Quote Originally Posted by Virulent View Post
I think that's the argument. Serial killers are just geniuses at a socially vilified task. Personally I think that the most infamous serial killers have a similar sort of artistic sensibility to a lot of the great artists, which is demonstrated in the way they pose their victims or place characteristic markings on them. Just as Duchamp described the life of the artist as one of profound rejection, a struggle for societal acceptance, so did Gary Ridgway, the Pentecostal prostitute-slayer colloquially known as the Green River Killer. Warhol claimed that celebrity is next to godliness, Alexander Pichushkin claimed that murder made him feel like a god, as he had power over life and death.
I think they certainly see the world in a different way (and that could be, as discussed above *a* definition of genius) and for many of them the problem is that they are removed from society on an emotional level - the classic sociopath (which most serial killers are) is someone who does not see a problem in removing someone from their path by killing them if they are in their way. Where a 'normal' person may explore legal options to stop a person being a problem a sociopath simply kills them and does not understand the emotional impact this has.