Elliot Rogers, The Killer and The Manifesto

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Recall: A killing spree was perpetrated on May 23, 2014, in Isla Vista, California, near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara, by 22-year-old Elliot Rodgers. Rodgers killed six people and injured thirteen others before committing suicide.

I'm raising this thread to discuss the manifesto, which I hadn't seen, as I don't think it was released immediately after the shooting.

I had seen his video, which is one of the most fascinating things I've ever observed.

Then I read some of his manifesto, which is now widely available. Here's a link: http://abclocal.go.com/three/kabc/kabc/ ... -World.pdf

It's a long read, far to long and tedious for me to fully absorb, but I recommend people take a look at it. If for any other reason than to help identify people in pain, like this.

I admit going through a period in my life similar to his, but fortunately I wasn't as shy or sensitive.

Is this really a true autism spectrum disorder, or something else? It seems too easy to label him, without reading part of his manifesto.

The thing, which blows my mind is how does anyone remember this much detail about their life? I cannot imagine recalling this much detail, which perhaps points to the disorder that he obviously had.

My question is, does anyone here have this unique capability? Does this ability to recall one's life in this much detail point to anything in the autism spectrum?

I think it's really bizarre.

Honestly, I have a strange fascination with crime and murder. Does this mean I'm a psychopath? I don't think so. I think it's because I'm the exact opposite so I find it fascinating.

You know, it's really really weird, and frankly the manifesto is boring as hell, so I can't get through it nor do I want to, nor do I really want to understand him. The very pedantic, detailed writing suggests autism. But there are other aspects of it that suggest either a psychotic disorder or sociopathy to me. I don't think we can just put him in a box. I think he felt like he was doing the right thing. And that is what is so frightening about it.

It was released straight away - I think he put it up himself before he went on his spree.

He didn't have autism. He spent many years being assessed by psychiatrists and didn't receive a diagnosis. Source.

I can recall a lot, more than I'd care to.

The manifesto is boring rubbish.

Among other things, and most salient, what he had is a delusional, pathological sense of entitlement.

From what I have seen of his own videos, his primary mode of thought was narcissistic.

Some autistic people may also be narcissists, but narcissism is not a feature of autism.

I also went through a period of extreme alienation and depression as an adolescent.
I also have a very good childhood memory. Memory is a curious thing, though. It's much more flexible than most people realize and long term memories are reinforced periodically as they are revisited and subject to change in that process.

He obviously spent a lot of time ruminating on the ways he felt he had been wronged and all that activity would have tended to reinforce (thought also likely alter) his memories of the many traumatic events and slights he dwells on.

Very sad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnT0CMwBrWs

9:09 Elliot's father states that he has never been formally diagnosed with autism, but that there was a suggestion that he had high functioning Aspergers.

This is a quote from the comments of the link The_Walrus posted:

I can hardly remember what I did yesterday!

So I was pretty amazed how much the dude remembered in his "manifesto", but the thing that stood out the most was when he said that he was walking on campus and a girl was walking towards him, he said "hello" to her and she didn't reply and he apparently got very angry. It had a bizarre connection, in my mind, to the video with the girl walking in New York that was getting catcalls (just seeing that video made me withdraw into my shell much, much more) when a guy called out to her that she should acknowledge when someone was paying her a compliment(!).

I remember a guy that shot up a gym class filled with women; I think I read somewhere that he had either aspergers or autism and he also left behind a manifesto, that was also a pretty fascinating and horrible read ...but clearly some deeper personal problems as well. And there was also a 17 year old guy that killed someone (or himself) because he was a virgin, but that hasn't been talked about much in the media.

And I have neither read much about Elliot Rogers living arrangement at the university town where he was living (and couldn't connect with anyone ...much like myself), but I think it was for autistic students, from what I understood.

All I remember is a video where he said that he was going to shoot good looking people. I don't remember if he was suspected to be on the spectrum, or not. Now I've learned that he carried out the shooting spree. I thought he was a socialpath. I had no idea that he was on the spectrum until today. This is why I feel that school students should be taught to accept neurodiverse people, so stuff like this will be less likely to happen. If kids are bullied enough, they'll eventually do something like this, whether they're autistic or not.

This is proof that too much hate and anger is never good for anyone. This dude Elliot was angry and pissed all of his life because he couldn't get a girlfriend so over time and he started to hate all women and eventually wanted to get retribution. A reason why I think people commit such crimes is because they want to get their anger out in some way. They want others to know that they're angry for how they're being treated and use violence to tell other people this. Because think about it, when you do these things you become sort of well-known, not in a good way of course.

Hate is never good for anyone. Hate and bitterness is like a chain dragging you down and eventually hate kills itself.

As to the above, yes, meds can cause some nasty effects and I do believe they increase the chances of violence in some people.

But you made the decision to stop those meds because you didn't like the way it was affecting you.

The difference between you and a mass murderer is that you didn't like those thoughts, Elliott Rodger did.

I've experienced paranoia, psychosis, mania, depression, substance abuse, you name it, the works. Have I ever wanted to kill anyone? No. I imagine if I experienced severe trauma and abuse, I might want to kill a specific person, but I don't actually think I would. I think I would stop myself. I could be wrong of course.

So mental illness can increase violence in someone who is violent to begin with. But it's not a cause.

^ Who's to say he liked them? If he was forced onto a round of medication, particularly a heavy dose, despite his protests, because his therapists/school/parents 'knew what was best for him,' because he 'wasn't thinking clearly' etc etc...

Eh, I don't know.

The guy was angry. I'm not putting any blame on meds here. That seems irresponsible to me.

It's like blaming alcohol on n alcoholic for beating his wife or heroin on a heroin addict for robbing a bank.

I mean, come on. The guy was angry.

Most of us outgrow the self centered phase of childhood. He never appeared to, which is either indicative of a severe trauma, which he mentions regularly, or a broken stimulus filter.

I see some evidence in his writing of a broken filter, which to me, does point to a form of autism. He was filtering his environment in an odd way, and "filtering" is just another way of describing "experience."

I've also seem people who became friends with their psychologists, and who fail to grow as a direct result. I have a person in my family right now who fell in love with her therapist, and she's still in love with him, years after the therapist wisely ended the relationship. She's stuck too, and it's heartbreaking to see.

He uses the term "playdate," a lot. That's a term I'm unfamiliar with, and I wonder where he got that.

Has anyone else here heard that term used to describe their childhood relationships?

These days, in certain circles, "playdates" are arranged for children's social occasions, unlike in the old days, when kids just made friends on their own. It's usually for "safety reasons."