You'll ruin a perfectly good theory.

But that's one of the problems with the book - ignoring historical context and contrary examples.

Krakauer: The LDS religion's violent past and dependence on revelation led to the Lafferty murders.

Problem: If that's the case, then why have there not been far more LDS killers, and why do non-religious people commit heinous murders at a rate equal to or greater than the LDS? Perhaps religion wasn't/isn't the key factor.

Karkauer: I climbed Everest, therefore your argument is invalid.