The recent release of the initial results of the investigation into the shooting in Las Vegas confronts us once again with the senselessness of that act. As he announced the report’s publication, Sheriff Lombardo of the LVMPD stated that it “is not going to answer every question or even answer the biggest question as to why he did what he did.” And the report itself matter-of-factly states that “nothing was found to indicate motive on the part of Paddock”. Thus, in spite of their obvious wish to facilitate some understanding of that horrendous event, the investigators have been unable to shed any light on the aspect which, as the sheriff rightly pointed out, troubles us most. This disappointing lack of a plausible, let alone definitive, motive seems to confirm the point made by Elif Batuman (“Searching for Motives in Mass Shootings”,The New Yorker, 11/27/17) with regard to the mo...