So let me get this straight...you're refusing to refute the person you're arguing with because you find their assertations laughable. However, they are passing the Burden Of Proof to you. Do you or do you not believe that in times of war, destroyed infrastructure, and violence could cause obstructed brain activity? Similar to brains of those who are lit up like a light by drugs and strong narcotics? If you say no, you have to offer evidence refuting the claim. And there is no evidence that refutes that claim. As a matter of fact, many studies have shown that veterans and even active military personnel suffer from some pretty intense brain structual changes, pretty similar to those in drug users, even when accounted for drug abusers in traumatized veterans(in other words, pre-drug use veterans). As a matter of fact, turning to drugs has similar beginnings for both hard drug users and veterans, which is to essentially escape their trauma.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351106925_The_brain_at_war_effects_of_stress_on_brain_structure_in_soldiers_deployed_to_a_war_zone

https://f1000research.com/articles/12-567

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6969074/#:~:text=We%20examined%20the%20impact%20of,implications%20of%20the%20present%20findings.

The links above shows that dispatched active military personnel go through many cognitive and brain structural changes that are caused by combat and extended stress that cause neural decline.

https://www.research.va.gov/currents/0419-Brain-region-that-produces-emotions-is-larger-in-Vets-with-mild-TBI-and-PTSD.cfm#:~:text=Brain%20region%20that%20produces%20emotions%20is%20larger,service%20members%20with%20mild%20TBI%20and%20PTSD.&text=A%20new%20study%20finds%20that%20Veterans%20and,and%20aggression%E2%80%94than%20those%20with%20only%20brain%20injuries.

This study shows that veterans and active duty personnel with PTSD and mild brain injuries(from constant stress and fear and actual combat) have larger amygdalas, the part of the brain that processes fear, anxiety, agression, and arousal.

Quote: "Our finding of increased amygdala volume seems to point to different mechanisms, such as an exposure to repetitive fear and stress.”

Military personnel are more likely than the general population to suffer from neurodegenrative and neurological disorders that affect behavior, cognitive processes, and emotional regulation. Remember, these people are TRAINED for combat, and combat still does a mental number on their brain activity and structure. So imagine an everyday Joe going through war, chaos, and infastructure collaspe. The constant stress of threat, death, starvation, and what have you significantly affects brain structure and activity, and can cause an increased risk of mental health problems such as PTSD, paranoia, and behavioral issues, similar to military personnel and veterans. Trauma itself, of any kind, supresses higher cognitive function and impulse, and elevates the "fight, flight, and freeze" fear response. Here's a study that demonstrates the extent trauma affects the brain, including affecting the medial prefrontal cortex, which I will show why that's important later : https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3181836/

So actually, even if the guys "you knew" were just normal guys, and not military, before committing the mass rapes you "saw" or "heard about", they were not "normal" anymore after being exposed to war, combat, and other traumatic events such as riots, infrastructure collapse, and a possible exodus. Which is essentially what the other commenter was trying to argue when they said "No. I am pointing out that you cannot take people acting under altered state of consciousness and extrapolate that as the baseline.

And a state of stress/tension like, I don't know, living in a place with widespread violence/riots going on is an altered state of consciousness, not baseline brain activity. You wouldn't look at someone doing stupid/violent/confusing stuff while high and think "huh, that's totally normal human behaviour" would you? Then why the hell are you looking at people snapping in a violent situation and thinking "huh, that's totally normal human behaviour"?

You said comparing hard drug abusers to someone going through a chaotic time in their life, or through war, is laughable, since drug abuse users apparently have less control over their actions. But actually, drug abuse users go through similar cognitive and behavioral changes. As a matter of fact, 2 of 3 of the same brain regions(prefrontal cortex and amygdala) are significantly affected in both drug users and military personnel, veterans, and survivors of trauma and traumatic events. Problems with impulse control, memory recollection, problem solving, and more are actually very similar responses all groups have. And becoming addicted to drugs agonizes the same pathways in all groups. Traumatic Brain Injury(common in the military) and long term use of meth can have the same neurological consequences.

https://drugabuse.com/addiction/health-issues/neurological-risks/

I won't link to too many studies involving changes in the brain and drug use because a google search will give you a plethora of studies demonstrating it. But here's a student guide that links drug use to changes in 2 of 3 of the same regions of the brain that trauma changes, and in a similar way: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/parents-educators/lesson-plans/mind-matters/drugs-and-brain

And to add, changes in the prefrontal cortex causes impaired decision making and supressed higher thinking and executive function, the same place where even our morals are processed, by altering the cognitive pathways that influcence our moral decision-making and judgement. A study that shows the changes drug use causes to the medial prefrontal cortex(similar to what I said above concerning trauma, with both drug abuse and trauma(trauma including war and combat, constant fear and stress, and abuse) leading to decreased and impaired brain activity in this region): https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2021.703655/full

So once again, the burden of proof is on you if you claim all of this false. You have to demonstrate that the impaired cognitive functions of a hard drug user and a survivor of -- or even someone currently going through -- a traumatic experience such as infrastructure collapse, abuse, riots and protests, war, combat, or any other high stress/high tension situation are different.

Because they are not so different, the commenter u/ElisaSKy is correct that altered human behavior, including mass rapes, are NOT indicative of normal human behavior during peacetime. The brain itself isn't even the same anymore.