"Everyone knows that mass murderers are the cool kids.” Sandy hook shooter - Killer of 20 children.

When saying this, the Sandyhook shooter was was talking about the Columbine killers of 1999, who he admired deeply. He downloaded multiple videos of the Columbine shooters and he wrote extensively on a blog dedicated to Columbine

Then, next in the chain, comes the Oregon 2015 shooter who made a video praising the Sandyhook shooter.

Each of these mass murderers express admiration for the mass murderers that came before them. Like a sick tradition being passed down the generations.

Psychologists talk about a "contagion effect" in which the idea of mass murder can pass from person to person. Mass shootings seem to come in bursts. After a major mass shooting, other smaller shootings or threats of shootings all come in a cluster.

As crazy as it sounds, we already know that the contagion effect applies to suicides, self-harm, eating disorders, happiness and sadness. So is it really so crazy to think the same could be true for mass murder?

At the very least, it puts the idea in people's heads that mass murder is even a possibility in the first place.

At this stage, the scientific consensus is clear. Mass murders inspire mass murders.

So it may be a good idea to take a look at the force that projects the idea of mass murders into the brains of millions of people across the world. The mass media.

"I know we're going to have followers because we're so fucking godlike." - One of two Columbine Shooters in 1999 - Killers of 13 people

How The Media Encourages Mass Murder

“Terrorists. Hijackers. These are people minus identity. They are determined to make it somehow. To get coverage. To get noticed.” - Marshall Mcluhan

You were born long after television was invented. Long after the radio began broadcasting worldwide.

Its easy to forget then, that the mass media hasn't always been around.

Its a recent force in the world. And we don't really understand how it effects people. It certainly isn't something found in the 150 person caveman tribes that our bodies and minds are adapted to.

In the past, if somebody decided to kill a handful of people in their tribe, only those close to the event would even be aware that anything happened.

But today, if you decide to kill a handful of people, the world knows.

It's not just a few people in your small tribe that knows your name, it's millions of people. And you have to ask yourself, what does this do to a person? To know that this level of fame and noterity is available them. To get the idea in their head, that their name could be in the history books through the decades with only a simple act.

Let's see. How do those in the mass media decide to report these mass murders?