Recorded Behaviour

I’ve made a conscious change in my note-taking: I’m now labelling everything as ‘observed behaviour’ instead of ‘incidents.’ By removing the word incident, you remove the implication of intent or abnormality. It makes the horror clinical. I’ve noticed that older archives in the library do the same thing; the language softens and becomes more detached right before the intent of the threat becomes undeniable. It’s a psychological defense mechanism. If I call it ‘behaviour,’ I can pretend it’s just a biological process. If I call it an ‘attack’ or a ‘tragedy,’ I have to feel something. I’m choosing to be a camera rather than a witness.