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Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us?
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Living in the moment, with no thought of future consequences of one's actions or inactions, is a fundamental characteristic of a psychopath. Add it to his constant lying, lack of empathy, and grandiose self-image. The sooner the public is educated about psychopathy, the better.
1 in 100 is a psychopath. That's over 3 million in the US. The odds are good you know one personally. Do not confuse it with a mental illness. It is a structural brain defect, and cannot be treated.
For more on psychopathy, I recommend <em>Without Conscience</em> by Dr. Robert Hare, who developed the clinical test for identifying psychopaths.
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
by Robert Hare
Very fascinating book, no problem to read for a layperson, and very relevant for your friend.
whether psychopaths are born or bred is a HUGE question in psychology, but many believe they are in fact born that way, although its possible to create one.
Read any book by Dr Hare, very accessbile and super interesting
he doesn't love you to him you are merely a puppet. He is a psychopath so don't be surprised when he cheats.
A psychopath would rape their best friends widow at his funeral if he could get away with it. He's not a man he is just a big lie.
There are sufficiently good answers available to this question. Sadly people keep repeating this question ad infinitum rather than reading up on a condition where this behaviour is entirely explained: psychopathy. Read Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. If you don't think it answers your questions, I don't believe you've read it.
1.) I think many high-level people within our government behave / speak as psychopaths.
2.) A system is only as good as its user. [see article one]
3.) Since psychopathy is a recognized disease in the DSM [three through five, if I remember correctly] and it involves a lack of empathy for people is there a case for prohibiting people with psychopathy from holding office?
The following link is to one of the more well known voices in the world of psychopathy study.
http://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
Read about psychopaths. They are much more common than most people realize, and they are probably nothing like what you associate with the word.
You will quickly realize that empathy and compassion are the most important qualities that not everyone has.
Avoidance of responsibility is a primary characteristic of psychopathy. He ticks off all the other checkmarks, too. Only libel laws are protecting his ass from being called a psychopath openly. Educate yourselves about psychopaths -- I recommend these books I have read to understand my own lifelong contact with psychopaths, starting with my mother:
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
He is commonly called a narcissist, but here's a handy rule of thumb. Not all narcissists are psychopaths, but all psychopaths are narcissistic. It's easy to understand why -- they don't see humans as humans, only objects to be manipulated for fun and profit. They, themselves, are the only conscious being, so nothing else matters. Their brains aren't wired to understand we have minds and memories, which is why they lie constantly to achieve their immediate needs. Strangely, the inability to experience emotions (and that includes fear, which is why Trump seems to never give a fuck about consequences) comes with no sense of past or future. There is only the "now."
1% of the population are psychopaths. You know more than one. Some say it's an evolutionary adaptation that exploits humans with emotions and morals, and that they are "intraspecies predators." There are professions that rely on psychopathic behavior, and you can draw your own opinions on them:
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
It is also commonly said that psychopaths are experts are reading people. This is false (because, to them, there is nothing to read). They are simply experts, from lifelong experience and practice, at putting people into situations with predictable reactions. For example, Trump likes to insult people because he knows it distracts them and takes them off their game as they try to defend themselves. Psychopaths like to do their manipulating in the background and behind peoples' backs (and in Trump's case, behind NDAs and hush money), thus Trump's biggest problem -- he's the world's most watched person and nothing goes unnoticed, so his previous tactics aren't working. He is thrashing more and more as he gets more desperate to deceive. He is not losing his mind or getting senile. He's a psychopath who can't understand why his old tricks are no longer working.
His apparent "humanness" is a practiced façade, as is true for all psychopaths. They learn, starting in childhood, how to fit in. Some learn how better than others. Trump is good enough at it to fool a large number of voters. BTW, there's nothing saying a psychopath can't also be dumb as a brick or illiterate.
No, it's a standard ploy by psychopaths, for whom words have no meaning, only an immediate effect. They will often contradict themselves from one sentence to the next if they think it will achieve their goal. A psychopath's brain is not wired to understand that humans have minds and memories, and they see us as simple automatons to manipulate with words. I have spent years studying them (and have spent most of my life in close contact with psychopaths), and they are both fascinating and terrifying.
That said, he is probably losing it with age.
Edit: the topic of Trump's psychopathy (aka sociopathy; the words are synonymous, see ref #5) is important enough to give assessible references. It's not just Trump -- 1 in 100 is a psychopath. That's over 3 million in the US, alone!
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
The Sociopath Next Door
I saw Ronson on C-SPAN back then, and it was like he was describing my brother. I read his book, and many others, and sooo many mysteries of my life were explained. It turns out my mother was a psychopath, and two of my siblings inherited it from her. Growing up in a family of psychopaths caused me to think they were the normal ones. And, so, I ended up marrying one. That's all in the past now.
My standard elevator talk about the danger of psychopaths:
(Recommended references are at the end.)
-- I am on a mission to expose the reality of psychopaths. Like David Vincent on the old TV show <em>The Invaders</em>, I know there are predators among us. Like on the show, many people I talk to can't fathom their existence.
-- The words psychopath and sociopath are synonymous today.
Disparate avenues of research came to be understood to have the same subject. (The so-called "official" name, anti-social personality disorder, in DSM-5 is so vague it's meaningless.) The originator of the clinical test for the condition prefers psychopath, and this is what I will use. Also, see the first paragraph of the fifth reference.
-- Psychopathy is a brain defect.
It is not treatable. Their brains are not wired to see humans as anything besides objects to exploit. Their amygdala, the area of the brain that processes emotions, does not function as in a normal brain. That is why they feel no emotions or empathy, although many learn to fake these when it benefits them. (There is also a controversial hypothesis that their mirror neurons are inoperative.) Surprisingly, at least to me, this defect comes with two effects:
1) Our mental states are completely hidden to them. They don't realize humans have minds and memories, hence their behavior of lying as easily as they breathe. Words have no meaning, and are simply tools to manipulate us automatons. Lies are throw-away and immediately forgotten. That's why they can make contradictory back-to-back statements without blinking an eye. It is sometimes said they are experts at reading people, but this is wrong. Instead, they are experts at putting people into situations with predictable reactions, a skill learned in childhood by "successful" psychopaths.
2) They don't experience time like us. There is no past or future, only the now. Hence, they have no thought of past actions, or concern for future consequences of current actions.
-- Not all narcissists are psychopaths, but all psychopaths are narcissistic.
This is easy to understand because, to themselves, they are the only conscious being on Earth. They are the only thing that really matters. Everything and everyone are merely props in their world.
-- Psychopaths are not crazy.
Imagine being fully rational but without the burden of emotions like guilt, remorse, or shame, and without the chains of ethics, morals, or compassion. ("burden" and "chains" would be their words, not mine. They would say, "Only chumps follow the rules or give a shit.") They know what they're doing, and have to avoid being caught. Hence, they do their thing secretively, and behind peoples' backs. They will also distract and deflect attention away from their actions by blaming others, "throwing grenades," sabotaging or otherwise neutralizing anyone they regard as threats, and sowing doubt and distrust. But to your face, many are charming and disarming. One fascinating trait is their insistence on never being wrong or held accountable. This is a ploy for avoiding suspicion, and this is when their lying becomes truly bewildering.
-- But psychopaths are lazy
To a psychopath, life is a con on humans. Their goal is to acquire whatever drives them with the least effort. They learn early how to appear productive and hard-working, but it is usually superficial. They are the ultimate brown-nosers and flatterers since this helps get ahead, disguise their actions, and defend against peers' accusations of misdeeds. They are notorious for taking credit for other people's work. My favorite ploy is when they have to produce results or make a decision for which they have no idea, they will temporize in an effort to appear smart, and try to bluff their way till a meeting ends. (This last one is not limited to psychopaths, of course. But they are consummate posers.)
-- Tips for identifying a psychopath
(These are meant to help cold-read a suspected psychopath, not to substitute for more extensive analysis, such as presented in the recommended readings. They are based on 50+ years of experience living intimately with psychopaths.)
- A psychopath flies blind when talking on a phone. Without a human present for cues, they tend to expose their thought processes, which can be jarring and disturbing, and a departure from their public persona.
- A psychopath does not cry (except for those who have learned to). A female psychopath once told me only wimps cry, to justify her never crying. Remember, no emotions, so no normal emotional responses.
- Psychopaths do not understand word play or figurative language, and they tend to take language literally. Communication often requires getting inside another's head to understand the words, and to read between the lines. Psychopaths are unable to do this.
- A psychopath manipulates by relying on our normal reactions to situations. They become confused and impotent when you react differently than they expect. For example, if they insult you to put you on the defensive, simply laugh back.
- Psychopaths are generally glib, using language (as untruthful as it is) to smoothly smother suspicion, and to control interactions. They aren't interested in what you have to say, and will dominate the time rather than yield in a conversation -- and risk exposing their inability to connect or care.
- Many people report a 1000-foot stare or "dead eyes" in a psychopath. This is not unexpected as they simply regard you as an object and not a person.
-- A psychopath uses tactics common to salespersons to manipulate you.
This is because these tactics work. This specific problem is not with psychopaths (or salespersons!), but with us. It's human nature to believe people are trustworthy, to believe flattery, to question our own eyes when presented with disturbing evidence -- in other words, to be easy marks.
-- It is estimated that at least 1 in 100 is a psychopath.
That's over 3 million in the US. The percentage is higher in certain fields, such as politics and finance, that attract the psychopath. Seemingly, they pursue the Big Three: money, power, sex. (Why? With no real connection to humankind, and devoid of morals, these are aspects of life that can be easily taken and enjoyed.) Educate yourself on psychopathy because the odds are good one or more of them are fucking up your life.
-- Here are some books I used on my journey to discovery of the malevolent influence of psychopaths in my own life.
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
The Sociopath Next Door
The Wisdom of Psychopaths
The first two books are written by Dr. Robert Hare. He developed the clinical test for psychopathy that is the subject of the fourth book (which is an entertaining, yet disturbing, read).
Trump is a psychopath, as are 1% of the population (that's over 3 million in the US, alone) . He is doing what psychopaths do. But Trump has the largest stage in the world -- the US Presidency -- so nobody is immune from his actions. We need to use this situation as a teachable moment, for the whole world, about the damage psychopaths cause to society. Here are several references I have used to understand my own close contact with psychopaths in my life, starting with my own family.
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
The Sociopath Next Door
Some years ago, when I learned about psychopathy and its prevalence in the human population, I came to understand the source of evil throughout history. Psychopaths are by nature narcissistic, and greed is one manifestation of this. Trump is a psychopath (*), and is merely doing what psychopaths do. It's too bad that the conservative mindset falls in line with the same behavior.
(*) References provided upon request.
EDIT: References provided:
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
The Sociopath Next Door
Yes. Here's the evidence (well at least some of it, I have more, much more). There is an emphasis on psychopathy, which is crucial to policy development in this area given that 50% of those in prison for violent and/or sexual offenders have been found to be psychopathic from research done in prisons in Canada and the US read all about it here
From 2006 THE INTERSECTION OF GENES, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF OFFENDING - the abstract here is interesting;
>The discipline of criminology has been dominated by social and environmental explanations to crime, criminality, and delinquency. At the same time, biogenic theories of antisocial behavior have historically been marginalized, ridiculed, and ignored by criminologists. This is somewhat surprising given the large and ever-expanding body of empirical research revealing strong genetic underpinnings to most behaviors and most personality traits. However, recent behavioral genetic research has shown that the most accurate explanations to human development incorporate both biological/genetic factors and social influences
From 2009 - The Heritability of Personality Is Not Always 50%: Gene-Environment Interactions and Correlations Between Personality and Parenting. First line of the abstract; Twin studies of personality are consistent in attributing approximately half of the variance in personality to genetic effects, with the remaining variance attributed to environments that make people within the same families different.
From 2019 More recent research increasingly points to biomedical causes for psychopathology Abstract as follows; Mental disorders are increasingly conceptualized as biomedical diseases, explained as manifestations of genetic and neurobiological abnormalities. Here, we discuss changes in the dominant explanatory accounts of psychopathology that have occurred over time and the driving forces behind these shifts, lay out some real-world evidence for the increasing ascendancy of biomedical explanations, and provide an overview of the types of attitudes and beliefs that may be affected by them
From 2009 a less academic article Brain Difference In Psychopaths Identified The research investigated the brain biology of psychopaths with convictions that included attempted murder, manslaughter, multiple rape with strangulation and false imprisonment. Using a powerful imaging technique (DT-MRI) the researchers have highlighted biological differences in the brain which may underpin these types of behaviour and provide a more comprehensive understanding of criminal psychopathy.
Back to 1994 Personality and psychopathology: genetic perspectives. From the abstract; Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere between 30% and 60% of the variance. Heredity is also important for most forms of psychopathology and plays a major role in several theories that relate personality to psychopathology.
An oldie but a goodie from 1984 - Aggressiveness is stable over time, so that if someone is aggressive at 15, they will be aggressive at 25, 35, 45 etc
None of this should come as a surprise. That genes make a substantial contribution to behavioural traits has been known for many years. Just how significant is now being uncovered by more recent research. They are not the only factor of course, but they are significant, and denying the very significant role biological factors such as genetics make to behavioural traits is not dissimilar to the denial of science common to anti vaxxers
I'd suggest by reading up on psychopathy, starting with reading this book its an easy but eye opening read. Then look at some of the more recent research that shows significant biological causation. I have lots more where those came from, and I can post the lot here if you like
>We haven' yet produced any reliable evidence to locate the causes of crime in the make-up of the individual.
Wrong.Here's the evidence (well at least some of it, I have more, much more). There is an emphasis on psychopathy, which is crucial to policy development in this area given that 50% of those in prison for violent and/or sexual offenders have been found to be psychopathic from research done in prisons in Canada and the US read all about it here
From 2006 THE INTERSECTION OF GENES, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF OFFENDING - the abstract here is interesting;
>The discipline of criminology has been dominated by social and environmental explanations to crime, criminality, and delinquency. At the same time, biogenic theories of antisocial behavior have historically been marginalized, ridiculed, and ignored by criminologists. This is somewhat surprising given the large and ever-expanding body of empirical research revealing strong genetic underpinnings to most behaviors and most personality traits. However, recent behavioral genetic research has shown that the most accurate explanations to human development incorporate both biological/genetic factors and social influences
From 2009 - The Heritability of Personality Is Not Always 50%: Gene-Environment Interactions and Correlations Between Personality and Parenting. First line of the abstract; Twin studies of personality are consistent in attributing approximately half of the variance in personality to genetic effects, with the remaining variance attributed to environments that make people within the same families different.
From 2019 More recent research increasingly points to biomedical causes for psychopathology Abstract as follows; Mental disorders are increasingly conceptualized as biomedical diseases, explained as manifestations of genetic and neurobiological abnormalities. Here, we discuss changes in the dominant explanatory accounts of psychopathology that have occurred over time and the driving forces behind these shifts, lay out some real-world evidence for the increasing ascendancy of biomedical explanations, and provide an overview of the types of attitudes and beliefs that may be affected by them
From 2009 a less academic article Brain Difference In Psychopaths Identified The research investigated the brain biology of psychopaths with convictions that included attempted murder, manslaughter, multiple rape with strangulation and false imprisonment. Using a powerful imaging technique (DT-MRI) the researchers have highlighted biological differences in the brain which may underpin these types of behaviour and provide a more comprehensive understanding of criminal psychopathy.
Back to 1994 Personality and psychopathology: genetic perspectives. From the abstract; Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere between 30% and 60% of the variance. Heredity is also important for most forms of psychopathology and plays a major role in several theories that relate personality to psychopathology.
An oldie but a goodie from 1984 - Aggressiveness is stable over time, so that if someone is aggressive at 15, they will be aggressive at 25, 35, 45 etc
None of this should come as a surprise. That genes make a substantial contribution to behavioural traits has been known for many years. Just how significant is now being uncovered by more recent research. They are not the only factor of course, but they are significant, and denying the very significant role biological factors such as genetics make to behavioural traits is not dissimilar to the denial of science common to anti vaxxers
Housing, welfare and education are not the root causes. Biological factors, such as FAS (Foetal Alcohol Syndrome which is tied in with addiction) and most importantly psychopathy, which is of overwhelming significance as a root cause given that 50% of those in prison for violent and/or sexual offenders have been found to be psychopathic from research done in prisons in Canada and the US read all about it here
From 2006 THE INTERSECTION OF GENES, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF OFFENDING - the abstract here is interesting;
>The discipline of criminology has been dominated by social and environmental explanations to crime, criminality, and delinquency. At the same time, biogenic theories of antisocial behavior have historically been marginalized, ridiculed, and ignored by criminologists. This is somewhat surprising given the large and ever-expanding body of empirical research revealing strong genetic underpinnings to most behaviors and most personality traits. However, recent behavioral genetic research has shown that the most accurate explanations to human development incorporate both biological/genetic factors and social influences
From 2009 - The Heritability of Personality Is Not Always 50%: Gene-Environment Interactions and Correlations Between Personality and Parenting. First line of the abstract; Twin studies of personality are consistent in attributing approximately half of the variance in personality to genetic effects, with the remaining variance attributed to environments that make people within the same families different.
From 2019 More recent research increasingly points to biomedical causes for psychopathology Abstract as follows; Mental disorders are increasingly conceptualized as biomedical diseases, explained as manifestations of genetic and neurobiological abnormalities. Here, we discuss changes in the dominant explanatory accounts of psychopathology that have occurred over time and the driving forces behind these shifts, lay out some real-world evidence for the increasing ascendancy of biomedical explanations, and provide an overview of the types of attitudes and beliefs that may be affected by them
From 2009 a less academic article Brain Difference In Psychopaths Identified The research investigated the brain biology of psychopaths with convictions that included attempted murder, manslaughter, multiple rape with strangulation and false imprisonment. Using a powerful imaging technique (DT-MRI) the researchers have highlighted biological differences in the brain which may underpin these types of behaviour and provide a more comprehensive understanding of criminal psychopathy.
Back to 1994 Personality and psychopathology: genetic perspectives. From the abstract; Genetic factors exert an important influence on adult personality traits, accounting for anywhere between 30% and 60% of the variance. Heredity is also important for most forms of psychopathology and plays a major role in several theories that relate personality to psychopathology.
An oldie but a goodie from 1984 - Aggressiveness is stable over time, so that if someone is aggressive at 15, they will be aggressive at 25, 35, 45 etc
None of this should come as a surprise. That genes make a substantial contribution to behavioural traits has been known for many years. Just how significant is now being uncovered by more recent research. They are not the only factor of course, but they are significant, and denying the very significant role biological factors such as genetics make to behavioural traits is not dissimilar to the denial of science that is all too common in other debates
>I can’t understand why some people are even inclined to attempt anything like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
https://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
Here is the link to the book without all the Amazon tracking crap.
> It was in a book written by Hare but I don't remember the title.
> Firstly, I'll tell you that the behaviors of a Satanist cannot be summarized on a Wikipedia page.
I was only using it to introduce you to the idea of The Dark Triad, which is a psychological concept.
> Secondly, i'd like a source on the "untold amounts of harm" associated with the behaviors.
I notice your skepticism that toxic behaviors have harmed people. Blaming the victim of abuse and aggression is classic Satanist behavior. I could point you to many, many examples of these, but you would probably say, "Well the victims had it coming".
Nonetheless, here you go. At the Ph.D. level, both of them. I don't expect you to read them. I expect you to mock them. Because you are a Satanist, and that's what your religion tells you to do:
What I love about "The No Asshole Rule" is that it actively encourages excluding people like you from society.
> Satanism encourages pride and egotism to the point that it does not become destructive.
And I suppose it's also up to each individual Satanist what is "destructive" (and who is worthy of it).
> Regarding Machiavellianism, we do not encourage manipulation or exploitation of others. Self-interest is a big part of Satanism, we live for ourselves, our gain, our pleasure, not for others.
"do not encourage"? That's a very weak condemnation. If an individual Satanist decides it's moral to defraud someone out of $10,000 and get away with it, then that is acceptable in Satanism, correct?
In Satanism, it is completely acceptable to knowingly and willfully hurt someone's feelings, and derive pleasure from that, correct?
> As for Psychopathy, Satanists are lacking. Like I mentioned earlier, Satanism allows for a lot of individual interpretation. I, personally, am callous, but the same can not be said for the rest of us.
I'm not surprised to hear that you're callous. I've never met a Satanist who wasn't someone who enjoyed watching people suffer, making people suffer, and blaming the victim.
But you didn't answer whether or not the other hallmarks (antisocial behavior, impulsivity, and remorselessness) were or were not against Satanic doctrine.
You're not doing a good job of raising my opinion of your evil, malicious religion.
4.) A book written by a prison psychologist.
5.) I'm sorry to sound silly, but dealing with them is identical, in form, to how you deal with evil spirits. You banish them. Halt all communication and participation. They need marks and victims; the moment you do not cooperate with their manipulations they lack a focal point. They will move on to the next victim or mark.
A good representation of this is in the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street. She defeats Freddy by ignoring him. His fear campaign only works if you decide to go along with his fear campaign. That's really all he ever had. This is identical to psychopaths. The vast majority are simple con-men and are only going to bilk you for money or attention. Refuse to give it to them and they're as helpless as kittens.
That's the short answer.
There's a longer answer, but it would first help for you to familiarize yourself with the topic before I go into anything in depth. Most of my thoughts only make sense if you understand psychopathy on a cognitive level and why they think the way they think.
Read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
Seriously. That's what you were up against.
have you read works by Robert Hare?
this is essentially a definitive book regarding psychopathy. Robert Hare created the tests that are used to determine elements of psychopathy. the Hare PCL - R http://www.mhs.com/product.aspx?gr=saf&prod=pcl-r2&id=overview
Book: Without Conscience
A quick article from Hare from the Annual Journal of Psychology: http://www.hare.org/references/HareandNeumannARCP2008.pdf
website
I know quite a bit about psychopathy, but I am not one, nor do I have tendencies. I did know for a while, a girl that was in-patient and she was diagnosed accordingly.
Good book on the subject, written by the author of the test used to diagnose psychopaths: http://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
As I said, it's a pet subject.
And then I was asked for my take on it, which I gave.
And you didn't entirely read it, because I said that there aren't that many sociopaths but it doesn't take many to make a mess.
Also, what is that I am an "outsider" of, exactly?
And your grammar sucks.
You live up to your Reddit name.
According to a book I'm reading all psychopaths aren't psychotic and it can be argued that none of them are. The difference is someone who is psychotic has had a break with reality. They may very well know what they're doing but it is driven by mental illness. A Psychopath is driven by a desire to have something he/she wants and will get it at any cost to others. They have a very specific set of traits that set them apart from those with mental illnesses and others who commit similar crimes. A Psychopath may commit the same crimes as someone who is psychotic but the drive to do so will likely be different. For example a person who kills several people may be driven by something that happened in their past. They will meticulously plan what they will do, maybe stalk the person. Perhaps they murder people with specific traits. A psychopath may kill several people as the urge hits them or to get something they want. They are generally in the moment thinkers. Also they tend to lack the ability to understand emotions. When we think of a word such as "cancer" we know the definition of what cancer is, but it also elicits an emotion. Fear, sadness, anger, etc. The psychopath can tell you what those emotions mean or even act them out but they only understand what they've observed. A Psychopath may come from a bad family but generally they were raised in a typical family environment. They may have siblings that grow up normally. Psychopathic tendencies tend to begin at a young age and a Psychopath will likely never be "cured". They have no concept of the inner drive to not commit a crime because it is "wrong". They make their own rules as they go. I'm sorry for rambling but this interests me very much. Psychopaths are also different from Sociopaths, but that's a different topic.
EDIT: Even though I'm sure nobody will read this. This book also points out that Antisocial Personality Disorder was originally (and may still be) simply a "catch all" disorder for anyone who habitually breaks the law. It doesn't take into account intent. The book is a little dated and I think we may have had two DSM changes since it was written so take that into account.
I haven't seen it. I don't really care to.
I've spent the last couple years on theology, philosophy and a mysticism. Among the various things I've examined, I've looked up the foundations of Mormonism and decided to talk to a couple of missionaries (I was invited to go inside their church - which I regret declining; they don't let outsiders in and this was actually a big deal). I didn't have the budget of Bill Mahar and was likely more serious about understanding the topic than he was (the title of his 'documentary' says a lot about where he's coming from on a mental level). I actually spent more time talking about the words of Jesus and interpretations than the missionaries did. They were stunned that I wasn't a church-goer as I had a deeper understanding than they did.
On one of my visits with the mirrionaries, I got one of the missionaries to reveal a chink in her intellectual armour. When this happened I let it go immediately. I don't need to press her. She'll do all of the thinking for herself later in life. You see, if I had pressed her she would have moved into a defensive mental state. And then anything I would have said would have been rejected. This would have had the opposite effect of what I wanted. And whatever it is she thinks is beyond my control anyway. All I did was coax out something that was already there. She batted it down in public view, but it'll come up again late at night when she has a chance to think without distraction.
I know about religion and I know about charlatans. I've also been to a TBN thing. I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep if, for example, some people like Benny Hinn or Jesse Duplantis had their clavicles snapped.
I've been studying psychopathology for about a year now and am of the opinion that many of the people at the heads of various churches are not actually religious / spiritual in the least; they're likely psychopaths cynically manipulating the laity to their own ends. And petty ends at that; it's almost always power, money and sex - with surprisingly few variations.
http://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-World-Psychopaths/dp/1572304510
[The follwing is an interview. The person interviewing sounds like he's a flakey stoner. The person being interviewed is well worth wading through the radio-host. I'm unemployed and can't purchase books without great effort. I'm going to be purchasing this book as soon as I can.]
Regarding Romney, I think he is a psychopath. This is not slander. I stopped caring about the two party system four years ago [former Democrat here]. I use this word 'psychopath' in the clinical sense. He has many of the markers: lack of empathy, superficial use of terminology, shady past, pathological lying, shallow emotions, narcassistic and so on [to list them would be academic]. If Romney is a psychopath (which makes sense to me) then he's not a Mormon. He pretends to be a Mormon because he knows it'll give him some level of power relative to those who actually are Mormon. Romney, if he's a psychopath, is also not a Republican. He'll claim it only because he knows people will respond to the claim.
Arguing with a psychopath is completely pointless because you'd be doing it from a rational point of view - this is beyond a psychopath. Their construction of "reality" is linguistic. They do not have a sense of "deep reality." Whatever they say, including definitions of "reality", is designed specifically for the mark [the person they with to manipulate] sitting in front of them. The moment the mark is gone they'll tailor their next construction of "reality" for their new mark. The reason for this is because they don't have a fully functioning pre-frontal cortex. This is where mirror neurons, empathy and abstract thought reside. Or, rather our access to such concepts. Psychopaths don't have this.
The above can be summed up as, "arguing with a psychopath is a godamn waste of time."
As for non-psychopaths who are simply silly. They are also a waste of time. You walk your path. They walk their path. You cannot walk their path for them and they cannot walk your path for you. As Krishnamurti would say, "who are you to take away their emotional security?" This goes both ways. If you interfere with their lives then you're a dick. If they interfere with your life then they're a dick. The only thing that works, in my opinion, is to simply give a wide berth when such things come up. Of course, I have a tendency to begin proselytising about mindfullness using Jesus' words (this is a touch under-handed on my part and I know it). I frequently try to make their day a little better by being nice to them. I then send them on their way. They think I'm a Christian and they also found someone who gave them a smile. Hey, smiles are free, right?
I've also been studying political science.
I would also say that our civilization is unraveling. Zealots are getting whipped up. Christian zealots, atheist zealots, transhumanist zealots and whatever other descriptors you care to think on. If a perported Mormon got into the White House (and I do not count Romney as a Mormon) I could only find it amusing. I lost faith in the Federal Government years ago. now I regard it as an out-of-control beast that needs to be either tamed or put down. That said, Romney should not be considered a candidate on the grounds that he's likely a psychopath. The only reason I ever talk about the guy is only as a way of describing psychopathology. As where Obama is a normal person with, I assume, a fully functioning pre-frontal cortex. He's the mark of psychopaths; they like people like him because he's a normie. He probably wants to do some good and is "taking a hit for the team." Obama himself is beholden to special interest groups.
In a way I'd prefer Romney to be in office if only because it would really force people to stop and think about where this country has gone. What the fuck are we participating in? How is it that this top-down structure is considered reasonable? Why do we allow our politicians to be bought off? Why the fuck do we have an official kill list? Why do we allow other people to tell us what we can do with our lives? If I don't go to their houses and tell them what they can and can't smoke why do they come to mine and tell me what I can and can't smoke? When the fuck did I wake up in Germany circa 1932?
But that's just me.
Here. Take this:
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