606: The Boogeyman Effect

The Philosophy of Crime

When a new serial killer is caught, police have the tendency to try to blame them for every other murder in the vicinity. Why is it easier for us to believe in one Boogeyman rather than several?

Covered topics: Sam Little, Arie Kruglanski, Donna Webster, Edward Wayne Edwards, Rex Heuermann, Stoicism, Marcus Aurelius

Further Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Aurelius

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoicism

https://www.orionphilosophy.com/stoic-blog/4-stoic-life-lessons-to-manage-fear

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Edwards_(serial_killer)

https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/01/26/avery-case-great-falls-ties/79376778/

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/why-we-need-answers

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/us/btk-daughter-dennis-rader-kerri-rawson.html

https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/the-read/articles/in-the-shadows

https://www.cleveland19.com/2019/10/11/akron-mother-murdered-was-victim-serial-killer-samuel-little/

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/05/29/texas-ranger-serial-killer-samuel-little

https://www.thecut.com/2018/12/how-serial-killer-samuel-little-was-caught.html

https://www.oxygen.com/catching-a-serial-killer-sam-little/crime-news/worst-serial-killer-history-samuel-little-confessions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Little

https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/samuel-little-most-prolific-serial-killer-in-us-history-100619

https://www.dps.texas.gov/coldCase/Home/Details/197

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