Not all psychopaths are evil say researchers

24 May 2012 10:23p.m.

JOHN wrote:

Whoa... psychopathy does not 'simply' mean lack of empathy. That is one feature, yes. But it is much more complex than that.

17 Jan 2012 07:01p.m.

nigel wrote:

You are correct Chargone, however the “technical” description of psychopath is dreadfully boring and leaves little license for literary larrikinism. I hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them.

17 Jan 2012 01:58p.m.

Chargone wrote:

nigel, I'm pretty sure you're using a non-technical definition of the word psychopath there.

16 Jan 2012 03:59p.m.

nigel wrote:

Individuals who realise it is in their best interests not to kill, are not psychopaths they are something else. A psychopath will kill you for no reason, more than lacking empathy and conscience they are delusional and narcissistic with an obsessive fear of abandonment, the ultimate control freaks in common parlance. Ultimate control can only be achieved by the objects death; therefore they are the ultimate evil. The university study smacks of co- dependence, the need to be liked or inverted narcissism if you prefer. Often those who have been hurt will turn to psychology to make themselves feel better and then bask in the glory of their understanding, otherwise known as narcissistic supply. This is emotional transference thus they avoid the conscious recognition of their own fear and weakness, and the impotence they experienced when confronted by an aggressor. In this instance they have devalued the profile of the psychopath to gain coherence and synchronicity with their world view, in short Dan they are idiots.

15 Jan 2012 11:13p.m.

Dan wrote:

@ Nigel: Psychopathy simply means a lack of empathy, it does not necessarily make them homicidal or "evil". In fact many function perfectly well in society because they realise it is almost always in their best interests not to kill other people. Sadly when they decide to kill someone they have an inability to feel remorse for what they have done.

15 Jan 2012 02:59p.m.

nigel wrote:

I remember my time at university and other than being isles of intellect in a miasma of mediocrity they were at times bastions of bs in a bog of job! And this is an example of the latter, a psychopath is by definition evil, evil is to psychopath as water is to sea; one does not exist without the other. From time to time individuals may behave pathologically but that does not necessarily imply they are psychopaths. Psychopaths are a different breed of human, aliens among us with no conscience or moral compass; they only know the want, the need, the hunger that can never be satiated. Vampires at the neck of humanity, Bram Stoker’s bloodsuckers from hell! Anything else, is something else and not a psychopath, idiots!

15 Jan 2012 02:44p.m.

Dan wrote:

@ Henry: Whether psychopaths are "evil" is hardly a scientific question to begin with, its more of a philosophical one. How do you empirically measure how much "evil" is within a psychopath when its not necessarily expressed through wrongful conduct? In any event I disagree that being coldly rational at all times is necessarily "evil", it just makes you more likely to be selfish.

15 Jan 2012 02:33a.m.

Henry wrote:

Just because they're not going around axe-murdering people doesn't make them not evil. See: half of our politicians