News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by baddox on Monday October 07, 2013 @07:59PM (#6512129)
What about the language he's using suggests that he suffered from psychosis?
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by pallandt on Monday October 07, 2013 @08:36PM (#6512249)
There are several key words such as 'stress' or 'overwhelming' or wanting to quit but being unable to, but what is often common to persons suffering of delusions of a manic extent (btw, I think they seized some cocaine from him as well if I remember correctly) is believing they are on a special mission to accomplish something world-changing and even expressing intent to sacrifice their lives if it were needed, zealousness, being over-invested emotionally in the 'idea' and perhaps most importantly, the unlikeness of their belief or idea actually manifesting as envisioned.

His message is very self-centered and does not mention other people (joining him or helping him reach his goal). It is not unreasonable to think/realize that his belief is/was failing to fit with his socio-cultural background, especially considering he was mostly running the op alone.

There were mentions of admins that were paid lowly sums compared to what he was making, I assume they had very limited attributions and he was the only one in true controlling capacity.

Throw in the necessity for secretiveness due to the nature of the op, the ensuing distrust and suspicion and it is a safe recipe for psychosis as a result of stress.

Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by chrislipa on Monday October 07, 2013 @09:44PM (#6512497)
I don't know ... but I'm not convinced. I looks perfectly congruent with the facts that he's just incredibly passionate about his mission. I don't think it's so unreasonable for DPR to think and hope that he was changing the world for the better.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by tptacek on Monday October 07, 2013 @10:33PM (#6512673)
Kinda not factoring in the notion that he was ordering people to be killed during this timeframe, right?
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by chrislipa on Monday October 07, 2013 @11:14PM (#6512814)
Not ignoring that at all. History is replete with true believers willing to kill and die for their causes.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by crystaln on Monday October 07, 2013 @09:57PM (#6512546)
I didn't realize complete dedication and sacrifice for your ideals was indicative of psychosis. I suppose in that case many of our heros were psychotic.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by ics on Monday October 07, 2013 @10:22PM (#6512636)
Well, you could just imagine projecting the judgement onto a bell curve. Plenty of psychotic failures and psychotic geniuses, but everyone in the middle we just give the benefit of the doubt (because "we" most likely lie on that part of the curve as well). Whether the term 'psychotic' is correct I don't really know.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by gwern on Monday October 07, 2013 @10:35PM (#6512682)
> (btw, I think they seized some cocaine from him as well if I remember correctly)

I haven't heard anything about that. Are you referring to the fake cocaine that the undercover agent sold to a SR employee right before arresting them?

Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by mikegogulski on Tuesday October 08, 2013 @09:58AM (#6514910)
No cocaine seizure was reported, but the Maryland indictment show federal agents delivering 1 kilogram of coke to someone, presumably the alleged "victim" in the assassination plot also referenced there. I guess the feds have plenty of that high-grade stuff just laying around...
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by gwern on Tuesday October 08, 2013 @01:41PM (#6516496)
No, the Maryland indictment is clear that it was not 1kg of coke, it was mostly fake.
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by mikegogulski on Tuesday October 08, 2013 @06:31PM (#6518273)
"X {micro,milli,,kilo,mega,giga,peta,exa}grams of a substance containing a detectable amount of DRUG" is boilerplate derived from the text of the federal drug statutes. Either of us could be right, or neither. shrug
Re:Archive of all Silk Road forum posts attributed to Dread ... by mikegogulski on Tuesday October 08, 2013 @10:03AM (#6514966)
This armchair pyschoanalysis is rubbish. Where does your apparent intent to paint the guy in the worst light possible come from?

And no, there has been no report of any drug seizure to accompany the arrest of Ulbricht.