Which Generation Is Most Likely to Be a Serial Killer?
In researching for my next book, I stumbled across a note I had written to investigate a bit further linking killers and the sexual revolution.
Read the full essayFull show notes
In researching for my next book, I stumbled across a note I had written: “Serial Killers and the Sexual Revolution.”
Generational futurist Ryan Vet reads his COLLIDE essay, a behind-the-scenes look at how he chases down a generational idea to see if it is viable or just interesting. He starts with five names (Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Dennis Rader, and Gary Ridgway), a hypothesis that Boomers or the Silent Generation would be the deadliest, and data that turns out to be mostly circumstantial. The Radford University Serial Killer Information Center (2016) counts 72 U.S. serial killers beginning in the 1950s, 768 in the 1980s, and 371 in the 2000s.
In this episode:
- Five killers born within eight years of each other, and why that is more coincidence than cause
- What JFK’s assassination, live television, and the sexual revolution do and do not prove
- The tenfold rise and the fall by half in serial killers by decade
- Why DNA databases may have helped drive the decline (Doleac, 2017)
- Lenore Skenazy on why the fear outlasted the killers
- How to use the Generational Prism before you label an entire generation
Go deeper: Read the full COLLIDE essay at ryanvet.com/collide/which-generation-is-most-likely-to-be-a-serial-killer, and subscribe to COLLIDE at ryanvet.com/collide.
About Ryan Vet
Ryan Vet is a USA TODAY bestselling author, futurist, and international keynote speaker whose insights on generations, culture, and the future of work have been featured in Forbes, Financial Times, ABC, NBC, and CBS. His research helps leaders understand emerging generational patterns and anticipate societal shifts before they fully unfold.
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