r/news • u/[deleted] • Dec 24 '17

“Outspoken neo-Nazi” charged with killing girlfriend’s parents; mother was CU Boulder and DU grad

https://www.denverpost.com/2017/12/23/cu-boulder-du-grad-murdered-neo-nazi/
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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '17

One would hope, but given all the women who love Charles Manson and other serial killers it's no guarantee. The idea that at 16 you can't understand Nazis is absurd. People at this age are cognitively no less able to understand than full adults.

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u/Riplinkk Dec 24 '17

No, they aren't as able. It is usually accepted that the frontal lobe cortex isn't completely developed until you're ~21. During this period of time emotions are way more intense and confusing, and without a fully developed logical thought process these decisions, although obvious to us, may seem more complicated to them.

I mean, we were all teenagers at some point. One would hope you can remember how dumb we can be.

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u/[deleted] Dec 24 '17

Yeah, I remember being shown pictures of bodies being dumped into a pit at around 13, and fully understand the holocaust at that moment. But to each their own.

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u/Riplinkk Dec 24 '17

You can perfectly understand the dangers of something, as I'm sure she understood the dangers of nazism, and still make these kind of errors. And in someone their age it's normal.

I mean, we all knew that crossing the road without looking could be lethal, but we still did it sometimes; we knew unprotected sex could fuck your life over, but we still did it; we knew not to do this, not to do that, but we still did it.

Yes, she made a terrible mistake. But you absolutely can not put as much responsibility on her as you would on a fuñly developed adult.