Why Do We Love Psychopaths and Sociopaths?

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. -- Henry David Thoreau

Let's face it. One of our biggest obstacles to success and/or "happiness" is that all consuming inner sense of what is right and wrong, that complex of ethical and moral principles called the conscience. Imagine what you could accomplish without that burdensome guilt-inducing awareness. Well, there are people who are not burdened and/or handicapped by this faculty of mind, and they very often rise to the top, attaining positions of great power. And who puts them there? We do. Why? Because when we hear the word psychopath, we immediately think of the Hollywood definition: the crazed violent, sadistic, human flesh-eating, serial killers like the fictitious Hannibal Lector, and/or the less fictitious Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Heidnick, amongst many others. However, the truth is that only a very very small percentage of psychopaths are this violent, and if they are, they are not only psychopaths but sociopaths as well. Yes, there is a difference.

One can be a sociopath without being a psychopath and vice versa, as well as being both at the same time. According to Dr. Robert Hare, leading expert on psychopathy, psychopaths--and sociopaths-- are not psychotic. They are not mentally, psychiatrically or legally insane...‘‘mania sans de´lire’’(‘‘madness without delirium’’). They wear the "mask of sanity."  So on that note, they're the same.

Psychopaths, however, are people who, at their very core, lack the capacity to make an emotional connection with others, who lack the capacity to empathize, but who have not broken with reality. They are very aware of the consequences of their actions, they just don't care about the consequences of their actions on others, only about the consequences to themselves. Their emotional life is shallow and superficial. They are usually dominant individuals who use deceit, manipulation and charm to intimidate and control others. They have an enormous sense of entitlement, tend to be impulsive, irresponsible, and have an unusual need for excitement. They have no problem violating the legal, social and moral code, but that certainly doesn't mean that all psychopaths end up in jail, in fact, most sail through life without ever facing prison time. Why? Mostly because psychopaths, smart ones, anyway, rise to the top where they can influence or even make the rules.

Sociopaths, on the other hand, are hard core criminals, who may or may not be psychopaths. The difference lies in their capacity to feel remorse or guilt. It is a fact that most criminals are not psychopaths. One could say a psychopath is born (or hard-wired); a sociopath, the result of circumstances, therefore, redeemable. Or, the term psychopath defines who a person is, whereas sociopath defines what a person does (criminal and socially deviant behavior). In other words, the distinction between sociopath and psychopath is that sociopaths learn to repress or suppress their sympathy/empathy/compassion and psychopaths are genetically incapable of sympathy/empathy/compassion. It must be noted that there is no evidence that proves psychopaths are biologically/genetically pre- dispositioned to become psychopaths, however, there is some evidence to support the biological basis of psychopathy. In other words, "causal conclusions" cannot be made.

“The biological basis of psychopathy has not yet been fully elucidated. Few studies deal with structural neuroimaging in psychopaths. The aim of this article is to review these studies in order to contribute to our understanding of the biological basis of psychopathy. Data in the literature report a reduction in prefrontal gray matter volume, gray matter loss in the right superior temporal gyrus, amygdala volume loss, a decrease in posterior hippocampal volume, an exaggerated structural hippocampal asymmetry, and an increase in callosal white matter volume in psychopathic individuals. These findings suggest that psychopathy is associated with brain abnormalities in a prefrontal–temporo-limbic circuit—i.e. regions that are involved, among others, in emotional and learning processes. Additionally, data indicate that psychopathic individuals cannot be seen as a homogeneous group.

For instance, throughout history, there have been cases where murderers, hit-men, snipers, etc, truly repent and transform themselves. The most famous case of all, the Saul to Paul transformation in the New Testament. Moreover, we are all psychologically conditioned to accept rape, plunder, murder, etc. when the pathocracy claims so-called conditions call for it, and sends our brainwashed-to-kill young men into battle under the guise of fighting for the "greater good," that is, to line the pockets of the already lined pockets of our psychopathic global elite.

Most of us can't get past the exhibition of love and family values that many of these Orwellian corporate, political and religious leaders and celebrities display. Most of us do not like to explore deeply uncomfortable topics so we accept the sound bytes and their superficial public displays of compassion, empathy and sympathy at face value, never taking the time to peek or pull back the curtain. To be fair, most of us do not have the time and/or energy to search out the truth due to just trying to keep our heads above water.

In addition to our lack of time/energy, we're conditioned to accept the official word of  official personalities, and even to "love" them to one degree or another. Consider the mourning that takes place on a national or even global level when one of these personalities die.

But, in our ever increasing disconnected, or pseudo-connected world, we're surrounded by these mainstream personalities in positions of elitist power, ruling every facet of our lives behind the curtains. We see and hear about them more than we see our loved ones.  Unfortunately, most of those we call the powers that be or were, the new world order, the ruling class, etc, fit the profile of a psychopath, yet we continue to admire, emulate, worship and vote them in. Why?

Through TV, movies, 24/7 cable "news", violent video games, constant glitzy and glamorous advertising, and the empty rhetoric of politicians, we've become indoctrinated to accept the predatory class's psychopathic agenda, and have become completely anesthetized to its horrible consequences.  Never forget, the psychopath is a predatory individual who pretends to be someone they are not, gaining our trust in order to exploit us in some way. Anything reflected in the corporate controlled media covertly reflects the psychopathic agenda.

“Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves." George Orwell's 1984