A Deadly Wandering

Society changes its behavior through “strong laws and enforcement, coupled with public education about both” (345). But how do individuals change? Richtel claims it comes down to one simple maxim: Telling the truth.

Reggie lied, both about Cammi and about what he was doing at the time of the accident, and it wasn’t until he started telling the truth that he transformed his personal tragedy into a lesson for others. Much more understandably, Don Linton held back the truth when he was a boy about having been raped by an outwardly upstanding member of the church. Terryl is an exception: As a child, she called out her stepfather’s alcoholism and abuse and wrote about everything in her diary—even then, she didn’t hide or deny what was happening.

Richtel points out the role of religion in the psychological healing of these three people. Terryl and Reggie give a lot of credit to their faith, though experts are divided as to the role of religion in psychological healing. For instance, Linton became better through the care of his wife—someone who loved him despite how broken he was.

A number of studies are being conducted on technology’s effects on brain activity, the lesson of which seems to be that one should take breaks from stimulation: “When a person is clearheaded, the frontal lobe becomes freed of the humming and buzz of external pressure.