关于杀人这件事

首先转载PS对赵承熙屠杀案一事的看法：

why does it matter?

so the shooter is not a Chinese, so he's not on a f-1 visa, so he does not come from shanghai, so what?

does it matter where he comes from or what nationality he is? what could be more heart-wrenching than the fact that someone killed 31 and wounded 15 in less than 4 hours?

it saddens me to see - having already been shocked by the Virginia tech massacre - that some people would celebrate since the killer is not of their race. humanity was put to shame yesterday. is this really something to celebrate about?

it also amazes me the sensitivity and speed at which the incidence got related to visa complication. i understand, completely, having been through all the visa difficulty myself and i do know I'm at a privilege as i can always choose not to go back for the summer (even though i really really want to). BUT -

whoever is alive should realize how lucky they are. LIFE, and LIFE OF THOSE WHO ARE DEAR TO YOUR, are the most precious in the world. ALL ELSE ARE SECONDARY. think about the students who were young and hopeful but never got a chance to pursue their hope and passion anymore, (and no, it's not that they are denied one chance, EVERYTHING, for them, is GONE). think about the immense pain and stress the wounded have to go through. think about the suffering of the family and friends of the killed. just take a minute to think about them.

my utmost condolence and prayer.

继而是OldIMP在其后的一条评论：

1. Killing is not a sin, it depends on the motivation.
2. Living is not that important, death is kind of freedom and salvation to some people. And some of them don't have the courage to cross the line, so to kill them is to save them.
3. I and we are good, you and they are bad, that's the nature of human being.

我一边试图理解两人的语气（有研究告诉我们，70%多的人认为自己能准确判断别人所写的文字的语气，但实际上真正准确判断的状况只有56%，不比胡乱猜好多少），一边看PS的另一篇blog：

nothing is inherently independent.

The VT tragedy is not a single instance. To me the most imperative issue it reflects is neither the racial division nor the gun control, but the increasing prevalence and degree of depression, anger, and loneliness in the contemporary society, as well as the lack of efficient devices to get over them. The loss of mental health and stability is not a problem unique to Cho. Most of us do experience momental psychological/mental problems (to a much lesser degree), one way or another. Fortunately most of us are able to walk out and embrace the brighter sides of life, or the problems just dissipate themselves. For him the pain was prolonged, worsened, and then, reaching the extreme, it exploded in a horrible way. Perhaps he and the society should share the blame, but there's not much point blaming anything. The massacre is a tragedy, Cho is a tragedy. It is a warning to all of us how important it is to take care of our minds and hearts, and at the same time not overlook others' suffering. Remember, there could be many others undergoing the similar pain that Cho had. Gun control won't eradicate it. Racial disputes won't either. But hopefully, compassion, care, and understanding will.

然后发现OldIMP又在后面有这样的评论：

maybe he is a miserable psycho, but not every killer is. When killing doesn't depend on anger, depression, loneliness or anything else "negative", but is pure, it is a righteous thing. "natural born killer" said sth indeed.

而PS回应到：

i dont think killing is ever a righteous thing. no one has any right to take another life. cho's humanity has been bended and distorted, causing such a sad explosion. but those who have lost their humanity completely, such as the serial killers or the "naturally born killers", are truly sick and disturbing.

名震天下的赵承熙和他杀掉的32个人已经死了，尚剩我们活着的这些人以此为谈资，各抒己见。从这几天零星瞥见的消息看来，善于幸灾乐祸的中国人一边庆幸杀手不是中国人，签证行情不会有什么影响，一边等着看韩国人的笑话。之前听说杀手是中国人，便表示丢亚洲人脸的劣等民族应该被抹掉的韩国人，此时则如丧家之犬地声称赵不是韩国人，分明已经是美国人。杀别人一万说是正义，自己死一百就嚷嚷别人是邪恶轴心的美国人才不管什么中国韩国，反正也看不出来，索性将他们放在中东裔的鄙视眼光一并投向东亚人。

当然以上的说法太夸张，不是所有人都那么民族主义。但是，冷静而理智的声音都被淹没在愤怒的发泄言辞里，显得非常无力。当读到那些赤裸裸而粗暴的意见时，除了“我操”，还能用什么词语表达我此刻的心情呢。

好了，暂撇去民族主义不谈，只说杀人这件事。OldIMP的留言都和他如何看待杀人有关。有这样两句话让我印象很深刻：Living is not that important, death is kind of freedom and salvation to some people. And some of them don't have the courage to cross the line, so to kill them is to save them.和When killing doesn't depend on anger, depression, loneliness or anything else "negative", but is pure, it is a righteous thing.

第一句，所谓死亡对于某些人来说是自由和拯救，我觉得没错。其中某些人没有勇气去跨越此线，所以杀了他们是解救他们，我也认可。不过，这样的观点显然是个人见解，除了持有这样的观点的人之外，没有任何可以支持它的理由，尤其在被杀的人看来，自己是否需要拯救与他人无关，所以尚不足以单独成为真正杀人的充分动机，只能算是一个附属目的罢了。

至于第二句话，我的感受比较复杂。

首先，我觉得除去人之外的大自然界，本质上是并不热爱生命、也不反感生命的。它对待生命的态度，只是简单的中立，“indifferent”罢了，或者说它对生命的态度就是没有态度。我才不觉得宇宙间有什么超验的“善”。所谓上天有好生之德，不过是人类从自己的利益出发一厢情愿的胡扯。大自然中，植物被食草动物所杀，食草动物被食肉动物所杀，每种生物都是出于自己生存下去的目的而杀掉其他生物，食物链本身扯不上善恶。所以人作为动物去吃其他生物也无所谓善恶，觉得吃蔬菜比吃肉“善”也只是因为感受不到植物的痛苦而自我感觉良好而已。

但是，当牵扯到人杀人的时候，问题就比较复杂了。从史前时代开始，人杀人通常不是为了食用，而是像狮群彼此争夺地盘一样，是一种为了自己更好的生存而产生的竞争行为。经历千万年的进化，虽然在很大层面上这种竞争行为已经演变到了政治、经济或者文化领域，但其最终形式，仍旧是以消灭他人物理存在为表现的暴力手段。这种以让自己活得更好的竞争行为，乃至因此引发的杀戮，是否可以和善恶扯上关系？我觉得还是很难说，因为我向善不杀你，你就会杀我，而你并不会觉得恶。如果当初原始人类不杀尼安德特和北京猿人，汉人不杀匈奴人，罗马人不杀迦太基人，美国人不杀印第安人，中国人不杀日本人，苏联人不杀德国人，那么文明的面貌将完全不同。基于社会达尔文主义的观点，我觉得弱肉强食仍旧是一件与善恶无关的事情。

可事情并不这么简单。因为作为杀人的大规模、有组织的形式，有些战争并不是为了自己更好的生存而进行的，它们同样如同OldIMP所例举，更多的是因为anger, depression, loneliness的高级形式或者引申物，如征服欲（亚历山大大帝远征），支配欲（古中国打高丽），乃至什么“荣誉感”，忠孝仁义之类。这样的杀人，是善是恶？我觉得是恶。因为这种杀人是不必要的，就如同早已脱离游猎时代的人类仍旧保留的所谓“体育运动”打猎一样，纯粹是为了快感而杀戮。注意不是说他们能在杀戮中得到什么快感，而是说杀戮是他们实现快感的一个必要过程。就好像你问打猎者有趣在何处，他绝对不会告诉你看到猎物绝望的哀鸣，倒下，抽搐，流血就会觉得爽，而要说他们在搜寻、跟踪、埋伏、猎杀动物的过程中锻炼了体魄，发展了掌控局势、作出判断的能力，并且有征服自然的快感之类。可是，这些都是可以从其他不需要付出流血代价的游戏中得到的，为什么一定要杀生。实际上是杀人的过程让他们产生了满足感。所以为了欲望而进行不必要的杀人是恶的。这种恶并不是因为杀人，而是因为不必要。

判断是否必要的准则是，不杀人会不会对自己的生存产生可以预见的严重不良影响。所以正当防卫杀人不是恶的，屠杀犹太人是恶的。实际上OldIMP已经说了这个观点，即“Killing is not a sin, it depends on the motivation.”

即便我推断出了有些杀人不是恶的这个结论，我仍旧难以认同OldIMP “pure killing is righteous”的这一论述。在我看来，人杀人即便可以不恶，仍旧无法能够达到righteous的境界。因为人是没办法做出pure killing的，人杀人永远是受到欲望支使的。自然界从来没有过natural born killer，那部电影只是个（美好的？）幻想而已，即便其中作为natural born killer之暗喻的响尾蛇也不会无端地杀戮它见到的一切生物。真正的pure killing，只有自然本身能做到而已，如被雷劈死，才是最为righteous的杀人。

最后……

任何人的死亡都使我受到损失，因为我包孕在人类之中。所以不要去问丧钟为谁而鸣，它在为你敲响。