Kakistocracy: “Government by the worst people.”

If we were watching a satirical TV series in which the President of the USA re-tweeted deeply offensive messages without checking their veracity or source, the ability to switch off the screen or choose a different programme might make the events seem like a poorly written script. Because the show would have been poking fun at the so called leader of the free world in an extremely far-fetched manner, some of us might enjoy the programme despite its absurdity. If the programme gained enough popularity, the real life President might even be asked if he had ever been tempted to tweet something outrageous and no doubt the real President would turn that into a joke and move on to the much more important issues such as how to deal with poverty and healthcare, how to ensure that all US citizens feel equal despite the colour of the skin or their gender and how to deal with matters across the rest of the free world.

The fact that this is not satire and Trump has chosen to defend himself by suggesting he is not the problem and has called on his press team to claim the real problem is the rest of the world shows just how weird life has become. This is particularly disturbing when in real life, men and women in various positions have lost their jobs for the unprofessional use of social media. Meanwhile back in the UK the recently resigned Secretary of State for International Development has just proposed improving our prospects of a clean Brexit by telling the rest of the EU to “sod off”. This sort of language in public from a leader in virtually any other profession would at the very least bring a reprimand to the person concerned, however the voters in Witham are in no position to challenge Ms Patels words, even though she is paid to represent them. Elsewhere in our country a previous leader of the Conservative Party who was Home Secretary for 4 years and is qualified as a QC has just had a conviction quashed for failing to complete a form correctly, even though he did not fill it out as he should. While he did not design the form himself, it is one of the documents that his old department were responsible for creating. The numbers of people who have been denied justice or benefits because they have failed to complete badly designed forms properly, runs into tens of thousands. Their position in life and wealth however mean that unlike Michael Howard, most simply had to take such matters on the chin.

The truth is that the behaviour of a select group of our political leaders has reached a level that is so low, it is hard to imagine that things could get any worse. A recent analysis of the House of Lords identified around 90 Peers who had voted or asked questions less than 5 times in the year, yet between them had claimed over £500,000, so along with the privilege of being a member of the upper House they have each benefited from an average of £6,000 of public money for their attendance and other expenses. Along with the examples above there are numerous cases such as those of Boris Johnson, Michael Fallon, Damien Green etc who have brought their previously high office into disrepute. Yet behind these people or perhaps above them, there are many MPs, Peers, Councillors and MEPs whose hard work on our account barely gets a mention on TV or in the newspapers. It seems as though we need some way of truly holding our representatives to account and rewarding those who distinguish themselves by working hard in their roles. One person whose name comes to my mind is Frank Field who was elected in 1979 so he has been an MP for 38 years which is a huge length of time. Although I have disagreed with him on many occasions, he has achieved a huge amount of good. The same could be said for the current group of MPs in our City who between them have served a mere 10 years as MPs but all seem to work hard for our city. At a more local level, Tracey Hill is an extremely hard working Councillor in my ward and peers such as Tanni Grey-Thompson and Janet Whitaker do a stirling job on the red benches. They are of course not alone and many others could be listed. It seems that we need to find a way of applauding their hard work, just as we need a way of dismissing those who take unreasonable advantage of their position in our nation and bring the roles into disrepute.

ianchisnall

If we were watching a satirical TV series in which the President of the USA re-tweeted deeply offensive messages without checking their veracity or source, the ability to switch off the screen or choose a different programme might make the events seem like a poorly written script. Because the show would have been poking fun at the so called leader of the free world in an extremely far-fetched manner, some of us might enjoy the programme despite its absurdity. If the programme gained enough popularity, the real life President might even be asked if he had ever been tempted to tweet something outrageous and no doubt the real President would turn that into a joke and move on to the much more important issues such as how to deal with poverty and healthcare, how to ensure that all US citizens feel equal despite the colour of the skin or their…

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Mythbusting psychopathy (part 1)

There are far too many common myths about psychopaths out there that I am sick of reading about. Here is a list of the most irritating, along with a hearty dose of reality. Note the links, which are my citations.

Which one surprises you the most? Let me know in the comments. 

 

MYTH: Psychopaths don’t know they’re psychopaths.

Oh really? While some psychopaths (particularly very young or uneducated ones) may not know the specific term “psychopath”, or that it applies to them, all psychopaths of at least young adulthood are fully cognisant of their difference from others. What’s more, in this age of near-universal internet access, I’d be very surprised to come across an adult psychopath without some understanding of their psychopathy, though I expect back in the pre-web days many lived their whole lives without ever finding out why they were different. Most couldn’t be happier to be what they are; that is to say, most are fucking arrogant pricks.

 

MYTH: Psychopaths are ‘worse’ than sociopaths; psychopaths are born, sociopaths are made; psychopaths and sociopaths are different things.

Actually, neither psychopath nor sociopath are medical terms. The official term covering both in the latest versions of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM – 5) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD – 10) is antisocial personality disorder (ASPD).

The terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” have been used for the various theoretical explanations for the condition, with specialists using “psychopath” preferring a biological or neurological explanation (e.g. a psychopathic gene, brain damage) and researchers using “sociopath” more interested in social causes (e.g. childhood abuse, poor parenting). Modern consensus among psychologists and neuroscientists points toward a combination of the two, and most researchers in the field prefer the use of “psychopath” over the now rather dated and pop-sciencey “sociopath”. Osteopaths and homeopaths are something else entirely…

Yes, Bob Hare’s famous PCL-R Checklist is a slightly different beast, but since it is only administered to dickheads locked up in prison, I would argue it focuses too strongly on criminality (and how an individual should be treated by the justice system) for it to be considered a legitimate diagnosis. I will concede that Hare himself does not like psychopathy being lumped in with ASPD. However, the British National Health Service and the American MedlinePlus medical encyclopedia both consider psychopathy to be a severe form of ASPD. Wait, this is stupid.

So in actual fact, it seems nobody can agree on what, if anything, is the difference between these three terms: psychopathy, sociopathy and ASPD. Abandon hope and run to the hills.

 

MYTH: Psychopaths have no empathy.

Psychopaths have little or no warm empathy; that is to say they do not typically share the emotions of others or care about how other people feel. They are unsympathetic and lacking in compassion toward others. Psychopaths are quite capable of cold empathy, however; that is to say understanding how other people think and feel. They deliberately mimic facial expressions and behaviour that they see in others. Autistic people (in the broadest sense of what is a very broad spectrum) are kind of the opposite of this: they care about others’ feelings and share emotions, but are usually very bad at working out what other people are thinking or reading facial expressions.

Recent research has also suggested psychopaths are capable of warm empathy when they actively try to empathise with other people, and that they can activate it like a switch when asked to do so.

 

MYTH: All evil in the world is psychopaths’ fault.

This barely warrants an answer. Every human being is capable of evil, but non-psychopaths mostly use their morality, their political ideals or shudder their religion as justification for their wrongdoing. The infamous Milgram experiments on obedience demonstrated that average Joe is more than happy to electrocute someone to death when told to do so by an authority figure.

Yes, psychopaths do bad things if they feel like it. I’d say that’s a hell of a lot more honest than, for instance those who claim to believe in equality but still want a strong border to keep out the people with dark skin, or those oh-so-pious liberal saints who ignore Hobo Bill every day to get their morning Starbucks, or the followers of the Religion of Peace™ who blow themselves to kingdom come for a sniff of virgin. Ask most psychopaths, they will say the same. We are sick of taking the blame for everything, and laugh at the hypocrisy of those who assign said blame.

 

MYTH: Psychopaths actively wish harm on others. They hate everyone else. 

You’re thinking of sadists and misanthropes. There is certainly a lot of overlap between sadism and psychopathy, but the true psychopathic attitude toward others is indifference. Everything I do is to benefit me; you do not come into the equation. If in the process of taking care of number 1, I make you laugh, cry, smile or squeal, well that was just incidental. You’re welcome / sorry / I don’t care.

 

 

MYTH: Psychopaths are all active criminals or behind bars.

It is true that as much as 25% of the American prison population may be psychopathic, and that some of the worst serial killers and mass murderers in history were psychopaths. What’s more, probably every psychopath out there has committed a crime at one point or other in their life (who hasn’t?) and clever ones are likely to get away with them for longer. Taking my whole life into account, I am guilty of physical assault, fraud, theft and petty vandalism (oh and probably “psychological abuse”, which my country in its infinite wisdom has recently made a crime. Talk about discriminating against my lifestyle!) These are not regular occurrences in my life though, and I am not known to the police.

It is simply not the case that every psychopath is a hardened career criminal. Many, indeed probably most, psychopaths have never killed or seriously hurt another person. These ‘socialised’ psychopaths live normal lives, going to work, walking the dog, paying taxes, washing up, beating up prostitutes in back alleys… Psychopaths are found in all walks of life, more often than not with good, stable jobs and at a high or upwardly-mobile point on the social hierarchy. Which means that yes, some are drug lords, mafia bosses and terrorist leaders. But most are… well, see below.

 

MYTH: Psychopaths are a horrible scourge and a drain on our society.

Just look at the list of the top 10 jobs with the most psychopaths:

1. Corporate executive
2. Lawyer
3. Broadcast media
4. Salesperson
5. Surgeon
6. Print or web journalist
7. Police officer
8. Member of the clergy
9. Chef
10. Civil servant

So your society would likely collapse without psychopaths running your shit for you.

 

MYTH: Psychopaths are more intelligent than non-psychopaths

Psychopathy does not affect intelligence. There are some psychopathic geniuses, and many who are borderline retarded. Most lie somewhere in between, just like the general population. I would describe myself as well above average intelligence, but not (yet!) at the level of a genius. Bearing in mind my own “inflated self-worth” and “arrogance”, you may wish to adjust that estimate slightly lower.

Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 next week. Stay in touch.

Is there a psychopath in your life?

What is a psychopath? Do you know one? Ever been the victim of one? The chances are that the answer is yes, even if you may not realize it. The scientific consensus is that one in a hundred people is psychopathic and this breaks down evenly between men and women. (1)  Scary thought, huh? What is your idea of a ‘psychopath’? A serial killer? A crazy person foaming at the mouth? Think again.

Movie madness – muddling psychosis and psychopathy

Hollywood loves psychopaths and psychotics because they make such wonderful (or terrible, depending on your point of view) baddies. But if you think that because you’ve seen lots of movies featuring baddies who are ‘mad’ in some way you will therefore be able tell a psychotic from a psychopath, you are mistaken, because the movies regularly mix them up. Perhaps the most famous ‘mad’ movie baddie of them all, Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, is regularly branded a psychopath, although he was no such thing. He was a delusional psychotic. ‘Hearing voices’ or ‘seeing things’ that aren’t there can be symptoms of psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia, but does not mean that you are a psychopath. Of course, schizophrenia itself is another condition often misrepresented in the movies, which pursue the dramatic possibilities of ‘split personality’ while failing to acknowledge that it has nothing whatever to do with schizophrenia.

To see a more accurate movie psychopath, turn to the eponymous cold hired assassin ‘the Jackal’ in The Day of the Jackal, or the scheming and manipulative Tom Ripley (brilliantly portrayed by Matt Damon) in The Talented Mr Ripley.

In reality, most psychopaths are not criminal – although many criminals are psychopaths – but they are certainly amoral. The great majority are not killers; they are ‘bad’ rather than ‘mad’. So how do you tell if there is a psychopath in your life?

The charming manipulator

The socialized psychopath is likely to be too smart to end up in jail.

The socialized psychopath can appear extremely charming. You have to know them really well and have a fair amount of insight yourself to spot that they always and only ever do what suits them. As long as they are getting their own way, they can be as charming as you could wish, and the most delightful company. But they will lie at the drop of a hat, without the slightest twinge of anxiety or guilt (so the old ‘lie detector’ polygraph test wouldn’t be likely to catch them out). They will use other people for their own ends without the smallest concern – treating them as no more than chess pieces in their ‘game’. They have no sense of guilt or remorse and will always be able to come up with plausible rationalizations for their behavior which allow them to lay the blame for any subsequent disaster on other people. And, of course, once chess pieces have served their purpose, there is no reason why they should not be discarded.

Is it surprising that politics and show business are thought to have more than their fair share of socialized psychopaths?

Cruel yet magnetic

The socialized psychopath can be very attractive for the very qualities that make them psychopathic. This is not as contradictory as it sounds. A person whom we sense is not encumbered with the same inhibitions, doubts, uncertainties and sensitivities that plague the rest of mankind can seem very attractive. They can have such an aura of confidence and freedom about them. They may be enormously fun sensation-seeking risk takers. There are ‘no strings on them’ – or so it would appear. They may even seem like heroes to us. And they will keep us onside while we are useful to them. If you watch them carefully, however, their humor will tend to be on the cruel side.

Cult leader Jim Jones was very magnetic and attracted a great number of followers to his ‘Jonestown’ settlement where they met their tragic deaths. He was reported to have enjoyed dissecting live animals as a child – a common childhood indicator of psychopathy. Other people’s suffering does not shock the psychopath as it does ordinary people, although they can look as shocked as anyone on the surface. How so?

Feigning empathy

A psychopath is not ’emotion blind’. They can ‘read’ other people’s emotions perfectly well, and mimic them perfectly well. And for them, other people’s emotions are just another counter to use in their games. They themselves rarely get worked up about anything except not getting what they want.

How do you deal with someone who has no empathy, guilt, remorse or fear?

A psychopath may understand other people frighteningly well. They can watch dispassionately, with a cold and calculating mind, going convincingly through the motions of empathy on the surface while focusing on how to turn the situation to their advantage. The only way to spot them is to observe them carefully over a significant period of time. Do they regularly say one thing and then do another, more than other people? Do they use people emotionally, sexually, professionally and then discard them casually? Do they sometimes seem strangely un-shocked by shocking events?

Cold hearts

Not surprisingly, many two-faced bullies show strong psychopathic tendencies. As they say: ‘You can’t turn a lion into a vegetarian by throwing veggie burgers at it.’ Trying to appeal to the better nature of a person who hasn’t got a better nature is a losing strategy. Psychopaths do not feel guilt or shame. They won’t feel genuinely sorry for you and will only put up a front of convincing looking sympathy for as long as it suits them.

If you suspect there is a psychopath causing havoc in your life then you need to avoid them as much as possible. Collect and record evidence of their manipulative behavior. Try to avoid seeing them except when other people are around. Psychopaths leave a string of broken hearts, disappointment, bewilderment and empty wallets in their wake. Romantic relationships with a psychopath (of either sex) are fraught with dangers to your emotional and even physical well-being.

How do you treat the psychopath?

Traditionally psychopaths have only been ‘treated’ when they have been caught in criminal misdemeanor, and that ‘treatment’ has often been no more than punishment. Psychopathy is seen as a ‘personality disorder’ and therefore pretty much untreatable. Psychopaths may be very happy with being the way they are and there is some evidence that their brains, in some respects, work quite differently from other people’s.

In a fascinating study, researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London (2), showed six psychopaths and nine healthy volunteers’ pictures of faces displaying different emotions. When looking at happy faces (as opposed to neutral faces), the brains of both groups showed increased activity in the areas involved in processing facial expression, although this increase was smaller in the psychopathic group.

In contrast, when processing faces full of fear compared with neutral faces, the healthy volunteers showed more activation and the psychopaths less activation in these brain regions. Psychopaths can be very emotional themselves if they feel thwarted, but they are less concerned with other people’s emotions except as a hook by which to manipulate them.

The psychopathic continuum

We can all behave psychopathically sometimes, given extreme enough circumstances. Even whole cultures may be more psychopathic than others. Societies that encourage individuality, material gain and personal power while glorifying violence at the expense of the community display psychopathic tendencies just as surely as individuals do. And some people may manifest some psychopathic tendencies while still on occasion having genuine empathy and consideration.

The vast majority of people do care about others, are shocked and upset by the suffering of fellow creatures and won’t tread over all and sundry just to get to the top. And we can all be manipulative, calculating, selfish or ladle on the false charm at times. But for the psychopath this is par for the course.

Notes

1. See Robert D Hare’s excellent: Without Conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us
2. This research was conducted by Professor Declan Murphy and colleagues at Kings College London and published in ‘Facial emotion processing in criminal psychopathy’, British Journal of Psychiatry, 2006 189: 547-555

EXCERPT from “No strings on me: Is there a psychopath in your life?” by Mark Tyrrell

Photo courtesy bryancrump