The Uber shooter reached his breaking point when he showed up and couldn’t find his fare:
The Uber driver charged with killing six people in a shooting spree in Michigan last month came across his first victim after a customer accidentally gave him the wrong address.
Jason Dalton, 45, was called to Meadows Townhomes in Kalamazoo by a request on the ride-sharing app at 5.15pm on February 20, authorities said.
However, according to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office, the customer then sent Dalton a text message with the correct address – which would have sent him to the complex’s main off rather than the townhouse unit.
But around 5.40pm, Tiana Carruthers became the first victim shot in three different locations that day.
The 25-year-old mother had been on a playground outside the apartment complex along with a number of children when Dalton approached.
Witnesses said the shooter called Carruthers over and gave a woman’s name, asking if she was the woman or knew her, KHOU reports.
This guy’s amygdala was already screwed up and in high gear, but this is an example of how as the amygdala turns on, subsequent stimuli are cumulative in effect – especially in the amygdala-damaged. As you approach the breaking point, meaningless stimuli which would roll off any normal person’s back will break the target. They also can produce behaviors which are wholly absent of any logical analysis or rational reasoning. I am convinced much misbehavior in society is rooted in poorly-trained amygdalae which can’t appropriately process incoming stimuli, and guide properly moderated responses.
This guy pulled up, asked if the only woman he saw was his fare, and when she said, “No,” his amygdala overloaded, he freaked out and started shooting.
Look at people’s amygdalae when you meet them. Signs of being overwhelmed, like facial expressions of disgust, anger, or fear, jumpiness, or inability to smoothly transition focus around the entire environment around them, will all be signs of potential trouble. My guess is this guy wasn’t exactly smooth or relaxed looking as he talked to this first victim. Based on his picture, that angry expression should have been a dead giveaway he was often operating right at his amygdala’s redline.
When you notice something off in the facial expressions of those around you, don’t dismiss your instinctive concern as too judgmental. Chances are it will be correct more often than it won’t, and the expressions it is flagging are just the kind of dangerous signs you should be operating with caution around.
[…] Amygdala Activation Is Cumulative […]
Wha would be the proper response had the woman correctly recognized the danger?
Fear, coldness, or anger?
Distraction and flight. “Oh, one second, I’ll be right back….” Pause the amygdala and then beat feet. Unless you have a really fast draw and accurate shot from the hip.
This is also how people get sucker-punched. You are operating in the “measured, smoothly transitioning” realm but don’t realize the other guy is already spun up in a blind rage and has completely lost any ability to diffuse his urge to attack the next straw on his camel’s back.
Useful knowledge: People spun up like that are all but impervious to pain. I’ve actually experienced this (on the wrong side) where someone has attacked you and you take the open shot at punching him in his balls…only to discover that two hard strikes have absolutely no effect at all. This is why studying how to (in H2H) cause actual structural injury is useful. A pain-compliance joint lock won’t work, but ripping out the ligaments in the joint will still render the appendage useless. There are times where being able to render an assailant unable to continue the fight might be a survival essential.
Know any good amygdala exercises?
Physical stressors. Fasting, strength training, temperature extremes. Anything that feels uncomfortable and tiring. It isn’t really your amygdala that you need to train, but your hypothalamus. The amygdala is the security system that sounds the alarm — the hypothalamus is the guard that decides what to do with that alarm, and turns fear into action.
Remember, Special Forces training is all about amygdala/hypothalamus building (you don’t get accepted for the training unless you already know how to hike and shoot accurately), so something that works like SF training (making you tired, cold, dehydrated and loopy) without actually being martial training will do the trick. There’s a researcher who can successfully identify who is in Special Forces out of a random group solely by the results of a blood test (by measuring the amount of neuropeptide-Y, which is produced by the hypothalamus and works as a sort of mental kevlar.)
Of course, martial training will also do the trick.
I agree, physical stressors are probably the most practical.
I also think doing anything you are afraid to do. Does public speaking terrify you? Do it until you are not bothered in the least. I have wondered if Heartiste saw an appreciable amygdala explosion in his youth from repeatedly approaching women, and adapting to the stresses of it. Fighting in MMA, or even making a job of it in LE in a tough area that makes you worried for your safety could also have the effect.
In short, if you expose yourself to a manageable stress, the amygdala should adapt to it, and in doing so, it will develop.
As an aside, after using Uber a dozen times or so, I’ve noticed that they often ignore the text messages you send them. You actually have to call them. Although you’d think that texts would be easier for them and less prone to misunderstanding.
I think that people who are the type who comment coherently on blogs tend to overestimate the literacy of the general population.
I agree and that brings us amazingly stupid actions. These can be predictable though.