Interestingly, this professor and psychologist’s father was a psychopath! Enjoy.
https://www.eyesforlies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/black-logo-smaller.jpg00Eyes for Lieshttps://www.eyesforlies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/black-logo-smaller.jpgEyes for Lies2013-08-07 09:03:002014-08-12 18:41:45The Psychopath Brain: Is it like yours?
29replies
Mary says:
Fascinating! What does it mean if I also thought that I might not be able to heave the big guy over the side of the bridge and he might take me with him? Ha ha. Maybe I’ve been reading your site too much? 🙂 I’m hoping just another emotional response that the psychopath wouldn’t have.
WhereTheTruthLies says:
I’d like to know if this brain difference is nature or nurture?
Keith D. says:
From what I’ve read, the difference in a psychopath’s brain is nature, but how that difference actually plays out in life seems like it may have something to do with nurture.
I mean there are tons of psychopaths out there in the world (from 1% to 4%, which in the U.S. population would be somewhere around 3.3 million to 13.2 million people), but the majority of them aren’t violent killers for example. I’d wager that quite a lot of them are politicians, business leaders, soldiers, surgeons, extreme sports athletes, professional athletes, mountain climbers, porn stars, gamblers, etc.
It definitely includes CEOs and banksters, that’s for darn sure!
Karon says:
Very interesting! Something like this would completely undo me. I don’t think, I could play God and push anyone to their death. I am sure by the time I stood there agonizing over such a horrible death these people were going to have, it would be too late to save any of them.
Tracker says:
When he says “there are situations were being a psychopath could save lives” it kind of reminds me of how “experts” explain stress response in evolutionary terms. They all use the same analogy, which is something like “if you’re a caveman and you’re survival depends on outrunning a lion you’re stress response is going to kick in, you’re adrenaline will increase, blah blah blah”. Well if a caveman’s survival depends on their ability to outrun a lion, there’s gonna be a dead caveman (Usain Bolt might be able to outrun a 3-legged lion, but that’s about it). Similarly there’s no plausible scenarios where having a psychopath in control will result in more lives being saved.
Russ Conte says:
In reply, “Similarly there’s no plausible scenarios where having a psychopath in control will result in more lives being saved.”
Thank you for what you wrote. I think it is very accurate! I do not see any situation where a psychopath is in control would be beneficial towards saving lives. The only possible scenario I can see is where a person would have a dispassionate, logical, rational approach to their analysis of emotions, but that is not even closely related to being a psychopath.
Keith D. says:
In evolutionary terms, outrunning a lion is a stretch. However, under more realistic evolutionary terms, the caveman doesn’t need to outrun the lion. He only needs to outrun another caveman or some other potential prey. 😉
jeff says:
I found it funny that the guy says that the first scenario of pushing a switch and killing a stranger to save 4 people was easy. I was actually feeling bad thinking thaT I WOULD HAVE TO PLAY GOD AND kill someone. anyone else?
This guy I feel is selling the idea that psycopaths are more advanced in terms of evolution. But I think to survive as a species you need people that think of the wellbeing of others and advance the human race, not themselves. All the great men have helped humanity, psychopaths would never see that connection.
Karon says:
I seriously doubt that a psychopath would bother with the whole situation unless it benefited himself in some way. He might toss the guy off the bridge, just to see if he could put his plan into action to get the satisfaction of being right and a lot smarter than anyone else. After all, he has to have something really dramatic happen to fill the empty space inside of himself.
Karon says:
Part of the danger involving psychopaths is when they have another brain disorder on top of the psychopathy. An example of this would be psychopathy mixed with bipolar disorder. I have heard a number of psychologists comment about some of the people involved in the cases we have followed. Drug usage would be another dangerous mix for psychopaths. I firmly believe that there are different degrees of psychopathy. Like Keith said there are many psychopaths out there that don’t commit murder.
Russ Conte says:
Excellent point I had not considered previously – the mixing of psychopathy and drug usage and/or multiple disorders. According to one report I found online titled “85% of Prison Inmates Need Substance Abuse Treatment” :
“The CASA study also found that alcohol and drugs are significant factors in the commission of many crimes. Alcohol and drugs are involved in the following:
78% of violent crimes
83% of property crimes
77% weapon offenses
77% of probation or parole violations”
We know that a certain percentage of those people are very likely to be psychopaths. 1% – 4% of the general population, much higher in prison populations. The mixture of psychopathy with drugs and/or other disorders can make for an unbelievably bad mix. This helps clarify for me some of what has been discussed on this blog. I’m not saying I see clearly now, but it is clearer than before what is causing some of this behavior. I’ll keep my eyes open now to consider the possibility of drugs or alcohol and/or multiple disorders as we look at various cases.
Karon you do raise an interesting point. One of the scariest psychopaths I’ve witnessed was Richard Kuklinski (Iceman) and he had a combo of pychopathy and paranoid personality disorder. That seems to be the worst combo! Yes, there are many other influences that can make these people way worse. Scary thoughts!!
Karon says:
I agree about Iceman. He is the most scary individual that I have ever watched on T.V. Iceman is an appropriate name, because he is as cold as ice. I did feel that he enjoyed being in the limelight of an interview and scaring people, but he is cold and heartless, all the way thru. I feel sorry for his poor wife.
Karon says:
Russ, almost every case of the missing or murdered children cases that we have followed happens when one or both parents are drinking or drugging. When a new case comes up, I look for drug use first. If there appears to be no drug use, I start thinking about stranger abduction. Of course, there are exceptions to that.
Joan says:
Eyes, please pardon my asking, but did Dr. Patton send you a free copy of his book to review by any chance? I enjoy your blog very much. This is the only one I comment on and read regularly. I think you do a really wonderful job of building this discussion community. Though as I read, I do sometimes I wonder if you receive any remuneration to post certain content, or if it’s entirely of your choosing. Whether it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ certainly *won’t* deter me from continuing to be a loyal fan of your blog! But I’m respectfully just curious. I enjoy reading your perspective to balance out the hype from the news media, so please don’t stop! And thanks in advance for your response.
Joan — I have not received any monies of any kind or any freebies from writing this blog. I chose content entirely on my own accord by what I think is interesting and fascinating. I have never had any contact with Dr. Dutton.
Joan says:
Thank you. That’s very nice to know. 🙂
Mary says:
Although I say this mostly as tongue-in-cheek, it said with a grain of seriousness, if I were elected president, I would appoint a psychopath and the dalai lama to my cabinet. Those competing voices would help me keep from getting intellectually lazy while making tough decisions. IMHO, the best decision makers for tough choices are those that can live with the pain of feeling unclean (i.e., people who don’t run from the pain of difficult decisions by seeking refuge in hyper moralism or by tossing their consciences aside completely).
Keith D. says:
That’s an interesting position Mary. I would need to think more about it. Equally toung-in-cheek, if I did appoint a psychopath to my cabinet, I might keep him locked up in an actual cabinet lest I be stabbed in my sleep or something.
Russ Conte says:
The scenarios he describes are actually a set of well known thought experiments called The Trolley Problem. More can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
One part of the Wikipedia page states:
“Daniel Bartels of Columbia University found that individual reactions to trolley problems is context sensitive and that around 90% would refuse the act of deliberately killing one individual to save five lives. Further study by Daniel Bartels and David Pizarro focused on those 10% who made utilitarian choice. The study asked participants to series of value statement. The experiment found that those who had stronger utilitarian leaning had stronger tendency to psychopathy, Machiavellianism or tended to view life as meaningless. The Economist magazine who reported this finding stated that “utilitarians, … may add to the sum of human happiness, but they are not very happy people themselves.”
Karon says:
OT: I thought some of you might be interested in knowing that there is going to be programs on Robin Meade’s HLN show featuring Liar Liars. I think there will be some interesting analysis on why people lie and how to know they are lying. Her show is at 6:00 a.m., but I am not sure which time zone. I think this topic will be covered all next week.
Me myself and I says:
I must be a psychopath because I wouldn’t bother pulling the switch in the first case, and in the second, the only reason I would chuck the fat guy over would be if he were annoying me and I knew for certain I’d get away with his murder.
It’s my understanding that psychopaths usually don’t use their powers for good.
Lisa says:
I watched this video with my husband who has lots of “weird, not normal” reactions to lots of every day things etc. The first thing he said is that he would not even flip the switch, its not his job to decide. I was like, are you kidding, of course you would….right?? So he is not a psychopath lol….but I would say he has some emotive issues 😛 When the guy says either push the stranger of the bridge etc…I felt physically sick at the thought of pushing someone.
frognerbadet@yahoo.no says:
.
Elizabeth Darcy says:
I am obviously a psychopath, because I wouldn’t do anything in either of the scenarios. I gather that the train will have a more soft stop if it hit five people in stead of one. Hence, I will most likely survive. I will do anything to save my four children, my self and my husband.
I struggled with the second scenario and decided I couldn't do it, so I guess I'm not a psychopath! I do (rightly or wrongly) feel sympathy for psychopaths. I can't imagine how lonely it must be having no emotional life.
Fascinating! What does it mean if I also thought that I might not be able to heave the big guy over the side of the bridge and he might take me with him? Ha ha. Maybe I’ve been reading your site too much? 🙂 I’m hoping just another emotional response that the psychopath wouldn’t have.
I’d like to know if this brain difference is nature or nurture?
From what I’ve read, the difference in a psychopath’s brain is nature, but how that difference actually plays out in life seems like it may have something to do with nurture.
I mean there are tons of psychopaths out there in the world (from 1% to 4%, which in the U.S. population would be somewhere around 3.3 million to 13.2 million people), but the majority of them aren’t violent killers for example. I’d wager that quite a lot of them are politicians, business leaders, soldiers, surgeons, extreme sports athletes, professional athletes, mountain climbers, porn stars, gamblers, etc.
According to one study it Includes CEOs, journalists, and police officers.
http://www.mediabistro.com/mediajobsdaily/tv-radio-jobs-are-among-top-10-to-most-likely-attract-psychopaths_b13338
It definitely includes CEOs and banksters, that’s for darn sure!
Very interesting! Something like this would completely undo me. I don’t think, I could play God and push anyone to their death. I am sure by the time I stood there agonizing over such a horrible death these people were going to have, it would be too late to save any of them.
When he says “there are situations were being a psychopath could save lives” it kind of reminds me of how “experts” explain stress response in evolutionary terms. They all use the same analogy, which is something like “if you’re a caveman and you’re survival depends on outrunning a lion you’re stress response is going to kick in, you’re adrenaline will increase, blah blah blah”. Well if a caveman’s survival depends on their ability to outrun a lion, there’s gonna be a dead caveman (Usain Bolt might be able to outrun a 3-legged lion, but that’s about it). Similarly there’s no plausible scenarios where having a psychopath in control will result in more lives being saved.
In reply, “Similarly there’s no plausible scenarios where having a psychopath in control will result in more lives being saved.”
Thank you for what you wrote. I think it is very accurate! I do not see any situation where a psychopath is in control would be beneficial towards saving lives. The only possible scenario I can see is where a person would have a dispassionate, logical, rational approach to their analysis of emotions, but that is not even closely related to being a psychopath.
In evolutionary terms, outrunning a lion is a stretch. However, under more realistic evolutionary terms, the caveman doesn’t need to outrun the lion. He only needs to outrun another caveman or some other potential prey. 😉
I found it funny that the guy says that the first scenario of pushing a switch and killing a stranger to save 4 people was easy. I was actually feeling bad thinking thaT I WOULD HAVE TO PLAY GOD AND kill someone. anyone else?
This guy I feel is selling the idea that psycopaths are more advanced in terms of evolution. But I think to survive as a species you need people that think of the wellbeing of others and advance the human race, not themselves. All the great men have helped humanity, psychopaths would never see that connection.
I seriously doubt that a psychopath would bother with the whole situation unless it benefited himself in some way. He might toss the guy off the bridge, just to see if he could put his plan into action to get the satisfaction of being right and a lot smarter than anyone else. After all, he has to have something really dramatic happen to fill the empty space inside of himself.
Part of the danger involving psychopaths is when they have another brain disorder on top of the psychopathy. An example of this would be psychopathy mixed with bipolar disorder. I have heard a number of psychologists comment about some of the people involved in the cases we have followed. Drug usage would be another dangerous mix for psychopaths. I firmly believe that there are different degrees of psychopathy. Like Keith said there are many psychopaths out there that don’t commit murder.
Excellent point I had not considered previously – the mixing of psychopathy and drug usage and/or multiple disorders. According to one report I found online titled “85% of Prison Inmates Need Substance Abuse Treatment” :
“The CASA study also found that alcohol and drugs are significant factors in the commission of many crimes. Alcohol and drugs are involved in the following:
78% of violent crimes
83% of property crimes
77% weapon offenses
77% of probation or parole violations”
Source: http://alcoholism.about.com/b/2010/03/03/85-of-prison-inmates-need-substance-abuse-treatment.htm
We know that a certain percentage of those people are very likely to be psychopaths. 1% – 4% of the general population, much higher in prison populations. The mixture of psychopathy with drugs and/or other disorders can make for an unbelievably bad mix. This helps clarify for me some of what has been discussed on this blog. I’m not saying I see clearly now, but it is clearer than before what is causing some of this behavior. I’ll keep my eyes open now to consider the possibility of drugs or alcohol and/or multiple disorders as we look at various cases.
Thanks again for the very good perception 🙂
Karon you do raise an interesting point. One of the scariest psychopaths I’ve witnessed was Richard Kuklinski (Iceman) and he had a combo of pychopathy and paranoid personality disorder. That seems to be the worst combo! Yes, there are many other influences that can make these people way worse. Scary thoughts!!
I agree about Iceman. He is the most scary individual that I have ever watched on T.V. Iceman is an appropriate name, because he is as cold as ice. I did feel that he enjoyed being in the limelight of an interview and scaring people, but he is cold and heartless, all the way thru. I feel sorry for his poor wife.
Russ, almost every case of the missing or murdered children cases that we have followed happens when one or both parents are drinking or drugging. When a new case comes up, I look for drug use first. If there appears to be no drug use, I start thinking about stranger abduction. Of course, there are exceptions to that.
Eyes, please pardon my asking, but did Dr. Patton send you a free copy of his book to review by any chance? I enjoy your blog very much. This is the only one I comment on and read regularly. I think you do a really wonderful job of building this discussion community. Though as I read, I do sometimes I wonder if you receive any remuneration to post certain content, or if it’s entirely of your choosing. Whether it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ certainly *won’t* deter me from continuing to be a loyal fan of your blog! But I’m respectfully just curious. I enjoy reading your perspective to balance out the hype from the news media, so please don’t stop! And thanks in advance for your response.
Dutton, not Patton. Blaming jet lag
Joan — I have not received any monies of any kind or any freebies from writing this blog. I chose content entirely on my own accord by what I think is interesting and fascinating. I have never had any contact with Dr. Dutton.
Thank you. That’s very nice to know. 🙂
Although I say this mostly as tongue-in-cheek, it said with a grain of seriousness, if I were elected president, I would appoint a psychopath and the dalai lama to my cabinet. Those competing voices would help me keep from getting intellectually lazy while making tough decisions. IMHO, the best decision makers for tough choices are those that can live with the pain of feeling unclean (i.e., people who don’t run from the pain of difficult decisions by seeking refuge in hyper moralism or by tossing their consciences aside completely).
That’s an interesting position Mary. I would need to think more about it. Equally toung-in-cheek, if I did appoint a psychopath to my cabinet, I might keep him locked up in an actual cabinet lest I be stabbed in my sleep or something.
The scenarios he describes are actually a set of well known thought experiments called The Trolley Problem. More can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem
One part of the Wikipedia page states:
“Daniel Bartels of Columbia University found that individual reactions to trolley problems is context sensitive and that around 90% would refuse the act of deliberately killing one individual to save five lives. Further study by Daniel Bartels and David Pizarro focused on those 10% who made utilitarian choice. The study asked participants to series of value statement. The experiment found that those who had stronger utilitarian leaning had stronger tendency to psychopathy, Machiavellianism or tended to view life as meaningless. The Economist magazine who reported this finding stated that “utilitarians, … may add to the sum of human happiness, but they are not very happy people themselves.”
OT: I thought some of you might be interested in knowing that there is going to be programs on Robin Meade’s HLN show featuring Liar Liars. I think there will be some interesting analysis on why people lie and how to know they are lying. Her show is at 6:00 a.m., but I am not sure which time zone. I think this topic will be covered all next week.
I must be a psychopath because I wouldn’t bother pulling the switch in the first case, and in the second, the only reason I would chuck the fat guy over would be if he were annoying me and I knew for certain I’d get away with his murder.
It’s my understanding that psychopaths usually don’t use their powers for good.
I watched this video with my husband who has lots of “weird, not normal” reactions to lots of every day things etc. The first thing he said is that he would not even flip the switch, its not his job to decide. I was like, are you kidding, of course you would….right?? So he is not a psychopath lol….but I would say he has some emotive issues 😛 When the guy says either push the stranger of the bridge etc…I felt physically sick at the thought of pushing someone.
.
I am obviously a psychopath, because I wouldn’t do anything in either of the scenarios. I gather that the train will have a more soft stop if it hit five people in stead of one. Hence, I will most likely survive. I will do anything to save my four children, my self and my husband.
I struggled with the second scenario and decided I couldn't do it, so I guess I'm not a psychopath! I do (rightly or wrongly) feel sympathy for psychopaths. I can't imagine how lonely it must be having no emotional life.