Aurora shooter, graduated with highest honors, neuroscience degree only got him

[thundley4]

Liberal_in_LA (24,649 posts)

 
Aurora shooter, graduated with highest honors, neuroscience degree only got him a job at McDonalds

Twenty-four-year-old James Holmes left different impressions on people he encountered in life. At the University of California, Riverside, where he graduated with honors in neuroscience in 2010, he's remembered as brilliant.

"He was an honor student, so academically he was at the top of the top," University Chancellor Tim White said at a press conference. "He really distinguished himself from an academic point of view during his four years with us, graduating with highest honors."

But back in the northern suburbs of San Diego, where Holmes grew up, friends came and went from his house all day. His father, surrounded by police, left for Denver early Friday morning.

-------------

Anthony says James seemed frustrated after earning his undergraduate degree in neuroscience when the only job he could get was at McDonald's. This smart, shy, frustrated loner applied and was admitted to graduate school at the University of Colorado. He dropped out in June.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57477097/colo-suspect-james-holmes-smart-but-quiet-teachers-and-neighbors-say/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002986526

longship (12,353 posts)
7. But not all degrees are equal.

A UC degree is special, and near the top of his class would be very special.

My question is why did he choose that specific discipline? After all, maybe one could argue that his brain kind of did a reboot of sorts. Could this be another Charles Whitman case?

I wonder if Steven Novella will discuss this on next week's SGU or on his Blog, Neurologica.

What happens in the brain when a person does something like this?

Duer 157099 (15,012 posts)
12. Your ignorance is pardoned

I know plenty of people in neuroscience--and other sciences--that don't have more than a BS.

Those are the ones that are using your brain for experiments, right?

dimbear (3,305 posts)
2. Probably an ocean of student loan debt and no decent job. Bad for your brain.

How many more down the pike?

Certainly not an excuse to do so much evil.

Then why bring it up?  You are giving an excuse.

flamingdem (14,854 posts)
5. True though this is a mini wake up call that young people will not all be able

to manage such difficult times.

Those that have psychic problems may either suffer more or make others suffer along with them

MoonRiver (16,441 posts)
8. But he had the Joker gig lined up, in his deluded brain at least.

[Revolution]

Everyone loves the way Ledger portrayed the Joker. It was brilliant. Pure evil, and chaotic, but brilliant. Still, there is limits to how far a person will go. I dressed up like him for Halloween when TDK came out. However, that's as far as I went. You have to have your wires crossed to do something like this just because you're hard for a movie criminal. It's sick, and warped. Period. Anyone who would defend anything relating to Joker, and this mass murder is also sick, and warped.

Just my 2 cents for anyone reading that may try to rationalize it in the future. (AHEM!)

[movie buff]

Everyone loves the way Ledger portrayed the Joker. It was brilliant. Pure evil, and chaotic, but brilliant. Still, there is limits to how far a person will go. I dressed up like him for Halloween when TDK came out. However, that's as far as I went. You have to have your wires crossed to do something like this just because you're hard for a movie criminal. It's sick, and warped. Period. Anyone who would defend anything relating to Joker, and this mass murder is also sick, and warped.

Just my 2 cents for anyone reading that may try to rationalize it in the future. (AHEM!)

Although he referred to himself to police as "The Joker," I don't think the "Psycho fanboy" theory holds up in this case.
Holmes dyed his hair and beard red in preparation for the massacre, but one of the Joker's most famous attributes is that his hair is green. An obsessed fanboy wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.

[diesel driver]

Although he referred to himself to police as "The Joker," I don't think the "Psycho fanboy" theory holds up in this case.
Holmes dyed his hair and beard red in preparation for the massacre, but one of the Joker's most famous attributes is that his hair is green. An obsessed fanboy wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.

Maybe the "Punk Rock Supply" store down the street was all out of green that day?   

If he is as screwed up as he acted, hair color was the least of his concerns.  He wanted his 15 minutes.

[miskie]

Although he referred to himself to police as "The Joker," I don't think the "Psycho fanboy" theory holds up in this case.
Holmes dyed his hair and beard red in preparation for the massacre, but one of the Joker's most famous attributes is that his hair is green. An obsessed fanboy wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.

He could have been thinking about the hospital scene, where The Joker disguises himself as a redheaded nurse.

[JohnnyReb]

Last night the wife was fussing ABC, CBS, NBC all were running a "Shooting Special" and she couldn't watch "Her Show". I was minding my own business and not paying much attention to the TV....then it happened...dude was describing the mental state of a person like this shooter and other shooters in his catergory. He said they think of themselves as having superior intelligence, better equipped than others blah-blah-blah and blame others for their problems/failures....WAIT A MINUTE   WAIT A MINUTE....He just described every DUmmie and the President too....I asked the wife exactly what the guy had said and she wasn't listening closely either but I thought how ironic that one of the MSM TV channels just described every left wing idiot, DUmmie, the prez and maybe even themselves and aired it.

[DefiantSix]

7. But not all degrees are equal.

A UC degree is special , and near the top of his class would be very special .

Apparently, the only folks who thought that his "Speshul-ness" would be of benefit to them was MacDonalds, and it appears even they saw the light, unless of course there's any merit to THIS line of speculation, DUmbshits.

[Texacon]

Although he referred to himself to police as "The Joker," I don't think the "Psycho fanboy" theory holds up in this case.
Holmes dyed his hair and beard red in preparation for the massacre, but one of the Joker's most famous attributes is that his hair is green. An obsessed fanboy wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.

Hmmmm I didn't catch that MB. Are you ok? Anything you wanna talk about? Where exactly do you live?

LOL

KC

[jukin]

Being a BS and MS graduate from the the UC system. The degrees are highly overrated, but you don't get the big bucks for a degree unless you sell it. My Alma Mata  (UCSB) is in the top ten or five in the world for engineering. That's great but I learned far more by working while I went there than from any of the professors or the school. It opened some doors but you still had to prove yourself.  I taught one of my professors machine tools programming (F codes).  I was not impressed except for a few visiting profs, one being second in command on the Hoover. They wanted to make professors and theoreticians when we needed in the trench people.

[Kyle Ricky]

This all makes me think of the mental trauma that Ledger went through while playing that role. I saw him say something about having to get mental help from how terrible it was. He did play the rule great, but it affected him more than people realize.

As for the whacko who did this. He has some issues. But I doubt only being able to find a job at McDonalds is the cause here. I still think he joined some underground group and they brain washed him into doing this. There had to be somewhere that he got swat team gear and guns from. An underground group fits that perfectly.

Being a BS and MS graduate from the the UC system. The degrees are highly overrated, but you don't get the big bucks for a degree unless you sell it. My Alma Mata  (UCSB) is in the top ten or five in the world for engineering. That's great but I learned far more by working while I went there than from any of the professors or the school. It opened some doors but you still had to prove yourself.  I taught one of my professors machine tools programming (F codes).  I was not impressed except for a few visiting profs, one being second in command on the Hoover. They wanted to make professors and theoreticians when we needed in the trench people.

It could also be that he wasn't applying at the right places. You would think that with a degree like that, he could get a job at any hospital.

[zeitgeist]

Everyone loves the way Ledger portrayed the Joker. It was brilliant. Pure evil, and chaotic, but brilliant. Still, there is limits to how far a person will go. I dressed up like him for Halloween when TDK came out. However, that's as far as I went. You have to have your wires crossed to do something like this just because you're hard for a movie criminal. It's sick, and warped. Period. Anyone who would defend anything relating to Joker, and this mass murder is also sick, and warped.

Just my 2 cents for anyone reading that may try to rationalize it in the future. (AHEM!)

Didn't I read somewhere that one of his friends or acquaintances said he was a bit strange in that he always empathized with the villian in a movie?


Ok I just gNad'ed a question I had and thought I might share the results:

oomboo2

Junior Member
 
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
 
Posts: 41




Neuroscience Major- What Can You Do With It

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I really love brains. I read a lot about neurology and I've developed a huge interest in it. I am hoping to pursue a neuroscience major and eventually go to med school to become a neurologist.
 
My questions:
 1. In the event that I don't get into med school, what can one do with an undergraduate degree in neuroscience? Are there jobs? Would I need to at least try to get a masters?
 
2. Seeing as many colleges actually offer a "neuroscience" major, is there an abundance of people hoping to become neurologists. Do a disproportionately large percentage of med school hopefuls want to be neurologists?



 

Reply   








09-08-2010, 12:12 AM

  #2




zapfino

Senior Member
 
 
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
 
Posts: 2,052




1. No, there are not a lot of jobs specifically for a bachelor's-level neuroscience major. It's a liberal arts major so job opportunities are not a whole lot different from many other liberal arts majors. Possibly some opportunities in pharma sales, lab tech, etc. at the bachelor's-level. You would need a graduate degree, typically a doctorate, to do work specifically in neuroscience-related field.
 2. Neuroscience is a hot major, particularly among pre-meds. Although it might be a good prep for someone who wants to become a neurologist, I don't know why some people have the idea that it's necessarily some sort of a "pre-neurology" major because it's not. (It's probably not a good idea anyway for people to be picking a particular medical specialty until they've been exposed to them in the med school clinical rotations.)
 
If you plan to get a graduate degree, neuroscience is an appropriate preparation for a number of fields (especially if one has the usual pre-med courses, too): psychology (neuroscience research, clinical neuropsychology, health psychology, rehabilitation psychology, general clinical psychology, general experimental psychology); medicine; biosciences (neuroscience research, neuro- & psycho-pharmacology), physical therapy (possible at master's level), speech pathology & audiology (possible at master's level), nursing (possible at master's level), special ed (brain injury---possible at master's level), brain injury rehab (applied behavior analysis---possible at master's level), gerontology. (For some of these fields, you can get admitted to graduate studies, but might have some undergrad pre-requisites to make up.)


http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/science-majors/993995-neuroscience-major-what-can-you-do.html
 

You want fries with that degree?  How about a particiption trophy while we are at it??

 

[DefiantSix]

 
Aurora shooter, graduated with highest honors, neuroscience degree only got him a job at McDonalds

Twenty-four-year-old James Holmes left different impressions on people he encountered in life. At the University of California, Riverside, where he graduated with honors in neuroscience in 2010, he's remembered as brilliant.

"He was an honor student, so academically he was at the top of the top," University Chancellor Tim White said at a press conference. "He really distinguished himself from an academic point of view during his four years with us, graduating with highest honors."

7. But not all degrees are equal.

A UC degree is special, and near the top of his class would be very special.

My question is why did he choose that specific discipline? After all, maybe one could argue that his brain kind of did a reboot of sorts. Could this be another Charles Whitman case?

I wonder if Steven Novella will discuss this on next week's SGU or on his Blog, Neurologica.

What happens in the brain when a person does something like this?

Considering that the "Speshul-est" of educations - an ivy league education - currently produces unintelligible idiots like Norah O'Donnell by the truckload, I trust you'll allow me to take any of your claims to the speshul-ness of this asshole's degree(s) with a huge grain of salt, hmmm?

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOAYbuPYT08&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

[USA4ME]

The primitives need to go back to blaming Rush.  When they start exploring possibilities more complicated, they just confuse themselves.

.

[zeitgeist]

The primitives need to go back to blaming Rush.  When they start exploring possibilities more complicated, they just confuse themselves.

.

Bingo.

[BlueStateSaint]

The primitives need to go back to blaming Rush.  When they start exploring possibilities more complicated, they just confuse themselves.

.

Any 'reason' that has more than one syllable is confusing to them.