As far as I can tell it comes from "On Killing" by Dave Grossman, check out his wiki page. I saw parts of his lectures based on the book when I was in the military. In it he separates people into two categories: sheep and sheepdogs - and insists that sheep can become sheepdogs. You can kinda guess where he's going with it. Grossman is also against violent video games and such, but I suggest you check it out yourself if you're interested. I'd say it's worth paying attention to because it's interesting and gaining popularity, but I don't think his arguments are particularly strong.

The use of the word "sheep" is one of the most obnoxious and arrogant aspects of the conspiracy theorist. "You sheep listening to the lamestream media, you should be an independent thinker like me and listen to Alex Jones."

Forgot the last person category: wolf.

I read some excerpts from On Killing in a review someplace when it cae out and that was the impression I got - not necessarily the strongest arguments in the world but a perspective worth reading (I haven't gotten around to it yet, though). I should check it out finally.

I can't think of any system of categorizing people as "types" that I've encountered that wasn't pretty suspect, though. At the very least they're reductionist to the point of uselessness in terms of actually gaining insight into people.

I have a very strong suspicion that this guy is not was Grossman (or even the author of that article I posted) had in mind at all.

For one thing, I'm pretty sure that law enforcement (in its ideal non-dysfunctional form anyway) is pretty squarely under the umbrella what the guy in that article is calling "sheep dogs."

To be fair, I could only make it about 1/3 of the way through part 1.

PegLeg - Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Colonel Grossman *against* the idea of turning everyone into killer sheepdogs? Like, I dunno, random civvies with chin straps who slouch when they stand?

I mean, I know he's real pro-military, pro-social-order, but I also know that the crux of his arguments against video games are that they expose too many average "sheep" people to stressors psychologically similar to those found in combat and emergency situations. When he said it's a good thing for sheep to become sheepdogs, I was under the impression he meant, he wanted more people to go get trained and become EMTs or soldiers or cops or Coasties. Not that random gun nuts would buy some DX-ed gear and stand around making home videos with their shotguns.

That's what I got from the part of the article I read, for sure.

A mixture of that and "do your best to do right by the people around you in times of crisis."

Yeah, I found an excerpt here:

www.killology.co m/sheep_dog.htm

Doesn't seem to be anything in there about this dude and his toughguy LARP.

(oh, and for the curious: yes, that is Colonel Grossman's official website. Yes, it is called "Killology". That is the field in which he studies. "Killology".)

I HOLD ADVANCED DEGREES IN MURDEROLOGY -AND- MURDERONEMY!

For you.

I bet he plays a mean game of Call of Duty, though.

I don't recall the American public demanding war in Iraq beyond a minority of the wealthy and their inbred slaves, no one sane did. Also, one in eight white supremacists is military trained and no one even cares about rape anymore. While I agree that this person is UGH, just pure noise, your reaction is also painting a fairy tale depiction of the military, which is also a sloppy, terrible, murdering mess.

The war's over, meme. Your side lost.

That's a reason.

Oh man, I didn't really get this until I scrolled down while the video was playing, but the voice is uncanny.

I bet those guys were trying to steal his Mr. Underwater Watch.

That just pushes it over the edge.

His face isn't far off, his build is about right, and damn if he isn't dressed to battle Paperboy 2000.

he got them free with his knee pads.

Ain't no sheepdog like Boomer, and that's a fact.

Oh, really? No, I wasn't aware you were going to be on that show, but that's awesome! Congrats, Boomer. I hope you had fun!

If you can find a version of that episode online, would you like to post it? If not, do you mind if I post it for you?

Hi Homer I tried to embed their video on my own site but it didn't play for me for some reason.

I had so much fun doing the shoot with them, they were great and really into it, and plus I got to be a Dog the whole time!

I wouldn't mind if you'd post it, if you can.

http://boomerthedog.net Media has the video links on it.

Boomer

Oh, just saw StanlyPain's post.