Should You Be A Psychopath?
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
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You almost certainly know a psychopath in real life… and you may very well be one yourself. And that might even be a good thing.
We’ve recognized psychopathy in science and culture for thousands of years, yet we still don’t know what to do about it. Yet we use the word itself now more than ever, so much that the meaning of the word “psychopath” has become diluted in popular culture. As we increasingly learn more about the science of psychopathy, we should get better at deploying the term more accurately -- but instead, it’s become a catch-all for unconscionable human behavior and a mainstay of true crime stories.
Psychopaths are much more complex than that… for better and worse.
In reality, a psychopath’s brain creates and perpetually reinforces a moral code that is defined more by what it lacks than what it contains. From a total absence of anxiety to a simple utilitarian worldview that can do tremendous harm to others, the psychopath is a mix of brute force and the most subtle manipulation. And this is where it gets really complicated: you actually want the ruthlessness of a psychopath to run your company, you want the charm of a psychopath for investigative journalism, and you want the fearlessness of a psychopath to respond to medical emergencies.
Can we harness the biological and psychological forces that create dangerous, destructive psychopaths to improve humanity? And if we could cure or eliminate psychopathy… would we even want to?
ADDITIONAL READING
Kiehl, Kent. “The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience.” www.amazon.com...
Dutton, Kevin. “The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success.” www.amazon.com...
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Hosted and Produced by Kevin Lieber
Twitter: / kevinlieber
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Research and Writing by Matthew Tabor
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Editing by John Swan
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#psychology #truecrime #psychopath #mentalhealth #science
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Thanks, Psychopath Kevin!
Loved the long form, this topic needed it.
Couldn’t you only be diagnosed at a specific age or something
Kevin.. whats with the face in the red... I see it behind your shoulder and it's distracting... explain???
This video doesn't seem that accurate. I think you're letting the narrative run away with the script.
"Psychopaths do not feel anxiety." Well at least i know I'm not a psychopath.
Edit: Psychopaths do feel anxiety.
ugh same.
id love to be a psycopath just to get rid of it.
no worries, you can still be a sociopath.
No but you can train to be like one
i'm pretty sure anxiety is something everyone that's alive can feel just in different ways.
@@zacsch5364nah there are plenty that should but never experience it.
You really should real up on what sociopathy really is....
About the statistic you quoted: it may be true that four-in-five diagnosed psychopaths are in prison, but the prison population is more likely to be tested. Like all mental issues, there will be many in the general population that qualify but do not have a diagnosis. The bias in testing will effect the statistic, likely the 80% incarceration rate is much too high.
this is a fair point
@@anaveragekiwi It's so obvious I kinda can't believe that Kevin neglected to mention it. A full, comprehensive psychological evaluation is performed on every violent criminal, while free civilians are extremely unlikely to undergo the same treatment.
It does kinda also depend on how the statistic itself is scaled and what it specifically is measured in comparison to, its neither inherently wrong or right, without the input data its impossible to know.
It doesn't even make any sense...
Some quick maths based on google - There are 250m adults in US, so 2,5m psychos. There are 1,8m total people in US jails, which is LESS than 2m psychos supposedly in jail (2,5*0,8). This would mean over 100% of people in jail are psychopaths.
Maybe the study only tested the general public, extrapolated that to the whole population and compared it to the psychopaths in prison. Let's be honest, none of us has read it.
I think it has to be said that you don't have to be a psychopath to stay calm in tense situations like surgeries since that usually comes with experience. There is also the matter of mental disassociation.
Yeah but everyone knows that all doctors are pervs.
This. There is no benefit a psychopath has that a regular person can not learn. Empathy is selective in those who have it for a variety of reasons, including learning to disassociate or deal with threats, especially those of the same species. We have to be able to tell friend from foe.
For a psychopath, everyone is a foe, but there are too many, so it's better to fit in and seem like a friend because it benefits them to do so. But there is no emotional connection there the way we've developed to retain bonds beyond surface level cooperation. Which has allowed our species to be greater than the sum of it's parts, because the level of cooperation we can achieve is only possible through super strong bonds. And even then we still have lots of squabbling and issues because we're a pretty infantile species given our self-awareness. We're still growing.
@@vixxcelacea2778 Yeah, this psychopath apologism is misleading and disgusting.
@@TheWizaardNot all psychopaths are psychotic
@@TheWizaardweirdly
30:00
in fact
Ted once in prision said
"Who says crime doesnt pay? I feel totally good about what I did"
Bundy?
@@Caprigon No, Kaczynski
Probably just screwing with us. Knowing this is what would piss everyone and make him feel he have the power and is superior. But he probably felt nothing good, and loathed being caught and caged like an animal.
I can't wait to sit down and watch some relaxing youtube videos.
*Kevin sends me down a rabbit hole leading to reading the Unabomber manifesto*
Fascinating video! Great work, this must have taken AGES to research and edit.
how was the manifesto?
Speaking of psychopathy, this is the story of your enslavement, the "elite" exposed 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
@@VeganSemihCyprus33who
That one is still on my 'to read' list.
Isnt language manipulation a form of psychopathy whereby a seemingly innocuous comment has an extra space in it so as to appear as a true statement but its very existence is deceptive? Example "rabbit hole leading to reading". Let me guess, it was an error? Are you trying to convince others you are reading a certain book when in fact your comment doesnt say that at all?
Relaxing how? The mere viewing of videos is, in itself, stimulating hence the reason youtube is so popular and can be moreso by adjusting the flicker rate and colors used in said videos.
These are all verifiable facts that anyone can look up and see for themselves...much like the vibratory signals emitted via cell phones to make them more addictive.
The colors used in the background of the guy talking are not on accident, they are probably meant to exude a sense of authority since the sheep see the police as authority figures when in fact they are merely corporate workers. Also Red is meant to excite and Blue is meant to calm which is at least partly why the police leave their lights on while at a stop and why people sensitive to colors unknowingly get nervous while around police. One color may overtake or nullify the other leaving one with a feeling of incredible intensity/nervousness/excitation (common) or very relaxed (rare). Maybe you ought to stop wasting your life "watching relaxing youtube videos" (which just sounds like a paid shill) and pick up a book instead.
I watched this with a friend, and said friend told me their late father was a very passionate furniture maker, and would rank tables above puppies and laughter above tables, solely because he often said that the laughter of his newborn children would be the only thing to ever bring him more fulfillment and joy than a customer thanking him and tipping him for a newly crafted table.
I actually felt similarly. How often is a puppy useful? How often is a *table* useful? Eh? Eh? Tables rule.
I’m also a furniture maker, and there are precious few things in life more enjoyable than building something useful and beautiful out of a pile of raw materials. It’s about the most fun you can have with your clothes on. I use mostly recycled materials, and if you ask me, there is no better feeling of accomplishment than turning some old wood and junk most people would throw out into something practical and functional that can be used and enjoyed again, instead of being thrown in a landfill. It’s probably woefully esoteric, but there’s just something about creating beauty and function in a world that seems hell-bent on destruction and frivolousness.
@@TheD736 personally the first thing in my mind upon the mention of a small fluffy animal isn't "how much utility does this have for me?", especially when the question is just about ranking words based on an arbitrary value of "emotional positivity" that you associate them with.
not to claim that your way of thinking is wrong or anything; I'm sure there's also people who would rank puppies low simply due to a personal dislike of dogs etc.
hippy
"Puppies and laughter are ephemeral, but a good table lasts forever."
- Furniture makers, when they go to work
What you overlook about berserkers is that they worked themselves into an altered state, with loud chants and wild dances, possibly with psychoactive substances. They weren't wired like that at all times. What we could learn from this is that there may be techniques to enter into a psychopathic mindset should there be a benefit to that, such as to provide resilience to potentially traumatic situations, or dispel stage fright so you can perform with confidence. Or to interview disaster-displaced people, some who have lost loved ones, some suffering PTSD, for days on end.
This is deep bruv and I think it should be looked at more. Because I think with certain behaviours and/or actions that can change and/or shitdown some brain parts just like how PTSD does
Very good observation and understanding @enkephalin , I can relate and verify
This exists, and is used by surgeons! You can emotionally separate if trained, or you could naturally just.. be able to remove emotions for some time.
Berserkers are pretty much made up anyways, but sources from the time period even.
Bersekers more accurately translates to Bear Shirts, which are Scandinavians who had successfully hunted and killed a bear, typically the title was only given out to people who did it solo. Bear Shirts also were typically people who were the Generals Bodyguard or Household Guard, once Vikings became more settled. While they may have been very wild in combat, the whole army would be doing loud chants, dances and jests. The more tribal and disorganized the army, the more of this kind of stuff happens. Additionally, given their special status they were more than likely to be the most heavily armored troops on the battlefield, not bare chested. Psychoactive substances may have been used, but its difficult to say how widespread the use was throughout their armies, or how often drugs were used prior to combat for Vikings.
Very Well said. Folk need to get waaasy better at commentary Aikido than most are! 😅 Good medicine!
Please do narcissism next.
yes this!
As a narcissist, let me tell you all about it...
just watch trump talking, lol
Psychopatch doesn't exist in DSM, it's not PDs anymore, and you have no way to deal with any psychopatch/sociopath. It's mental disorder. Also you have less change to define someone NPDs(unless you're psychologist), because you need much more time to belong with them, and on this time, you digged a hole to burry sth inside you already. You understand?
@@hadensnodgrass3472 just reduce your self-esteem little bit. It doesn't hurt us at all, but we will see some funny defines every loud mouth as a narcissist 🤣
As someone with Aspergers Syndrome this makes a lot of sense because I always score alarmingly high on psychopathy tests (yes i know online tests aren't trustworthy), yet i do have a moral compass and a conscience that will heavily weigh down on me for percieved wrongdoing
I was just thinking that because I think I may be on the autism spectrum and worried about psychopathy for a bit...but yeah, no..I'm just neurodivergent lol.
I have asp but I’m completely the opposite. I am empathetic to an extreme degree
@@Digital_PeterGriffin yes, i just focus on diff things n such, i wouldnt call myself less emotional at all, just not expressing it well and having trouble connecting with ppl and trust issues, i mainly just open up to ppl im super close to
I have trouble understanding my own and other people's emotions.
Suffering souls is wrong. Some of these people don't have souls at all.
This shows me that we need BETTER psychopath tests. I'm sure one will emerge eventually. Right now it doesn't distinguish (enough) between the truly dangerous person and people who can draw from useful "Zen States".
What is that "piece" that allows someone to become a miraculous surgeon instead of a serial killer? Where is the test for that?
Great video Kevin!
Rationality and intensity of impulses. Both a surgeon with aspd and serial killer are equally dangerous people so there is no need in distinguishing them, both struggle from the same condition
There will never be scientific tests for any of these made-up psychological labels. Because it's a load of garbage. Every person knows right from wrong, if not instinctively, then they can be taught. If you do 'psychopath' things, then are just a piece of sh!I1t
I think it's the sociopath that's more dangerous, or at the very least toxic. I'm pretty sure the man with the cigarettes example was a sociopath as well. There's a pretty big overlap.
Nurture?
@@martenveersoo8502 Was about to say this. The people more likely to cause harm are those who probably feel like they've been cheated by society.
The real psychopathic behaviour is uploading an hour long, very interesting video right before some portion of the viewers go to sleep. Well played.
No matter what time he uploads, some people will be about to go to sleep
@@guiorgy Oh you're one of those "earth is a globe" people, huh?
@@snex000 Nah, it's a flat disk, but the sun moves around, creating night and day differently for each region.
@@georgecataloni4720 Oh, I see... your one of those sheep who think the Earth is real?
(Out conspiracy the conspiracy theorist.)
@@snex000 wdym?.. Also, it's a geoid...
"I'm not a psychopath" is exactly what a psychopath would say.
"'I'm not a psychopath' is exactly what a psychopath would say" is exactly what a psychopath would say.
@@DebNKY if I where really a psychopath, would I have killed my elderly neighbors because they made a slight noise at 1 am? Exactly didn't think so 😎😎😎 💯
@@DebNKY ok
Actually because of their narcissism, they will willingly admit they are a psychopath because they don’t see anything wrong with that.
“I’m a psychopath” is exactly what a non psychopath edgy nerd would also say.
Look at these comemnts
Him: "It shows the difference between psychopaths and us... "
Me: "us?"
Exactly
Me
Then the 'we' as well. Like what?
I'm not an expert and dont claim to be... im taking psychology in University and just doing some thought experiments...Something I dont understand with psychopath tests is that they always seam to make the situations "under stress", or "in order to save someone"... but as mentioned before, psychopoths wouldnt really feel the fear or stress or really care to save others... wouldnt it be easier to just say "there's a puppy, a middle aged man, an elderly woman, a baby, a child, and a middle aged woman who do you kill. Why?" ..."what if you could only save 1?".... "ok now you are stranded on an island. The puppy sleeps near you and keeps you warm, the middle aged man is sick, the elderly woman is a doctor, the baby is loud and lost its biological mother, the child is your niece, and the middle aged woman is nice to your niece, but doesnt like you. Who do you kill?" .... "again what if you could only save one?"...the test could go on a few times adding to the situation to increase fear or stress. A true psychopath wouldnt care about the changes and might get upset by them interfering with their logic... but they could change things and hyper focus on only what benifits or has direct impact on them. But the real test would be how fast they answer: do they think and try to solve the riddle? do they just choose at random? What is their reasoning? Did they bother to ask why? 🤔 when saving someone was it: to benifit them? was it nonchalantly chosen? Was it because of the "relitive status"? ... I think a lot of people doing the train test feel morally obligated to do something to help people on the tracks and feel a sense of panic... i remember playing a version on line with a timer and you had to pull the lever... i derailed the train and killed the most people... but out of anxiety and stress... i made a terrible decision... in fact most of us do... psychopaths dont make terrible decisions under presser... they make the same decisions under pressure as they would without the pressure. So I dont really understand those tests. 😅
Surely there is a good median between "this patient in front of me is just an object I work on" and "OMG one wrong move and I create orphans!"
why does it have to be one line, why not both, is it true that you have to work on him, yes, is it true that he is a living breathing himan with a family, yep... narrow goals are good until they aren't, monoideologic thinking can become blinding at some point
You could start with better training. Current training methods, for example, rely on deliberately desensitising doctors by having them perform unnecessary surgeries on animals without anaesthetics. The screams of the animals being cut up while alive and conscious is supposed to prepare surgeons for 'real world' scenarios.
yeah, but that OMG realization could cause nervousness or panic...and you definitely don't want a surgeon panicky while operating. of course, some work better under pressure, but it causes focus, not panic in those types. I'd rather the surgeon not care about me, but his/her career instead.
@@PlayedbyInstinct Those training methods are no longer practiced, and absolutely make use of anesthesia.
Precisely. Fear can motivate, as well as paralyse. Maybe a surgeon should feel some sense of fear, enough to motivate them to not screw up tue job.
Ot goes back to classical Greek virtue ethics. To be a coward, and to shrink in the face of hardship is not virtuous, but neither is a foolhardy attitude that does not take into account danger and consequence.
Courage is the mediation between these two. All truly courageous people feel fear, it is in confronting that fear that courage is found. To a psychopath, there are no consequences to consider, which is exactly what makes them so reckless. Look into Charles Teo, a prominent Australian neurosurgeon, and you will see exactly why you do not want a psychopath performing your brain surgery.
Non of those qualities you listed at the end are exclusive to psychopaths, the problem is there are people with these traits who also don't have any sense of empathy and who use their emotional intelligence exclusively as a flashlight without care for who they're blinding. Most psychopaths we eventually unmask either because we're working backwards from the harm they've carelessly caused and trying to understand why, or because they're incompetent at pretending, there are just many mundane everyman psychopaths as there are ruthless wannabe Sherlock's.
Exactly - there are firefighters that will get you out of a building for the love of their fellow humans and their job.
There are visionairies that can fight for a vision because it is good, not because they are egomaniacs.
Being a psychopath just absolves you from the ability to ever be truly brave, and if we could heal it we should.
I don't think the point is that we NEED psychopaths for those jobs but rather that psychopaths are NOT ALLWAYS HARMFULL for our society
yeah, but one bee doesn't count as a swarm or colony. it's the multiple combination of these characteristics that create/determine psychopaths.
That's why psychopacy is considered with 30 of 40 possible points. Having a couple of these traits is totally normal. As described, the typical "average male" gets about 4 points. And even if one scores higher, high enough to be considered a psychopath that doesn't mean one is a danger to society, one might just be a super successful entrepreneur, CEO, firefighter, surgeon, etc. jobs where the lack of empathy and structure is helpful.
The timing of this vid is crazy. Just saw a post saying that living with adhd/autism is life on a hard mode bc the job industry is built to benefit only people with psychopathy and the more you think about it the more it rings true.
Not just specifically the job market, but capitalism in general
that's so true
Every word nowadays has a positive/negative. We're getting closer everyday to being ok about being the things that were once not ok to be
@@impooping69 ib4 a rant on how communism is the solution
@@impooping69"everything is the fault of capitalism"
As a premed student, I see this quite often. I've worked with doctors and nurses who seem to have no care that someone is sitting there injured. If it's their lunch break, then who cares? But I get where they're coming from, after a few times you get used to it. So they might not be psychopaths.
This can be a survival response. Caring a lot about people all the time is exhausting, they must have built a wall to protect themselves. Some of them might be psychos, yes, but I would wager it's the minority
At first I was thinking 'what does premed mean? some derivative term for cleaning ones ruffled feathers? Oh what a difference a hyphen makes. :D
And how do you know they didn't already skip their break? Or would you rather they be tired and make a catastrophic mistake? Why are you so casual about making an assumption that if incorrect is kinda a harsh accusation while also expecting they never take a break? If you care so much why are you not a nurse? Might you be a psychopath?
my sister is an OR nurse. compassion fatigue. but I think it's literally warped her brain over the decades. she's not the same person she was in her early 20s. not at all...
The sick and injured keep arriving and arriving. You’re not a robot or a saint. If you don’t take your lunch breaks, *you* will be the one sick and injured.
This is absolutely amazing. I'd love to hear more about other personality disorders in this format!
Sameeeee
agreed!
Speaking of psychopathy, this is the story of your enslavement, the "elite" exposed 👉 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖
Psychopath = Basically Every Female
format yay!
9:07 you have offended me and my pet table in 1000 languages
You don't need to be a psychopath to detach emotionally from surgery
you kinda do, you perform a task that would, under most circumstances be considered dangerous and immoral and then go and wash up and wait for the next one
@@frogz How is surgery immoral?
@@vibaj16 he doesn't know what he is talking about, but i don't agree with trizzer89 either. you can't be a regular person and detach emotionally from anything. that is just not possible
@@frogz you dont lmao not every successfull surgeon is a psychopath detachment needs practice
Yeah I was relieved when the test slowly shifted into "random deliquency" and "blaming others"
Lured me into watching first 30 seconds? How about the whole 55+ minutes! Thank you, that was really insightful.
55 minutes just flew by. Amazing storytelling, presentation, and attention to detail. Well done Kevin, kudos to you and your team!
OMG,i seriously believed it were 30 min, until i saw your comment!
Well shit. I'm a chef. That's number 8 on the positive psychopath list
Dr. Kevin Sutton's work with SAS commando Andy MacNab is really interesting. He found that by using transcranial magnetic stimulation you can actually temporarily shut down the sections of the brain that are dark in a psychopaths brain and make them have the same thought processes of a psychopath.
It's really fascinating how fast the body fixes itself afterwards as well. Made a video on that since neuroscience gets scary as hell.
So he made psychopaths think like a psychopath. How groundbreaking!
Am I really the only one who looks at Bob like “Ok, those women are losers who were gonna buy smokes anyway?”
No you’re not. I’d assume that even a large portion of “regular “ folks (non neurotypical) would also agree that he was fulfilling a market that already existed.
42:19 it's like in the anime Psycho pass where a system to detect psychopaths cannot detect violent people that are termed asymptomatics.
47:09 as an example of perhaps a psychopathic action, he ordered a French fleet be destroyed rather than be taken and used by the Germans.
It's not a lack of emotions or moral code... it's a lack of empathy.
A conscience can hurt. And they don't have to deal with that pain so they feel there is nothing wrong with them... but a smart one can feign it.
That sounds good tho
Feign?
@@jemborghe knew what you meant. You spelled it "freign"
@@r_t_m OK, fixed.
You've been cranking out some of the most timely and thought provoking videos this year. Great work Kevin and crew.
This seems hardly thought provoking at all, more like a vehicle to label people who are just different as some sort of psychopath. Dont walk the straight and narrow...you are a psychopath. Have any thoughts that the dizzy public doesnt approve of...psychopath. Being different in any way that what is allowed...psychopath. Seems to me like those who took an experimental drug with proven deadly consequences without any foreknowledge of its effects or detriment is psychotic. Its all perspective really.
If they're in line with this video in terms of sensationalism, I'm worried they're provoking some meaningfully misinformed thoughts, unfortunately.
The last episode of MASH recognized the problem of the baby crying, it drove Hawkeye insane enough that originally he thought it was a chicken. Very eye-eopening.
On one hand, it's lucrative not to have a conscience. On the other hand, there is the endlessly engaging inner life available to those who aren't.
That danger-induced focus and relaxation is actually a very euphoric state of being, and is elusive in the domesticated modern-day environment. Thus, pursuing a career in trauma surgery was the most natural path I could come up with in order to harness my mental faculties to their fullest potential whilst enjoying what I do.
i like pies
Fun fact: psychopaths don't like psychedelic shrooms. It always gives them a massive panic attack. One I knew, told me he felt things that horrified him.
Idk why but that’s hilarious
He felt.
That scared the shit outta him. 😆
Me too, the first time it was euphoric and I felt really close to everyone, then it was too close, felt as if everyone knew what I was thinking
ego death: the narcissists nightmare
And running somewhere along those lines, I did a medication that calms Schizo's down and stops them hallucinating around 30 or 40 years ago: result - what schizo's experience. Although not super terrifying, I'd rather stick my penis in acid than try it again. (artane)
Being an obsessive compulsive probably a workaholic and having a pathological need to impose order and control things, people and events or also being extremely selfish, greedy and egocentric doesn't make you a psychopath although many psychopaths have those characteristics. Probably the most defining characteristic is a total absence of any kind of moral conscience. Many people have a false idea about psychopathy as being like the kind of psychosis where someone is so completely out of touch with reality as to be unable to function in the world and society. Psychopaths can in fact not only be highly functional but even highly successful. In fact the ruthless and amoral but highly strategic calculating gamesmanship of psychopaths may actually confer a selection advantage under the unjust, unequal, zero sum game conditions of the modern world, especially when the system is a hyper capitalistic one.
We don't have capitalism. We have corporatism, but yeah.
Man, a Psychopath is someone who can't process emotions. Like practically all those checklist questions are as a result of or take a more complex form of this most basic and fundamental principle.
It was clear from the outset that Ted was not a Psychopath but Jeff was. The major giveaways were Jeffs charm, an over compensation of "feelings" because he could never truly feel them for himself.
Ted lived in a cabin away from society, this in and of itself is a massive sign of emotional processing. He lived as a social hermit because of his emotional response to a society that he did not agree with.
interesting. i agree
That is a really comforting point. I think I've seen and experienced enough very negative things that as a coping mechanism I can prevent myself from processing negative emotions, however I am still very empathetic and care a lot about people. I think I can process emotions but often it is easier not to, and for that reason I scored fairly high on the test. I was relieved when he said less than 30 is not a psycho, but when he said an average score is 4, I got REALLY worried. I wonder if there is a clinical distinction between someone who cannot feel emotions vs someone like me who can more or less turn them off when theyre too upsetting.
@guitarszen that part made me laugh. I thought the narrator was talking about stoning a disobedient son as an example of the towns people being the psychopaths xD Caught me off guard when he implied the child getting brutally murdered by a mob was the actual psycho.
Lol bless your introverted intuition
+@@N8Dulcimer that's so funny because that's really how diagnosis is. It's insane people calling someone they don't like insane because of the behaviours they share.
The overrepresentation of psychopaths in positions of power does not mean that one must be a psychopath to be successful/powerful. It could certainly help, but it's just as likely that psychopaths are overrepresented in those positions because they were willing to do unethical things in order to get into those positions.
Damn. "It is what it is" has been a motto of mine for years, and something I often told others for encouragement to overcome being overwhelmed by a problem. But I never considered it being used in this context. Oof.
Once again a fantastically informative video! Psychology is an incredibly fascinating subject I can never get enough of. Keep up the great work!
For me, "Laughter" depends on the context, while it's largely positive, as a life long dorky kid, it could be more sinister. That might also be my neurodivergence being awkward and always wanting more context!
That's also the thought I had!
My mind wouldn't ever put "Puppy" in a negative context, it's always cute, but it's not uncommon for Laughter to be at the expense of someone.
@@bobthebox2993 Dead puppy.
@@bobthebox2993 The puppy is really cute and happy until it poops and pees on the carpet and you're the one to have to clean it up. That's a negative context, they're a handful to care for. It's worth it, obviously, and there's balancing out, but it's not ENTIRELY positive.
@@Talguy21of course, I was thinking the same, but tbh, the real first instinct is that puppy is more positive thing.
Even though I do not really like puppies, I still connect it to positivity.
Thats though only my opinion.
Did anyone rank the table first? 🤣
"You just got a glimpse into the manipulation of a psychopath." Well...they're generally less upfront about it.
Wait, "Manie sans delire" is delirium without mania? It sounds like it should be the other way around.
I have probably watched every single video of yours. This one is, without a doubt, one if not the best you have produced. Thank you.
A table is not even close to neutral. It is the gathering place for the most wonderful communally shared things in life. Meals, board games, role-playing games. It definitely ranks second after laughter. As a bonus, you don't have to clean up it's crap or feed it. And it never barks or whines. No doctor bills either.
Funny how the pregnant women in start were seen as "vulnerable" and not psychopaths themselves for harming their own flesh and blood, literally.
They’re often addicted to these substances. It’s not usually a rational decision.
@@darkstarr984Quitting nicotine is not very hard, so addiction is not a great excuse
Actually, when I hear the word "psychopath", I usually think of CEOs, politicians, and media personalities.
Ted is a very nuanced case when you take into consideration that most of his family said he was unusual and odd/quirky up until the college experiments on him. Those close to him including his brother who turned him in, said he was changed after the experiments, had PTSD and completely isolated himself. The one thing they all seem to agree, he had trauma that changed him and acted as a catalyst to what happened. So I understand the reference so far in the video, but there is a massive amount of nuance (some could say its no longer nuance, its just lack of half the story) missing in this comparison. And since when is not having long-term goals a sign of psychopathy? Honestly, the perfect example of a psychopath as Ted Bundy.
Not to mention psychopathy can actually be measured in a brain scan... the doctor who discovered this fact, was shocked to find that he himself was actually a psychopath. Apparently his family was not surprised at all, but he was high-functioning and had a cohesive family, and no desires to murder or hurt anyone.
In the french, "Manie sans délire" means "Mania without delirium", not the other way around, as stated in the video. Which I guess also matches up better with the following sentence, "...because it encompassed the behaviour of the severly mentally ill without presenting the obvious outward behavioural symptoms."
kevin you're a great presenter. wishing you continued success!
why is the rebellious kid considered a psychopath and not the people who want to stone it to death?
“separate psychopaths from us.” bold of you to assume I’m not a psychopath
At the start when he talked about smugling cigarettes, i thought was going to say that the psycopath was going to manipulate people to become smokers and sell to them,
Like manipulate small kids to begin smoking and make sure that they would be so ashamed of it that they only asked him, or that he did that to women who are likely to have children.
I seems like you really should have mentioned that none of those positive qualities psychopaths have are limited to them, so the the downsides of not having psychopaths was greatly overstated.
It's a massive oversight to not make mention of how those minority of psychopaths who become highly successful may in many ways end up being *far* worse for society than the one's who got locked up before ever getting too much power. He doesn't draw a distinction between someone being good at performing a job, and being responsible enough you should trust actually trust someone with that power.
It's not clear that training psychopaths more functional is a good thing, if that means they have the same lack of a moral compass, but are now much more able to get themselves into positions of power. You might just be taking the people least trustworthy to hold power, and ensuring that now 5x as many CEO's and politicians will be psychopaths.
Wanted to say something like this myself! There's seems precious little evidence that psychopathy is beneficial to society, and mountains of evidence to the contrary -- which is why I take great issue with authors like Kevin Dutton trying to make a positive case for psychopathy. Having an innate lack of empathy and remorse may make it easier to conduct brain surgery or defend criminals in court, but it is certainly not a necessary prerequisite. And always remember: every functional psychopath is, at heart, an amoral opportunist who would casually commit genocide without a second thought if they reasoned it would benefit them somehow -- something no sensible person should be willing to tolerate in civilized society.
It's the lack of morality that produces the worst traits of capitalism. Amazon workers, for example, are treated like garbage all so the CEO's and investors can make even more billions while the people doing the hard work full time hours are bordering poverty.
@@justanordinaryfly7024 As long as we are a capitalistic society then psychopaths ARE beneficial.
Its just not beneficial to US. The peasant fu ck wits who have to wear everything thats passed down the line.
In order to run a billion dollar company, you basically HAVE to be a psychopath. You WILL destroy lives on the path to being a billionaire. Its not IF its HOW MANY.
And unless you lack empathy, you will never be able to push into those positions. Thats before considering environmental impacts of large scale business.
WoOoOoOo I'm a scary psychophant!
Glossing over CEOs rubbed me the wrong way. I certainly am not rooting for a billionaire for making another hundred thousand dollars each day. Especially so with the idea they're actually devoid of morals and are openly just putting on their best PR face.
I love a psychopath. Not kidding. Quite the experience. We talk about it- the lack of empathy and emotions. Many people get a soulless feeling from him. It’s taken me years not to take him not caring about normal things not to take it personally and just understand it’s his psychotic nature. He comes to things thru logic and mimicking normal folks. He’s brilliant - but hard to love
Do not have children with him
Have many, many children with him.
if he's truly a psychopath, he doesn't care about you. You matter to him as much as a carton of spoiled milk. Are your serious about your relationship? Or are you using that word as an exaggeration?
They didn't say they are in a romantic/ sexual relationship with the person. I assume they are not...
At least he isn’t offended by being called „hard to love“ xD
18:40 Why did my forehead start to feel kind of tickly when you started to play that.
Here's more resrouces:
Defense Against the Psychopath: A Brief Introduction to Human Predators - Stefan H. Verstappen
The Sociopath Next Door - Martha Stout
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work - Robert Hare and Paul Babiak
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us - Robert Hare
The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt To Clarify Some Issues About The So-Called Psychopathic Personality - Hervey Cleckley
Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes - Andrzej Lobaczewski
The Authoritarians - Bob Altemeyer
Just a small correction, at 34:25 you call Ted an incel, but he was voluntarily celebate as he didn't care about that. Apart from that its perfect so far :)
Edit: nevermind!
Also, it's impossible to involuntarily celebate, celibacy is a choice.
@@Apeiron242tell that to ugly and or mentally deficient people. Some people are undesired due to factors out of their control.
@@Apeiron242Tell that to the unattractive, mentally deficient, and those with low emotional intelligence. Some people are undesired from things out of their control.
If it's ever translated, I recommend the Danish book De siger jeg er Psykopat (They say I'm a psychopath), which is a compilation of interviews with seven diagnosed psychopaths. It's interesting, scary and surprisingly empathetic at the same time
@@kindauncoolim danish i can help lmao
Would buy in English. Sounds interesting
Our study of psychopathy is actually very narrow. Social concepts &nd definitions along with actual knowledge of who is diagnosable, tends to restrict understanding &nd current documentable history. Psychopaths could make up a much larger portion of people, due 2 known info &nd our bias restricted ideation.
I love your latest videos Kevin. They seem to be making a return to in depth studies of the human condition, and less about mathematical oddities. This is the Vsauce that I enjoy. Haven't had this much fun with your videos since your 'Blue' video. Keep it up.
Damn I'm a psychopath it wouldn't even have to be a life threatening situation for me to take out that crying baby I keep a trash bag in my poket.
😂😂 fr bro I'll let god know that his design of having a built in alarm box into babies didn't exactly suit my fancy
Interesting video!
Honestly as with most things, i think this is more complex and probably a spectrum of having psycopathic traits. Being "clinically" psychopathic is just a mesured checklist that can provide a guide line and function as a tool.
Also i really believe some of the things you talk about with surgeons and monks in particular are just the emotional control anyone could achieve through practice. But ey that's just my perspective.
yeah i mean im pretty sure you dont have to be a psychopath to be good at your job, some people can become detached but still have empathy
Yup, doctors often describe how they can separate from work to normal life. One moment you can be as cold and calculating but the next you can be loving and caring.
There are people who can't achieve that stuff with any amount of practice
@@dahahaka fair enough, there are probably people that could not detach themselves form the're emotions, but to be more precise what i was aiming at: its possible for (nearly) anyone to in some degree to detach themselves from there feelings and being able to observe them more objectively. This is ofc with dilegent practice and I'm not talking about 100% of the time in any situation because that's really hard and nearly impossible.
8:43 me personally, id say:
laughter, puppy, table, parking ticket, cancer
im super impressed by that "trolley problem" example, with the the mother. the only right choice is to kill the baby, or you all die, so realistically(meaning as a parent id put my childrens lives before my own, and wouldnt be able to process/commit to the only thing that would save my family) no sane person would be able to choose to do that, hence only a psychopath would be able to kill their own child for themselves/others. really makes "life" have more weight, if you cant just close it off to a numbers game of who to save. thanks for the vid!
But the psycopathy question is not about knowing what is the right choice, but about doing it.
Another more direct trolley problem variation goes as follows:
There is a train coming. But further down the track is something that will cause the train to fall/crash/etc, killing everyone on board. You are on a bridge. Next to you is a really obese guy. You can push him onto the tracks to stop the train, saving everyone onboard, at the cost of the man's life. Would you do it?
In that variant the action to save the bigger group is more direct. And fewer people tend to be able to do that than with the classic trolley problem.
It's a bit like how the choice of tools says something about murderers. Stabbing or strangling someone is much more personal than shooting them. It involves directly interacting with the victim, with your own hands, basically feeling how the life leaves them.
A gun is much more mechanical, distant. Just like the classic trolley problem, it's just the push of a button. The kind of act like in the Milgram experiment.
@guitarszen ok that's the stupidest thing i've heard today
+@guitarszen being able to toy around with your ethics only prove the strength of your moral compass.
@guitarszen True ngl. Did you see a video about a monkey having a head transplant? The video is interesting.
@guitarszen Except the Trolley Problem is NOT preposterous. The scenario itself is, but the existence of a scenario where you have to choose between causing harm for the greater good, or doing nothing and allowing something even worse to occur, is very real. For example, many of the greatest advances in medical science were based on unethical animal or even human testing. Was it worth it to make those subjects suffer to save millions more lives in the long run, or is something like that inherently unethical?
I always thought the viking berserkers were created via drinking a brew of amanita muscaria. I could be wrong, but if you've ever taken that mushroom you can see how that stuff could make you practically unstoppable during battle. That particular state of delirium is something to behold
Perhaps it's both? Take those who are psychopaths, and put them into an appropriate delirium, and unleash that.
The the best video I’ve watched today. Unusually good sources. Straightforward with welcome preparation of what you were going to say. Clear delivery and visuals. Thank you for your effort
So the kid who gets stoned to death for disobeying his parents is the psychopath, not the dude proposing this is a literal terror-tactic in order to scare others to obey their parents lol
Could be headcanon'd as a meta joke of (vsauce_host_name) being a psychopath because he lacks the empathy to understand how a normal person would look at that story and see it your way.
69,421 views on 0:10?
I think the fact that Ted Kaczynski makes it a point to mention that "there's no such thing as boredom" when living in the woods points _more_ to boredom-or the avoidance or mitigation of boredom-being more of an important aspect of his life than not. The way he says it even makes it seem like there's some implied emphasis on boredom, as if it's just assumed that boredom is what anyone would be most concerned with if they lived in the woods.
It's like if someone says "I'm not bored" out of the blue-you're probably not going to take their word for it, so much as you might become slightly suspicious about why they're mentioning boredom at all unless it's something that they're thinking about. This might make you think that _the opposite_ of what they're saying is actually true.
The writing on this is insane, incredibly well made video. fantastic job
i was shocked. made want to watch more of their videos.
0:00: 🔍 Psychopathy is a complex condition characterized by a lack of moral compass and a pattern of antisocial behavior.
6:08: 🧠 Psychopathy and its historical and cultural significance
12:48: 🧠 Psychopathy is associated with a less sensitive amygdala and abnormal brain responses.
19:08: 🔍 The X video discusses the concept of psychopathy and explores examples of psychopathic behavior.
25:50: 🔍 Comparison of Ted Kaczynski and Jeffrey Dahmer's traits and behaviors.
31:29: 🔍 Comparison of psychopathic traits between Ted and Jeff.
37:48: 📝 Jeffrey Dahmer scores as a psychopath while Ted Kaczynski does not, but both had troubled childhoods and engaged in criminal behavior.
44:12: 🧠 Psychopathy can have desirable qualities such as ruthlessness, charm, focus, mental toughness, fearlessness, mindfulness, and action, but it is important to control and deploy these qualities strategically.
50:55: 😱 Psychopathy and its implications on society, including the potential benefits and ethical dilemmas associated with identification and treatment.
Recap by Tammy AI
Good girl
@@hasanyahya8384don’t be weird! What a creep!
@@hasanyahya8384WHAT😭
@@hasanyahya8384 🤢
I had a friend with diagnosed psychopathy and she was one of my favorite people
well that's the "charm" characteristic for you.
you might want to leave before you get screwed over or killed someday
Im pretty sure you werent her favorite person lmao
@@erinys2 I wasn’t lol but we were good friends
@@cozyvrc im not sure how psychopaths function but dude im pretty sure she used you lmao
Mental illness doesn't make you a good worker or brave soldier; experience, professionalism and a drive to be better (workplace pride) does.
Genetics help, but that isn't everything. As long as you're an "average" human, then you already have tremendous potential in you. To tell people to become less than they are isn't a good idea. After all, things like bravery and calm doesn't come because you don't feel anxiety or fear, but it comes from feeling or having felt those things before and then doing something about it mentally. Experience is the best way to feel calm in stressful situations and sometimes you can even begin to relish the challenges.
3 things:
1. Non-psychopaths can learn positive psychopathic traits and turn them on and off at will. Actual psychopaths lack control over these traits which is why psychopathy is considered a mental disorder. Most surgeons, soldiers, and firemen are not psychopaths, they just trained themselves to compartmentalize their emotions effectively.
2. Most of the psychopaths not in jail live miserable lives where they have to constantly move to different social groups because they keep getting kicked out of the old one. The ones that lead productive lives are an exception of a minority.
3. Saying psychopaths are useful to society because of how many are CEOs and lawyers implies that these groups are wholly beneficial to society. Nearly everyone would disagree in regards to at least one of these groups. It's much more likely that these groups have a reputation for being parasitic and harmful to society because of the significant amounts of psychopaths.
Most CEO's and basically all successful ones are not beneficial to society. Billionaires should not exist. I'm a little disappointed that he didn't mention Jon Ronson's book The Psychopath Test which covers Hare's PCL-R and various CEO's.
Wealth inequality is the worst it's ever been since before WW2, the planet is in serious trouble and the people running the show don't seem to have a care at all.
full 100% agree
his stats/science was good
but philosophy 0/10
I got to meet David Kazinski when I was in Middle School. He really left an impression on me when talking about empathy and understanding of hid place in the world in reference to Ted.
Wow! Loved this content. Thank you so much for this nice hour. It must have been a lot of work, but knows that it educates a lot of people !
Fascinating, really.
I was curious why the traits that make psychopaths would continue to be passed down genetically.
Looking at them individually they can be useful in certain situations.
But if you combine all of those traits together it creates a dangerous potential for harming others.
Very well thought out video. Good job.
Please go over Narcissism in the future. Because the term is over used and too many people do not understand how to recognize it in real world scenarios.
I wonder if the difference between a surgeon and a criminal isn't simply how society deals with people. I always have to think about how Norway has a prison system that actually cares about people and it pays dividends big time with by far the lowest criminals, repeat offenders and inherited crime.
I used to be afraid that I might be a psychopath. But it turns out that I'm just not good at understanding and communicating my regular day to day emotions. My friends keep saying I'm probably autistic. They're probably right.
Thing is that I have a high level of epathy when I am able to understand how someone else feels. The emotions can be crushing if I hurt someone. And I have rescued a lot of animals. And adopted more pets than I probably should have. Because I love animals. And I see human life as intrinsically valuable.
It turns out that I have a high level of anxiety. And a low level of awareness when it comes to both my own physical and emotional needs. Even my sense of physical pain seems wired funny. I don't notice a lot of smaller injuries as they happen. I don't feel much dental pain, even with severe cavities. I can endure high levels of physical pain. But sometimes physical touch is painful. And too much sound for too long can feel like a massive headache. It's bizzare.
In general terms, a sociopath doesn’t care about other peoples suffering, but a psychopath enjoys it.
« Manie sans delire »
Is actually « Mania without delirium »
(French speaker here)
there's always people who think they can "prevent crime" by getting rid of a certain kind of person, and they never seem to understand the sad, horrifying irony of such a statement. Punish people for the wrongs they commit, not because you believe they were born wrong.
Justice is itself a punitive action, not preventative, "preventative justice" is always tyrannical, you can't have the presumption of innocence in it and it always produces thought crime and pre-crime, the proof of the crime ensures you know they weren't foremost innocent and that they need to pay the price.
Idk what but this video really aided my perspective growth. I was (maybe still am) an extremely emotional person. Right from childhood I felt intense guilt, gratefulness, shame sometimes for no reason (perhaps results of gaslighting and emotional manipulation). I had no problem making friends, I was sweet, "nice" and had no boundaries. I was empathetic, caring to a fault. However, I changed locations after 10th grade and a series of negative life events later.. I realised that emotions are a double edged sword. When emotions overtook me, my logical reasoning vanished. And they certainly dont help when you're surrounded by psychopaths.
People with autism don’t have limited emotions, they just don’t express or experience those emotions in the exact way a neurotypical person is expected to
It’s extremely worrying we’re getting basic facts wrong in 2023
LowTierKevin 0:02
I was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and scored a 19 on the psychopath test. I can confirm that there is definitely some overlap.
Also some umderlap
When I hear psychopath I think of me
am I ok
This just made me feel inadequate for not being a psychopath.
Not to worry, you will likely be labeled one for not going along with command the misinformed public demands you follow should you dare think for yourself on occasion.
@@lastofthebest5102 Probably. That'd be rather antisocial, after all.
Like my professor in sociology class said there are two types of psychopaths. Those who do things to people and those who get things done.
I disagree that the "stoning to death" example was a psychopath. Just because your child is stubborn and doesn't obey you, doesn't mean they are a psychopath. It could mean your demands are unreasonable, or your beliefs aren't theirs, or simply that they're an individual w/ their own desires and thoughts.
Otherwise, I found this video very fascinating. I've missed classic VSauce.
2:32 voice crack
Your videos are always so well researched! It's always a treat to watch them. Wish Micheal was still making full videos and not just shorts.
Somehow he failed to mention how Ted Kaczynski was abused and experimented on by the CIA as part of MK Ultra at Harvard. It’s well documented, for example he was in Henry Murray’s experiments where his team bullied, harassed, and psychologically broke down participants like Ted. Seems super relevant but what do I know…
Please do Narcissism or Sociopathy if you do a video like this again, this was great
He just did do "sociopathy" bro maybe you need to watch the videos before commenting.
@@kindauncool pretty psyco from u
My psychatrist told me I am a Psychopath.
I laughed.
He laughed.
I buried his body in the woods. Good times.
That bit at the end about surgeons and disconnect from emotions reminds me of a quote made by a guy on a bomb refusal squad. When asked if he gets worried when defusing, he replies, “I’m either correct, or it’s not my problem anymore.”
A few interesting takeaways.. I find it interesting the amount of overlap with the symptoms and behaviours of ADHD.
I was also rather surprised that Jeffery felt remorse and guilt while Ted didn't...
That is typically what I think of as being the fundamental hallmark for psychopathy.. Honestly took me by surprise.
Lastly, it sounds like Ted had all the characteristics of oppositional defiant disorder combined with extreme narcissism...
I was rather surprised to hear he never felt any remorse, but vindictiveness is a common trait with these disorders, and if he had become vindictive against the entire world, it's not that surprising I guess. Once a narcissist with ODD feels you deserve retribution, they only feel pride in their actions.
I don’t understand nor innerstand why people can’t just accept that they don’t have a disease they have a demon!!! “My name is Legion and we are many!” Why is that so damn hard to comprehend?? 😒
Tables are freaking cool, man! It's just like a flat floor, which is also cool, but elevated so that you can sit at it or place stuff on top of it.
I still had it third on my list in the example you made here 8:49 , but I still feel we shouldn't take furniture for granted.
there are well-known terms called Functional Psychopath and Borderline Psychopath, these are the CEOs and Seal team members, and yes I want my sergeant to be one of these
Unintended consequences, here we go! Lol
I chose the table as the top because I love the multiplication and periodic tables
In my experience a certain amout of good parenting can help psychopaths do well in society and be aimed more for ceo than prison, but i accept that some more extreme ones just arent capable of living in society safely(for other people).
Nah I’d win
No way 🤣🤣🤣
Jjk fan bro