The Copy-Cat

[GrandizerII]

It's social psychology at work. One mentally ill and destructive person does something that becomes newsworthy, which makes other people just like them feel justified in doing a similar thing. In other words, "copy-cats" just need a "first cause", so to speak, to give their wheel a little push. So, for example, a pilot who is suicidal flies his plane to destruction, killing not only himself but everyone else with him in the plane, then when this makes the news, plane crashes tend to increase for a while (read Cialdini's book on persuasion and influence for elaboration). A scary thing to think about, and frankly, I blame it partly on the media.