Should We Rid Society of Psychopaths?

[tehealadin]

I don't know if it has been mentioned, and correct me if I am wrong, but aren't you more likely to find psychopaths in board rooms/trading floors than in jails?

[Wildtree]

the idea of ridding ourselves of psychopaths is... the highest form of psychopathic thinking, imo.

[Yvaelle]

I don't know if it has been mentioned, and correct me if I am wrong, but aren't you more likely to find psychopaths in board rooms/trading floors than in jails?

No, they are four times more likely amongst CEOs than the general public - but 15 times more likely in maximum security prison than the general public. It could be that - taking all jails into account - including minimum security / war on drugs / holding cells - that the rate of psychopathy is lower than amongst CEOs though.

the idea of ridding ourselves of psychopaths is... the highest form of psychopathic thinking, imo.

Maybe psychopaths are like Highlanders - THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

[Wildtree]

Maybe psychopaths are like Highlanders - THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

That's what that is.. lol

[Lynarii]

No, they are four times more likely amongst CEOs than the general public - but 15 times more likely in maximum security prison than the general public. It could be that - taking all jails into account - including minimum security / war on drugs / holding cells - that the rate of psychopathy is lower than amongst CEOs though.

Something to keep in mind when talking about the rate of psychopaths amongst CEOs is that even four times more likely than the general public is not a huge rate, since psychopaths are fairly rare, and CEOs are not the most common of jobs to begin with. There are VERY VERY few CEO psychopaths. By a huge margin, the most likely location to meet a legitimate psychopath is in jail.

Serving self interest is why those children need to work and why we have sweatshops and things such as slavery. Being self serving also has nothing to do with wanting to watch the world burn, but if the world needs to burn for them to live, the world will burn.. Just because not all self interest is hurting to society doesn't mean that it isn't a bad thing.

I'm not trying to argue that it's a good thing, just saying that it doesn't easily translate one to one across to a socially destructive thing in all circumstances. Society is an exceptionally complicated thing, and given enough time, tends to find a place for even some of the worst of people. A lot of people think it's as simple as "If we remove X group of people we don't like, society will be exactly as it is now, only better!" and that generally doesn't work out quite so cleanly in practice.

[Deleted]

snip

I have just watched this vid and i think i have seen the whole vid, and correct me if im wrong, but wasn't he the guy who was talking about how he didn't really like people and rather just do his thing? And how he disliked party's and other social gatherings?
What im getting at is that he is symptomatic, but just didn't get the other parts that would make him really "evil". It isn't that they can not comprehend the feelings of others, it is just that they do not care about the feelings of others. And of course there are degrees to everything, they are not all the same.

Psychopathy (/saɪˈkɒpəθi/) (also known as, though sometimes distinguished from sociopathy /ˈsoʊsiəˌpæθi/) is traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior

As stated above (copied from wiki) egocentricism is pretty much what you get if you are antisocial and have diminished empathy/remorse, so it is pretty much a given that you are egocentric if you are psychopathic. I do believe that they are capable of doing nice things, but even if you do something nice for someone els it can still be about your ego and not about the good deed in of it self.

Im not saying that we should kill them all, lock them up or that they are incapable of being nice, but you have to know what their motivations are. They are not motivated by the greater good, they are soulfully motivated by their own needs/wants. If and when those wants/needs coincide with the needs or wants of the group that is good for the group, but that doesn't mean that he did it because the group needed it, but because he needed it.

You can have certain genetic markers without really exhibiting any of the psychopathic symptoms, but that doesn't mean that you are psychopathic. Far from it even, it means that even though you have a predisposition for being a certain way you didn't turn out like that. Psychopathy are a few behavioral patterns, so you are only a psychopath if you exhibit those patterns. Anyone can be raised to be a psychopath, its not that you need a predisposition in order to become a psychopath.

- - - Updated - - -

Something to keep in mind when talking about the rate of psychopaths amongst CEOs is that even four times more likely than the general public is not a huge rate, since psychopaths are fairly rare, and CEOs are not the most common of jobs to begin with. There are VERY VERY few CEO psychopaths. By a huge margin, the most likely location to meet a legitimate psychopath is in jail.



I'm not trying to argue that it's a good thing, just saying that it doesn't easily translate one to one across to a socially destructive thing in all circumstances. Society is an exceptionally complicated thing, and given enough time, tends to find a place for even some of the worst of people. A lot of people think it's as simple as "If we remove X group of people we don't like, society will be exactly as it is now, only better!" and that generally doesn't work out quite so cleanly in practice.

Maybe not in all circumstances, not all the psychopaths are the same. But it is not a good thing to have them in places of power. Im in no way arguing to "lock them up" or "shoot them" or anything like that but i just do not want people who are in politics or big ass traders to make decisions that are only done to make them or their company "look good" but damage society as a whole.

[Sole-Warrior]

Not having the ability to feel empathy or having less capacity of empathy, does not make you a bad person, it's what you do, and what you believe is what defines who you are. Not every action has to be 100% emotionally driven.

Oh, and the professor at the end is also a phychopath, in another lecture, he brought up an argument made by people who say "we should exterminate all phychopaths" and hes response was pretty much, "hey not all of them are the same, as I am one, and I care a great deal about public safety, etc." And looking at his record, sure, the stuff he says could be quite controversial, but it does look like he isn't doing this out of selfishness.

[Daethz]

Just because you're a psychopath it doesn't mean you're going to become violent.

^

And wouldn't mass murdering psychopaths make you yourself a psychopath?
Lmao.
Also im pretty sure you cant adequately diagnose psychopathy. It would end up being a 21st century witch hunt.

[Deleted]

I think you are a psychopath if you're seriously suggesting this.

[Deleted]

Should We Rid Society of Psychopaths?

Sure, why not? Why stop there, though? I'm sure you can come up with some other category of people to "rid society of" after psychopaths. Make a list. Then just keep going down the list until there's just you.

[Oktoberfest]

Was watching the BBC documentary Psychopath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LE-UlvzmoM

20% of a prison population will be psychopaths. These people will commit a huge amount of violent crime in society. Besides harm to innocents, the police and court costs are huge.

It's been shown that psychopaths are incapable of feeling empathy.

They can easily deceive psychiatrists who try to treat them. They watch people and study their reaction to see if they can manipulate them.

Even borderline psychopaths can be hugely disruptive in the work environment. One would make himself be seen by coworkers as he talked to a vice president who just happened to be passing by, he let his coworkers think that he had influence with the VP. He spread negative rumors about his boss, etc.

We can determine psychopaths with MRI scans now. Should we just rid ourselves of them? Lock them away forever, take them out back and shoot them?

Do you know how many cops, lawyers and bankers are psychopaths? ALOT.

[Xothic]

Is there any way to filter threads started by certain people? Seems like a relevant thread to ask it in.

And in response to the OP, no, that's a fucking abhorrent idea.

[Deleted]

Then we would be no different then the biblical abrahamic God that wants rid all of mankind for their ''sins''. If we have it your way, we'l have a fiery fire of destruction in no time. Because from such a perspective the whole world is filled with rotten apples.

[Imbalanced]

Then we would be no different then the biblical abrahamic God that wants rid all of mankind for their ''sins''. If we have it your way, we'l have a fiery fire of destruction in no time. Because from such a perspective the whole world is filled with rotten apples.

God seems like a pretty reasonable dude to emulate.

[Annu]

What the OP is missing is that people without or with limited empathy are usually extremely valuable to our society.

Who do you think, works in an emergency room and is capable to put himself in a calm state of mind to make a surgery on a little girl that is about to die? Most people would be completely wrecked if they face a situation like this. If you think about the consequences of your actions and that every single failure could kill this poor child, you won't be succeeding. Fortunately, there are people who can do this.

So, just having psychopathic behavior is not always a negative thing. Only if someone is violent, it is a serious problem.

[tankbug]

Yes, we should get rid of them by funding more research on why they become violent sociopaths, and how to spot the symptoms earlier. I think the worst ones are a product of bad genes and a terrible upbringing. The latter can be helped and save many lives.