Musings on Psychopathy

A friend wrote me:

In a nation ruled by psychopath bankers, those who are not genetic psychopaths, are induced to behave like psychopaths to survive. When the rules are set up to make a society "adaptive" to psychopathy, it makes sociopaths of everyone. As a consequence, a very large number of people are effective sociopaths. (Here we use "sociopath" as a designation of those individuals who are not genetic psychopaths)

To which I replied:

Indeed, it's a sad fact of life that the world glorifies the psychopath and that success in the world today all too frequently seems to require a psychopathic mindset. However, I think the problem with humanity at its root cause does not stop with the psychopath, I think it goes deeper. In fact, I think the prevalence of the psychopath is merely symptomatic of a much more basic problem lying at the core of humanity.
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[promotional link removed]

[edit on 8-3-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

A channel4 documentary that may supplement your thread. Phil.

~Psychopath~

Google Video Link

Just a few of the statistics from the documentary.
1 in 200 in Britain likely to be psychopath.
Psychopaths are thought to be responsible for 50% of all reported crime .
And comprise 15% to 20% of the prison population.

The U.S percentage of psychopaths was higher than the British figure.(can`t recall exact %) .... or why ?
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I had read that there was a high percentage of snipers in the military were clinical psychopaths , apparently they make the best .
I would think that there have always been psychopaths , and in times past of bloodshed and war etc ...... people probably held the view that ....' they are psychopaths , but they are our psychopaths " ... leave the enemy deal with them./

Originally posted by UmbraSumus
Psychopaths are thought to be responsible for 50% of all reported crime .
And comprise 15% to 20% of the prison population.

Not only that.

Psychopathic criminals are more likely to be released from prison than non-psychopaths, even though they are more likely to re-offend, a study suggests. The Canadian research says psychopaths can charm and deceive prison staff and parole boards.

Psychopathy, a severe form of personality disorder, is characterised by superficial charm, pathological lying and a lack of remorse.

UK expert said psychologists were now on psychopaths' parole boards.
The study, published in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology looked at 300 men who spent at least two years in a Canadian prison between 1995 and 1997.

Ninety of them were classed as being psychopathic.

The psychopaths had committed significantly more offences (both violent and non-violent), and psychopathic child abusers had far more charges and convictions than non-psychopathic offenders.

The researchers from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia found psychopathic offenders were around 2.5 times more likely to have been given a conditional release than undiagnosed offenders.

And on average, psychopaths offended again, and were returned to prison after one year, compared with two for non-psychopaths.

news.bbc.co.uk...

reply to post by ziggystar60


That is a frightening statistic for re-offending./ziggy

People presume they are unhinged mad-men but there seems to be an element of awareness of their condition , without the "hindrance" of empathy , it would appear they are very effective at deception.



I believe that there are greater numbers of men than women with affectionless psychopathy.

reply to post by ziggystar60

Psychopathy, a severe form of personality disorder, is characterised by superficial charm, pathological lying and a lack of remorse.

Wow!

This describes Barack Obama and the rest of the left perfectly.

No wonder we are doomed...freaking lunatics!

Originally posted by LiquidMirage

Wow!

This describes Barack Obama and the rest of the left perfectly.

No wonder we are doomed...freaking lunatics!

State your sources and provide links, please.

I find this thread to be tremendously significant, relevent, and I wish it would remain glued as an unnavoidable headline, seen by everyone who enters into the ATS forum.
I watched the video, and was especially intrigued by the remorseless Ones in 'suits'. This is so important. Those are the Madoffs, Stanfords, Rumsfelds, Rices, Bushes, those who got off on torturing detainees who turned out to be innocent, and on and on back into history.
Say, what do you guys think of these types being in ufology? I had been on the recieving end of someone's dark side, who otherwise can do no wrong, to Everyone else.
I was convinced that I was dealing with a 'Narcissistic Personality Disorder', but NPD sounds a LOT like psychopath. Do you all know if there is a major difference between the two?

Someone feel free to take the time to define;
Psychopath
Sociopath
Narsisist (sp?)
and Arsehole.

tell us the difference. Do you lock any of them up without a crime?

don't forget degree of volition.

People should know what they are talking about before they say something as ignorant as, Obama is a psychopath.

Originally posted by LiquidMirage
reply to post by ziggystar60

 

Psychopathy, a severe form of personality disorder, is characterised by superficial charm, pathological lying and a lack of remorse.

Wow!

This describes Barack Obama and the rest of the left perfectly.

No wonder we are doomed...freaking lunatics!

I wonder, statistically speaking, how l ikely internet trolls are to be psychopathic as well.

Originally posted by asmeone2

I wonder, statistically speaking, how l ikely internet trolls are to be psychopathic as well.

Interesting question. One of the factors used to determine the extent of a person's psychopathy, is how high they score on a list of aggressive narcissism:

Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

en.wikipedia.org...

The above list seems like a quite accurate description of some of the worst trolls I have seen here at ATS...


[edit on 22/2/09 by ziggystar60]

reply to post by ziggystar60


I was trying to be flippant, but that is good research, I suppose it's just another facet of the attention-lust.

Originally posted by UmbraSumus
A channel4 documentary that may supplement your thread. Phil.

~Psychopath~

Google Video Link

Just a few of the statistics from the documentary.
1 in 200 in Britain likely to be psychopath.
Psychopaths are thought to be responsible for 50% of all reported crime .
And comprise 15% to 20% of the prison population.

The U.S percentage of psychopaths was higher than the British figure.(can`t recall exact %) .... or why ?
------------------------------------------------------------------
I had read that there was a high percentage of snipers in the military were clinical psychopaths , apparently they make the best .
I would think that there have always been psychopaths , and in times past of bloodshed and war etc ...... people probably held the view that ....' they are psychopaths , but they are our psychopaths " ... leave the enemy deal with them./

Thanks for posting the link.

IMO, the occasion par excellence, as to where psychopaths have "merit" is at the battlefield. By their ruthless and persevering psychological makeup they're also likely heroes.

Originally posted by UmbraSumus
reply to post by ziggystar60

 

That is a frightening statistic for re-offending./ziggy

People presume they are unhinged mad-men but there seems to be an element of awareness of their condition , without the "hindrance" of empathy , it would appear they are very effective at deception.



I believe that there are greater numbers of men than women with affectionless psychopathy.

I would like to think so too on purely biological grounds. The female has to have an innate desire to be caring.

[edit on 27-2-2009 by PhilJ]

[edit on 27-2-2009 by PhilJ]

Originally posted by Res Ipsa
Someone feel free to take the time to define;
Psychopath
Sociopath
Narsisist (sp?)
and Arsehole.

tell us the difference. Do you lock any of them up without a crime?

don't forget degree of volition.

People should know what they are talking about before they say something as ignorant as, Obama is a psychopath.

The sociopath is your anti-social type. The psychopath is your sociopath on steroids. The narcissist is basically identical to your psychopath. And they all are arseholes.

And no you don't lock em up without a crime. We don't want to have Minority Report Precrime kind of scenarios.

People who have reached a certain high enough age (18 or so) should be held accountable for their actions, albeit in a fair trial court setting rather than Martial Law kind of speed trials, if any at all.

[edit on 27-2-2009 by PhilJ]

Originally posted by PhilJ

And no you don't lock em up without a crime. We don't want to have Minority Report Precrime kind of scenarios.

[edit on 27-2-2009 by PhilJ]

...did you mean to say, "we shouldn't" or did you mean we "don't"...because "we do." civil commitment decided by Minority Report agents (attorneys, experts, and judges) If they decide you are likely to commit another similar crime...they will lock you up for life based on their ability to know you will commit the future crime.