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Monday, March 30, 2015

Double retraction: I wasn't wrong after all

It now looks as if I wasn't wrong about Germanwings pilot Andreas Lubitz in my original post about him.

He was gay, and he was mocked for it.

14 comments:

Steven said...

Impressive gaydar.

It has also come out that he was taking antidepressants, which may be significant as suicidal thoughts are often a side effect. The media may not report on this.









John Craig said...

Steven --
I'm not so sure that suicidal thoughts are a result of the antidepressants themselves so much as they are of the reason -- depression -- that people take antidepressants in the first place.

Pavonine99 said...

Actually, antidepressants will give even those with depression who are not suicidal suicidal impulses that they wouldn't have otherwise. They are meant to calm you down, but in doing so, they also take away a significant amount of impulse control. This may or may not be the direct cause of Lubitz's actions, but Steven is right-the media tends to downplay "the Prozac factor" if they mention it at all.

John Craig said...

Pavonine --
Thank you, I hadn't realized that. I stand corrected.

Steven --
Sorry, you were right.

Remnant said...

It's looking like a concatecation of dark and negative aspects converging into a singular disaster. It is increasingly looking like ALL of the theories about what might have been the issue are correct:

depression? check
schizophrenia? check
drug reactions / withdrawal due to above? check
girl troubles / beta rage? check
repressed gay feelings of self-hatred? check
self-aggrandizement and general ressentiment? check

Perhaps the only rumor / theory that may not hold water is that he was a recent convert to Islam.

In any event, he is the kind of guy who makes one hope that hell exists. In the grand scheme of things is "problems" were minor, and he has created untold suffering for thousands due to his inability to cope with those minor, private problems.

John Craig said...

Remnant --
You're absolutely right, he was an unholy mix of personal dysfunction. I've heard the schizophrenia theory too, though I'm not sure I buy that. That disease usually has its onset between the ages of 17 and 21, and as far as I know, he hadn't been behaving so weirdly for the past seven or so years as to indicate out and out insanity.

I"d love to think he's spending eternity in hell too, but as a nonreligious guy, the only consolation I can take is that his life on earth was somewhat hellish before he died.

John Craig said...

Remnant --
PS -- You're either a real night owl, or you're on a different time zone, I'm guessing the latter. May I ask what country you live in?

Steven said...

I wouldn't wish anyone eternity in hell. No finite crime deserves infinite punishment. Its not just. And no loving God could ever allow it. That was one of my problems with Christianity when I was younger, and why I prefer the idea of karma.

Plus people being born into vastly different circumstances with one shot at getting themselves into heaven- its not fair. Which is why karma and reincarnation, multiple lives until enlightenment and liberation is a much better paradigm than the judo-Christian one of one life followed by eternity in heaven or hell. That is also less profound as it doesn't involve gaining any fundamental insight into the nature of reality, as in enlightenment. As far as ideas go, I know which set is preferable.

Sorry for the off topic, but there you go.

John Craig said...

Steven --
I'm not sure either Remnant or I was wishing, literally, for him to spend an eternity in hell; it's more just a way of speaking. (And personally for me, since I'm not religious, it's academic anyway.)

But whatever the penalty is for killing 149 innocent people, and sending thousands of their relatives and close friends into paroxysms of grief, Lubitz deserves it.

Remnant said...

Hi, John Craig. You are right: I'm in another time zone. I live in Hong Kong and also travel frequently to China. When I don't follow-up or respond to your responses (or not in a timely way), it is often because in China I am unable to access the site consistently.

Remnant said...

Regarding the schizophrenia point, Half Sigma / Lion of the Blogosphere has had a string of posts arguing for this. I agree with you, and am not entirely convinced by it, since medications that he targets as being associated with schizophrenia may also be used for simple depression, etc. But it is certainly plausible at this point.

John Craig said...

Remnant --
Ah, Hong Kong, most crowded city on earth. Nonetheless, it has a certain romantic allure (at least from a distance).

Don't worry about timeliness, I always appreciate your comments and am not always timely myself.

I guess schizophrenia is possible, but Lubitz gave off the vibe of having more mundane problems, of the type he was evidently mocked for.

Remnant said...

So before, you wondered "Why is this guy posting comments at such godforsaken hours of the night?"

Now you wonder "Why is this guy posting comments during his working day hours?" :)

John Craig said...

Remnant --
Ha, not at all. My first thought was, a night owl, my second was, ah, Australia.