Hmm. Didn't Dexter go that route, though?

Please not to spoil Dexter in-thread without whitefont.

thanks for the warning. we should take that to premium.

I'll add my own personal pet peeve to the genre of excuses for flakiness/creativity/doom...having been abused as a child.

I'm lookin' at YOU KPAX and all the other, "He's a whacknut serial killer!'

I realize you're talking about using the childhood abuse to allow us to sympathize and forgive the serial killer in question, but there is a distinct correlation between serial killers and childhood abuse.

That is to say, not every abused child becomes a serial killer, but generally speaking, most serial killers were abused as children.

there is a distinct correlation between serial killers and childhood abuse

t ultra-semantic nit Do you mean correlation or causation? t /nit

I don't know that I much see it used as an *excuse* for serial killers/abusers/etc., outside of Law and Order.

Do you mean correlation or causation?

I think I mean correlation. Not all people who are abused become serial killers, but most serial killers were abused at some point. That's correlation, right?

Correlation says, "A & B tend to occur together. A may cause B, B may cause A, or C may cause both. I don't know."

Causation says, "A causes B."

I ask because Bonny's initial statement (in all jest) implied causation, and I wanted to contend it. I don't know that anyone challenged correlation.