Nero and lead in the wine. Hitler and carpet-chewing rages. Some people are both insane, and deliberately and purposely evil. There’s surely a naturalistic explanation; this neuron goes zing and that one goes pop and it’s wired thus and so. But that explanation is at such a low level, and so intricate that we can never trace it out, that it serves no purpose.

The executive summary is that these people are possessed by demons. Meaning, that they do not act like others would, that they exult in evil and cruelty, and that they do so even when it doesn’t bring them any reward. Even when it will get them killed. It’s like they’re addicted and evil-doing is their fix. And maybe that’s it.

Note added after proofing: nothing in this post is meant to suggest that the victim of this encephalitis was evil. Just talking about cases where “demonic possession” made at least a little sense as an explanation.