[7bit]

> deleted everything from my home drive to "teach me a lesson". Lesson painfully learnt.

I had a mentor in my teenage year that was the same kind of person. To this day the only meaningful memory I have of him is that he was an asshole. You can teach a lesson and be empathetic towards people that make mistakes. You don't have to be an asshole.

[Dalewyn]

The lessons we learn best are those which we are emotionally invested in and sometimes that emotion can be negative, but a lesson will be learned regardless.

[7bit]

LOL! That's why we still smack kids' hands with a stick if they answer a question in school wrong. Because it emotionally sticks and definitely does not cause any psychological issues.

[ano-ther]

Sure. But you don’t have to deliberately destroy all data and be mean about it as in GP‘s case to get an emotional reaction.