Thoughts of a Sinestrologist.

[Rotten2thecorps Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Rotten2thecorps]

After reading The last issue of Green Lantern, It got me to thinking about Sinestro's future in the Green Lantern mythos. The Indigo tribe is going to make him feel compassion and maybe be remorseful for some of his actions. I don't really know how I feel about this.

I get the angle that they are Playing. If Sinestro has a mental disorder,to what level is he responsable for his actions. It is kinda an new extreme on a insanity plea. It is a good story to tell but I wonder if Sinestro is the right vehicle for it. but lets discuss it any way.

If Sinestro is insane. How responsible do you think he should be?

I know this is a stretch,but there is a real moral question there.

Let's say you are part of a hung jury,what exactly can be done about Sinestro? You can't kill him because he will just come back,and you can't put him in a scince cell because he will just escape. No cell can hold him. What do you do with a super criminal like that.

[Mister.Weirdo Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Mister.Weirdo]

If Sinestro is truly insane, he shouldn't even currently be a green lantern, but no Johns won't let that happen.

When (if) Sinestro does get captured again, and is convicted. He'll likely be sent to a Sciencell. Of course we all know that won't be happening anytime soon. After all he's gotta be the good guy.

[BLACK HAND Green Lantern Initiate Find all posts View Profile Close BLACK HAND]

Send him back to the anti-matter universe? I don't think he's insane, quite the opposite, he's a genius, and sometimes the line between the two is razor thin.

[Mister.Weirdo Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Mister.Weirdo]

Send him back to the anti-matter universe? I don't think he's insane, quite the opposite, he's a genius, and sometimes the line between the two is razor thin.

You can be a genius and still be insane. Haven't you ever heard of a mad scientist?

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

You know, this is a really good question.

What IS insane in the case of Sinestro?

Is he a megalomaniac? Not plagued by the unrealistic thoughts of supposed power, Sinestro wields true power not just in his ring (regardless of color) but in his mastery of. Before the arrival of Hal Jordan, Sinestro was the greatest of all the Green Lanterns. He is the unquestionable master of the yellow light of fear. He had the strength of will to force the white to do his bidding. So no, Sinestro is no megalomaniac. He possesses true power and mastery of his bailiwick.

Does he suffer from grandiosity or delusions of grandeur? Simply put, no. He simply is what he is. Is it a delusion for Sinestro to realize he is one of the most, if not the most powerful being in the universe? He wields the most powerful weapon in the universe with ease and amazing proficiency, a skill matched only in the Green by Jordan, unmatched whatsoever in the yellow. And even Hal Jordan's transition to the greatest Green Lantern is based on Hal's raw willpower, evidenced in its most extreme in the killing of Krona. It's the sledgehammer versus the scalpel. And the fact remains, there is no delusion concerning Sinestro's ability or capability wielding a ring.

Is Sinestro narcissistic? You bet. Is it a sign of insanity or a characterization? A personality trait? I believe it's moreso based on his experience and ability, an offshoot of his status. Muhammad Ali told the world he was The Greatest. And for a time, he was right. Did that make Ali insane? Self-promoting and narcissistic, yes. But not insane.

Does Sinestro suffer from a superiority complex? Plainly put, no. As Adler described, there is a yin to the yang where a defined superiority complex is in place to either defend a pronounced INferiority complex or lies beneath the surface of the more extroverted inferiority perception. This however leads us to begin to understand what Sinestro is by understanding what he is not.

He is narcissistic. He enjoys an incomparable sense of self-righteousness and hubris. There is no question he has the ability to act on his beliefs regardless of how skewed with societal norms they may be. He is effective, a master within his own bailiwick whose drives seem "evil" when again compared to societal norms. But we cannot look at "evil" and assign its presence as an attribute of insanity.

In other words, no. Sinestro is not insane. He's just a bad ass.

[Rotten2thecorps Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Rotten2thecorps]

What if though. What if There were a pill, or something else that could make Sinestro see the error of his ways. What then? Do you still punish him for the actions of his defect?

Should he be exacuted? If he was returned to his potential as the Greatest Green Lantern, Should have have the oprtiniuity to make up for his misdeeds? Or should he be locked away forever?

If such a pill existed. Should he even be given it. Is the Green Lantern Corps help to reform criminals or Punish them.

My friend who studies criminal justice and I often have this debate. over prision. Is it there for punishing or is it there for rabilitating criminals. Do cold blooded murderes deserve another chance at the life thay have taken from others?

[BLACK HAND Green Lantern Initiate Find all posts View Profile Close BLACK HAND]

You can be a genius and still be insane. Haven't you ever heard of a mad scientist?

A mad scientist isn't insane, it's someone who is a genius with no moral compass.

And I agree with Tommy Boy. Sinestro has an extreme superiority complex, he's a bad ass and is smart enough to knows what he's capable of, but he isn't insane. Killing people to further your own personal agenda is not necessarily a characteristic of insanity. I think Sinestro truly believes the universe will be a better place with him in charge and that motivates his actions. He wants to make the universe a better place on his own terms...

[Rotten2thecorps Alpha-Lantern Find all posts View Profile Close Rotten2thecorps]

Sinestro is also a alien. His ways though similar to ours our not our own. Should that not be taken to account?

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]

A mad scientist isn't insane, it's someone who is a genius with no moral compass.

And I agree with Tommy Boy. Sinestro has an extreme superiority complex, he's a bad ass and is smart enough to knows what he's capable of, but he isn't insane. Killing people to further your own personal agenda is not necessarily a characteristic of insanity. I think Sinestro truly believes the universe will be a better place with him in charge and that motivates his actions. He wants to make the universe a better place on his own terms...

Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction: mad scientist
(n.)
A scientist or inventor who is insane, especially one whose madness (intentionally or unintentionally) endangers himself, others, or the world; once a stock character in science fiction and horror stories.
■1908 R. McDonald title: Mad Scientist: A Tale of the Future
■1931 M.W. Wellman Voice from Ether Wonder Stories (Sept.) № 523/1: This was the noted "joy-lamp" invented by a mad scientist to administer a new and unheard-of intoxication to all who came into its light.
■1959 Lima (Oh.) News (Feb. 14) № Entertainment section 6/5: She is a normal, lovely girl during the day but a mad scientist is experimenting with her by administering potent drugs that turn her nightly into a monster woman.
■1972 B. Turner Solden's Women № 82: He would have passed for the mad scientist in one of those films which star giant insects.
■1979 I. Asimov Scientist as Villain Asimov on SF (1981) № 67: The mad scientist is a cliché that went out in the early 1930's.
■1991 Locus (May) № 31/1: When people say "mad scientist" we never wonder for a moment if perhaps they mean that the fellow is merely angry.


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[BLACK HAND Green Lantern Initiate Find all posts View Profile Close BLACK HAND]

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I don't get how you could be insane but still be logical enough to make giant acid spitting robots to dominate the world. I thought that they had appeared to be insane due to social norms and moral expectations, like Victor Frankenstein is often referred to as a "mad scientist", but he was not insane, he just crossed boundaries of social norms that society considered sacred. And by insane I am thinking more along the terms of schizophrenia, not some temporal state. I don't believe in the "insane genius", although insane and genius minds share a commonality in how they filter data.

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]

So if you are a genius first then go insane do you stop being a genius because you are now insane?

[BLACK HAND Green Lantern Initiate Find all posts View Profile Close BLACK HAND]

So if you are a genius first then go insane do you stop being a genius because you are now insane?

Yes I see them in most cases as being mutually exclusive. The only exception I can think of would be art, but that's all subjective.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

...If Sinestro is insane. How responsible do you think he should be?...

I don't think Sinestro is that kind of insane. The kind of insanity that would preclude him being responsible would be a total disconnect from reality. For example, if he didn't realize beheading people kills them or if he followed the voices of magical fairies who told him killing people sends them to the land of rainbows and happy unicorns. Sinestro's insanity is one he shares with most murderers; he's a sociopath with antisocial tendencies and a low estimation of the value of life. But he clearly knows what he's doing. He understands that he is killing people and he could choose not to. Therefore he is responsible.

What if though. What if There were a pill, or something else that could make Sinestro see the error of his ways. What then? Do you still punish him for the actions of his defect?

I do believe in a penal side to justice outside of rehabilitation. You may kill someone and feel truly sorry for it, even vow never to kill again, but you should still suffer the consequences of your actions.

I don't get how you could be insane but still be logical enough to make giant acid spitting robots to dominate the world. I thought that they had appeared to be insane due to social norms and moral expectations, like Victor Frankenstein is often referred to as a "mad scientist", but he was not insane, he just crossed boundaries of social norms that society considered sacred. And by insane I am thinking more along the terms of schizophrenia, not some temporal state. I don't believe in the "insane genius", although insane and genius minds share a commonality in how they filter data.

I don't believe insanity means being totally illogical. There's no direct relationship between sanity and intelligence. If there were, it would be just as true to say all sane people are smart and logical.

[Tommy Boy Hal's Understudy Find all posts View Profile Close Tommy Boy]

And what's being missed is that evil does NOT equal insanity. It is simply the lack or the disregard of the guiding principles of society's normative values.

[BLACK HAND Green Lantern Initiate Find all posts View Profile Close BLACK HAND]

I don't believe insanity means being totally illogical. There's no direct relationship between sanity and intelligence. If there were, it would be just as true to say all sane people are smart and logical.

Mostly insane is good enough to quantify insanity I think. It would be just as true to say all sane people are logical. There's too many morons to give sane people the benefit of being smart too.