
Movies and Shows: The Matrix, A View To A
Kill, Falling Down, Natural Born Killers,
Reservoir Dogs, Last Man Standing, Full Metal
Jacket, Dr. Butcher MD (aka Zombie Holocaust), Saw
1-3, Lord Of War, The Deer Hunter, True Romance,
The Untouchables, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later,
Idiocracy, They Live, Apocalypse Now, End Of Days,
The Shining, The Dead Zone, Dr. Strangelove, House
MD (TV), Monty Python, TV Documentaries Relating
To History
Music: KMFDM, Rammstein, Eisbrecher, Nine Inch
Nails, Grendel, Impaled Nazarene, Macabre,
Deathstars, The Prodigy, Combichrist, Godsmack,
Slayer, Children Of Bodom, Alice Cooper,
Sturmgeist, Suicide Commando, Hatebreed,
Suffocation, Terrorizer
Books: Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury), 1984
(Orwell), Brave New World (Huxley), The Republic
(Plato), all works of Nietzsche
-----
Posted by: Faust arp | November 7, 2007 12:19 PM
The tone of those writings really is completely incoherent, speaking of glorious revolution and human extinction as if the two weren't contradictory at all
Posted by: Sampo Rassi | November 7, 2007 12:21 PM
How come these nihilistic guys, who ostensibly want to improve the human condition, never decide to go out and kill the truly evil and powerful?
No, the little cowards always slaughter innocent school children.
Posted by: Gingerbaker | November 7, 2007 12:21 PM
Don't forget the school principal, who probably never did anything more severe to him than issue a reprimand for carrying "Mein Kampf" in his bag.
Posted by: Sampo Rassi | November 7, 2007 12:24 PM
Again, natural selection means the environment determines which individuals are suited to living in it.
It's a matter of perspective. We are a part of nature, therefore we are the environment and we are natural. In fact, everything that is, is natural. If someone kills someone else, that is natural selection, in the same way that natural selection might kill a weaker walrus in a battle for male dominance.
Posted by: er | November 7, 2007 12:24 PM
http://jokela1.blogspot.com for links to the material that this sick fuck released (the deleted youtube videos, the .zip file etc)
Posted by: nakkerton | November 7, 2007 12:25 PM
How come these nihilistic guys, who ostensibly want to improve the human condition, never decide to go out and kill the truly evil and powerful?
An interesting question. Some freaks kill their schoolmates, some freaks kill celebrities or politicians ( amazingly, always the better ones ).
Has there been any nut who killed a worse monster than himself ?
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 12:32 PM
"Humans are just a species among other animals and world does not exist only for humans. Death and killing is not a tragedy, it happens in nature all the time between all species. Not all human lives are important or worth saving. Only superior (intelligent, self-aware, strong-minded) individuals should survive while inferior (stupid, retarded, weak-minded masses) should perish."
There are going to have a hard time pinning this on "Darwinist". This is exactly what Bill O'Really, Flush Windblow and Glenn Beck have been calling for when it come to Iraq. This is a typical right-wing position.
Posted by: Steverino | November 7, 2007 12:32 PM
How come these nihilistic guys, who ostensibly want to improve the human condition, never decide to go out and kill the truly evil and powerful?
An interesting question. Some freaks kill their schoolmates, some freaks kill celebrities or politicians ( amazingly, always the better ones ).
Has there been any nut who killed a worse monster than himself ?
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 12:33 PM
For these folks the logic is simple, when non-Christians do bad things, it's proof that Christianity is good, when Christians do bad things, it's proof that Christianity is good.
You're right to a point, but "these folks" include both Christians and non-Christians alike. Note what PZ wrote in response to the Virginia Tech shootings:
"I predict that, just like Tim McVeigh is conveniently forgotten when it's time to characterize terrorists as brown and muslim, Cho will be forgotten when it's expedient to pretend Christianity is a religion of peace and love."
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/06/jesus_made_him_do_it.php
You can't have it both ways and be intellectually honest. Either Christianity and evolution were both causes of nutcase violence or they both weren't. I'm inclined toward the latter, nutcase dogmatists on both sides notwithstanding.
Posted by: Sinbad | November 7, 2007 12:40 PM
http://www.hs.fi/english/
Posted by: Maxx | November 7, 2007 12:41 PM
#37 wrote: "How come these nihilistic guys, who ostensibly want to improve the human condition, never decide to go out and kill the truly evil and powerful?"
Because the killings are never really about the 'betterment' of society as they often like to claim -- the killers are really demonstrating their own 'power' by picking on people who are defenseless or at least peaceful.
In other words, they're cowards.
If #7's translation is correct, this asshole included 'subjugating women' as one of his likes.
Posted by: gg | November 7, 2007 12:44 PM
As a Christian, I strongly agree with the sentiment expressed here that this tragedy is the result of a deranged individual, and not a consequence of whatever view or theory he decided to co-opt for his purposes.
And I don't blame your for lamenting the fact that some pin-headed religious types will try to manufacture a political advantage from the situation.
However--there is a certain pot-kettle-black aspect to this. On PT for sure, and perhaps on this blog, when I have pointed out that people like Fred Phelps co-opt (as opposed to represent) Christianity for their own sick agenda I get pummeled with charges of "True Scotsman" fallacy.
The simple truth is that whackos will use whatever is convenient to justify their actions. Some Christians will forget that in this case, and some of you will forget it the next time Phelps does something hideous or some screwball blows up an abortion clinic.
Posted by: heddle | November 7, 2007 12:44 PM
For those who want to get more local updates in Englsh, there is more on YLE and Helsingin sanomat.
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | November 7, 2007 12:45 PM
Heddle; word.
Posted by: shiftlessbum | November 7, 2007 12:46 PM
This is a typical right-wing position.
Rings true to me. I think anyone in the secular right who is able to think her position really through, has to embrace this kind of social darwinistic crap.
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 12:46 PM
Members of what I call the 'Columbine Cult' tend to profess to be quasi-Nietzschean Social Darwnists who imagine themselves to be some kind of supermen, probably to compensate for the fact that they are total losers. Harris wore a T-shirt with the words "Natural Selection" during the killings. The Columbine Cult's misanthropic pseudo-naturalistic ethos is reminiscent of Leopold and Loeb's weird interpretation of Nietzsche.
Other characteristics of these killers, some shared and some unique to each case, are simply a function of their being young males. While a Marilyn Manson connection was initially asserted, this turned out not to be the case. Klebold and Harris were fans of KMFDM and Rammstein. Gill's dislikes included Republicans and jocks, and his likes included V For Vendetta (well, it does glorify a terrorist) and Jon Stewart. Cho, Virginia Tech killer, was a U2 fan, as was the 'My Sister Sam' murderer. Doesn't mean that U2 is evil.
Posted by: Colugo | November 7, 2007 12:50 PM
Sounds like Nietzsche went to his head.
Posted by: Mike P | November 7, 2007 12:51 PM
From what I could make out of the finish list of likes included Existentialism, industrial music, the aforementioned eugenics and irony... strange duck. But I'm sure that the media will harp on these and in order of importance:
1. Evolution
2. Atheism
3. Industrial music
Because nothing goes better with angst than Marilyn Manson (or his obnoxious Finnish cousin).
Posted by: Keith | November 7, 2007 12:55 PM
Let's make a deal with theists:
We won't blame all of Christianity, or Islam, or whatever, for every atrocity committed by theists. In return, they won't blame atheism and evolutionary theory for the crimes of this maniac and those like him.
Rather, we will blame militant Islam (Deobandism, Khomeinism, Qutbism...) or militant Chrisitianity (Christian Identity, Iron Guard...), etc. for the crimes of the former and 'militant Social Darwinism' or 'Nietzschean pseudo-evolutionism', or whatever you want to call it, for the crimes of the latter.
Sound fair?
Posted by: Colugo | November 7, 2007 12:57 PM
Either Christianity and evolution were both causes of nutcase violence or they both weren't.
Wrong. This madman's ideas about evolution were so throughoutly distorted that they bear no similarity to the real thing. If you were to say the same about "christian" killers, you would have to show that the real christian belief system is completely different to beliefs of the killer.
It is very easily done with evolution, because it is a solid scientific theory. However, how would you do it with a religion ?
Posted by: T_U_T | November 7, 2007 12:59 PM
PZ's point, is that christians like to pretend they never do wrong, because of their religion.
Yes Cho was a nut job. But he was also heavily indoctrinated into christianity. He may have even been emotionally neglected because of it... why seek treatment when a little prayer should suffice.
Posted by: Stevie_C | November 7, 2007 1:00 PM
That ranks pretty high on the timecube-o-meter.
Posted by: Mike | November 7, 2007 1:06 PM
I'm going to be politically incorrect and say that this guy was indeed motivated by his understanding of evolution, as well as the various philosophies he mentinoned. Why? Well, because that's what he says motivated him. Why wouldn't we take him at his word? When Muslim suicide bombers say they're willing to kill civilians to protect Islam or in the name of Allah, we take them at their word, so why wouldn't we do the same in this case?
Does this mean that evolution is just as bad as Christianity and Islam in this regard? Of course not, there are two things that make it very different.
First, evolution is true. This may sound strange, but I think that if a claim about reality is true, the people who make its truth known are automatically absolved of any blame for the evils that the claim might inspire certain people to do. For example, the claim that the Judeo-Christian God exists and will send all unbelievers to Hell has certainly motivated many Christians to commit acts of unspeakable evil: After all, as I've heard Sam Harris say once, if you believe that your child will be tortured for all eternity if your atheist neighbor convinces him or her that there is no God, it's a perfectly rational action to wish to kill the atheist ASAP. This alone is a perfectly good reason to want to get rid of the meme of Christianity and to blame those who promote Christianity for the evil it inspires.
However, this presumes that Christianity is false. If there were conclusive evidence that the Judeo-Christian God exists and that all unbelievers will go to Hell, no one would blame Christians for promoting and propagating the truth.
Therefore, in all but exceptional cases, the truth of a claim takes precedence over the negative consequences the spreading of this claim might have.
Second, what apparently motivated the killer is social Darwinism, not evolution as such, and as much as social Darwinists would like to believe otherwise, evolution doesn't lead to any moral (or anti-moral) precepts, no more than believing in gravity should lead anyone to believe that we should all go around and pull people down, or something. There is nothing about the description of reality that is the theory of evolution that says, "You should do _this_", or "This kind of behavior is morally wrong". Whereas religions do make these kinds of statements. Islam does say that Muslims should murder apostates, Christianity does say that homosexuality is an abomination, etc.
Posted by: Janus | November 7, 2007 1:18 PM
heddle, your sentiment is very understandable, and I'm sure that none of us (or at least mercifully few of us) think that being Christian necessarily means that you are a bad person. (It means, in our view, that you are wrong and could benefit from some more critical thinking and education, but hey, even very smart people are sometimes wrong; Einstein was wrong, Hawking was wrong; possibly, even I have been wrong at some point.)
However, the atheist's tendency to collect a scrap-book of ecclesiastical wrongs is, I think, more often a defence mechanism than a real desire to go on the offensive; a counter-argument more than an argument. How often have you heard theists claim that atheists are immoral, that God and God alone makes you good? How can we respond to the claim that godliness equals goodness, unless by pointing out instances--and there are many, alas--of godly people doing evil?
Of course it is easy to over-generalise (Many Christians are evil does not imply All Christians are evil), and the proportions of theists to atheists in fora like this comment section probably make it seem a bit off, but consider the ratio of theists to atheists in Western society at large and it's probably obvious why atheists, for better or worse, often start off in a default position of defensive and counter-attack.
Posted by: Petter Häggholm | November 7, 2007 1:18 PM
This slimeball's ranting are a real grab-bag of themes. Right wing elitist notions of the herdlike majority and a small minority of oppressed superior humans (see: The Fountainhead). Left wing arguments that modern Western democracy is really totalitarian because the masses are ideologically manipulated. The movie 'Idiocracy.' Total megalomania claiming to represent atheism and naturalism. His sources, distorted by his sick overarching worldview, are not to blame; they are merely rationalizations for his psychopathy. I suspect that he had a massive a nervous breakdown, perhaps due to organic causes, which he attempted to intellectually rationalize from whatever bits and pieces he could assemble.
Posted by: Colugo | November 7, 2007 1:19 PM
First off, condolences and empathy to the victims (not just the individuals wounded/killed of course).
Well, I would argue Dawkins got his answer to "name someone who has killed in the name of atheism". Yeah, this guy was a psychotic fringe extremist, but that is the fundamentalist fringe for atheists. We have to just deal with it. I would still argue that religious justifications for psychotic / sociopathic behaviour are much more common, but every community of sufficient size has pathological cases.
The argument that he has/had a warped view of evolution is true enough of course. Ignoring the evolutionary origins of sociality and 'collectivism' while trying to reshape the species by sacrificing himself... just a small bit of inconsistency out of the steaming pile. However, most religious people argue that psychos who kill in the name of 'their religion' get the message all wrong too. Of course, with religion, there is no objective reality to check the message against, so 'misinterpretation' is a weak claim.
Most strikingly to me, I can't believe the words 'objectivist' and/or 'collectivist' didn't appear in the manifesto (though 'collective' is used derisively). This reads so much like the ranting of a 16 year old boy who has just read Rand and Niztche (or a stereotypical American CEO, which is someone who never got past that point mentally).
This should serve as a little wake-up call for the freethinking community IMO. We need to be wary of aligning (even just tactically) with 'objectivists'. It is a devils-bargin, since their philosophy (to be overly kind) is antithetical to the morality I presume most of us share. The proposition that non-sociopathic humans have an intrinsic (and proper) morality (reinforced by a good society) is not one they share. This can not only leads to small tragedies, but to co-opting the entire community by cynical manipulator. though freethinkers are intrinsically less susceptible than religious types and right-wingers, it would be foolishly arrogant to not learn the lesson they show us and assume our community immune.
Mild elitists (like myself) with libertarian tendencies are not uncommon amoung freethinkers, and we need to be especially mindful of the potential extremists. Doubly bad for me that I actually believe that eugenics (in a very different, voluntary form) is a moral good. Somewhat arrogantly taking it upon myself, I offer an unconditional denunciation of this murderer. He does not act in my name and his 'philosophy' is not a logical extension of mine.
PS: A side word on eugenics... It is my opinion (reasoned to the extent of my faculties), that knowingly passing on (or taking significant risk of passing on) clearly detrimental disorders is morally reprehensible. It is not within any persons ken to say which inherited traits are 'best', much less best for all, but any reasonable person can and should be recognize clearly harmful ones. For example, taking a 1 in 4 chance that you will have a child with cystic-fibrosis is morally wrong... find a sperm donor who is not a carrier.
Do not misunderstand me. Forcing selective breeding or sterilization upon fellow humans is an atrocity.
Posted by: travc | November 7, 2007 1:32 PM
Did I miss it or did he indeed endorse no presidential candidate?
Way to go, Finnish asshole...
Posted by: kamenin | November 7, 2007 1:45 PM
No, no, no. You left out a step. When Christians do bad things, it's proof that they're not true Christians, and therefore Christianity is good.
Posted by: Skemono | November 7, 2007 1:47 PM
I am Finnish. And my school is in Hyvinkää. Not many kilometers, actually. (Walking distance.)
I just wait when the noise begins. I must be as bad as this guy. In his "love list" i can count only 14 thing in which i disagree with him..
...
Mitä rakastan / mistä pidän?
Eksistentialismi, itsetietoisuus, vapaus, oikeus, totuus, moraali- ja yhteiskuntafilosofia, persoonallisuus- ja sosiaalipsykologia, evoluutiotiede, poliittinen epäkorrektius, aseet, ampuminen, naisten alistaminen, BDSM, tietokoneet, internet, nopea ja aggressiivinen elektroninen sekä industrial rock- ja metallimusiikki, väkivaltaiset elokuvat, FPS -tietokonepelit, sarkasmi, ironia, musta huumori, makaaberi taide, massa- ja sarjamurhaajatapaukset, luonnonkatastrofit, eugeniikka
-> Translation (poor quality Tuomoh translation, model "lost in translation")
What do i love/ what i like?
existentialism. self -awareness, freedom, justice, truth, moral+society philosophy, personality+social psychology, evolutionary sciences, political uncorrectness, guns, shooting, repressing womans, BDSM, computers, internet, fast and aggressive electronic and industrial rock+metal music, violent movies, FPS -games, sarcasm, irony, black humour, macaber art, massacres and serial killers, natural disasters, eugenics.
Posted by: Tuomo Hämäläinen | November 7, 2007 1:53 PM
The counter-argument that I dreamt up when I first came across this sort of reasoning makes me kind of wish I met in person someone who mis-reasoned from "is" to "ought" thus:
"Do you believe in Darwinism?"
"Well, of course. It's a well-substantiated theory with a preponderance of evidence and great explanatory power. Yes, I believe evolution is real and actually happens."
"Then you must also believe in Social Darwinism, might makes right! You're an awful person."
"Do you believe that death is real and actually happens to people? By that logic…"
Posted by: Petter Häggholm | November 7, 2007 1:57 PM
If #7's translation is correct, this asshole included 'subjugating women' as one of his likes.
It's correct; seems this guy was several flavors of crazy. Why no-one noticed or cared, is a really interesting question. I really hope the christian nuts won't use this to whack you in the US, I very much doubt anyone will dare to utilize this tragedy to their political or ideological ends in Finland.
Posted by: Varjosiili | November 7, 2007 2:02 PM
indeed, which is why i'm not breeding; i'm stopping my type-2 diabetes and myopia both from reproducing.
you're quite right that we can't easily identify "good" genetic traits, but by the same measure, it's not easy to objectively tell what counts as a detrimental trait either. i shan't even mention sickle-cell anemia for now.
(actually, i'm not breeding because i'd make a shitty parent and probably end up bankrupt in short order. but the myopia and near-certain future diabetes aren't exactly fun, either.)
Posted by: Nomen Nescio | November 7, 2007 2:07 PM
School shootings in the US are almost always preceded by threats which nobody takes seriously until it's too late. As for the ideologues, they're positively meniacal about this kind of thing... they get a kind of sadistic glee about tying tragedy to their foes. I promise that by this time tomorrow, D'Souza, Malkin and O'Leary will all h