Alan Harrington posited that the psychopath is the new man being produced by the evolutionary pressures of modern life. Gets your attention, huh? There is another punch…
I don’t know when the author made the statement but he wrote a book on psychopaths in 1972 so that’s a decent guess. He died in 1997 so “modern” in this case is relative. Here, you can read about him in the words of his entertaining friends – Tucson Weekly.
Let’s say he’s right. I suspect most would agree this trend has exploded like a mushroom cloud if we compare the 1970’s with modern modern life. Twenty-first century life!
The list of reasons why could be a book in itself. My question in putting this out here is to ask what non-psychopaths supposed to do about this?
I happen to not be a psychopath. Given my background, you might wonder. But I’m caught here, like many of you, needing to find a way to live among people who aren’t really like me. You can’t avoid them because they exert so much control; causing unquantifiable harm to the lives of everyone, everywhere.
I’m not sure if a person might be able to consciously give into the “pressures of modern life”; set aside their innate moral compass and opt to evolve in this direction. I don’t think I could do it. Just trying to hold the thought in my head is intensely uncomfortable.
I don’t think this is because I’m such a moral person or anything like that. It could be I’ve seen too much of the damage done by psychopaths. I don’t want any part of it, but why? For all I know, it because I have Capricorn! Karma? Fear of comeuppance?
It may also be the strong Jupiter strong streak. I have a drive to be high-minded. I’d rather try to figure out how to help people as opposed to harming them. But again, this may be due to my fear of consequences.
Have you head that AI came up 40K lethal chemical weapon compounds in just six hours? It’s believable. This is the world we find ourselves in. How can the everyday person to cope?
Ideas?
I was surrounded by them my whole life. Extreme emotional and physical abuse. For me, it is finally no contact. There’s only two left in the family – the rest are dead. It was a relief when they died, and will be again when the last two pass.
I have tons of Libra – Sun, Moon, Jupiter and Mars. And Saturn in Sag in my first house. I’m also, interestingly, adopted. Their bloodline is not mine.
As for the rest of the world, I just try and insulate myself from it as best as I can. And do good in my little world – small kindnesses for others whenever possible.
I think Alan Harrington was right. In this world where you have to scramble to the top of the pile to ‘be somebody’, there’s no time to be pleasant and polite about it on the way. I think this is also compounded by social media, where anyone can create a perfectly crafted life for all to see online, edited to perfection, plus it’s so easy to be vicious and uncaring from behind a computer screen – dissociation at it’s finest.
I’m not cut out for the modern world:)
I’m still convinced that the majority of people are not psychopaths. We always hear that if big groups get together, changes can be enacted. Maybe this should no longer be seen as a political construct but instead as a need to divide along the psycho/non-psycho divide in order to save the world.
I don’t know what percentage of people are psychopaths. I think there is widespread agreement, it’s 4% at least. But I have heard this has climbed dramatically. Some sources says it’s five times that and more.
When I first posted about this: Diabolical Brainwashing, back in 2011, I was stunned by the Berkowitz quote. I have a whole different view on this now.
Elsa, you and I are so much alike it’s scary. It’s hard being so different in a world where everyone is so much the same. I think natural sides are being drawn = the wheat from the chaft. The pull apart is now – and reality can not be denied. Underneath all life is love/laughter that is magical light – that makes up all things – this is how far away from our innate soul we are. It is our essence. We are Soul. We are Light – and we are dense in matter – we are integrating now. And it is causing the demens, to rise. Keep breathing, keep doing what you’re doing. Thank you so much for always putting yourself out there. I have an Aquarian father – hermit, after abandoning his family, Weak, Gemini mother, 8 brothers/sisters – in the middle- with a pretty dyanamic chart. My life has been just as dynamic and no one would believe most of it. And I don’t have stories to tell, I don’t think to tell them – their leaves in the river long gone. I’ve come a long way baby and I am feeling so good about my future. I’ve known forever, this time was coming – but not really – and no one else did, so I didn’t believe it as strong as I should have. But still, I have made many moves in preparation for now – and in a week – I’m off to Alaska – no government no taxes where people are still people, a part of which has the same climate similar to Seattle. Government is the bane for it thinks it OWNS the land, therefore all rights to all actions and activities, be it wise thought out, corrupt or otherwise. And it’s negativity, allows the chemicals which that and torture are at the bottom of all mental illness. Past lives, and present lives are all mixed up together.
We’re going to get super clarity in the months to come.
What I read over two years ago is that these personality types are rare, and mainly belong to men.
The uptick may also be caused by this (since I am now employed in the behavioral health field): the punitive nature of licensed counselors, psychologists, etc. Companies/businesses are paid more, can bill more, when a client is diagnosed/labeled with specific characteristic traits.
Now, on the flip side, big cities are known to produce more sociopaths and psychopaths. Men in particular begin to emulate what zebras already do. What I mean is that zebras have stripes so as to blend in with each other, making it difficult for prey to distinguish when a zebra ends and begins, unless it’s bleeding, limping.
Men who join gangs mimic this behavior. I lived for a short while in NYC and gang mentality is extremely prevalent, whereby folks intentionally create a rap sheet, a criminal record, in order to obtain and sustain themselves within a social street hierarchy. I saw this as well in Arizona.
This mentality is also found in within pockets of many businesses, doctoral professions, and others.
My older brother was released from prison after 5+ years, for a third time. He assassinates my character behind my back since I don’t partake in his brutish lifestyle anymore.
This is slightly off topic, but I suggest listening to Dr. Thomas Sowell, a world renown economist about the economic factors that influenced this behavior. There is a economic relationship here that has led to men obtaining such extreme personalities.
Quote by Penney Pierce that helped me deal with difficult people:
“There’s a reason your world contains the people it does. All relationships, even those that seem difficult, are gifts from your soul to help you find blocks, talents, and new directions that you might not have discovered alone. You attract people with a frequency pattern similar to your own. Take a look around. What sort of people do you surround yourself with? If you’re lucky, they’re trustworthy, affectionate, and thoughtful. They meet you halfway, coming as far forward into engagement as you do. They’re adaptable, communicative, productive, and contributory. On the other hand, you may be surrounded by people who are wounded victims, leeches, blaming punishers, withholding noncommunicators, or passive aggressive dominators.”
Maybe these psychopaths are growing in number because underlying issues are going unaddressed and passed on to other people in shorter periods of time, ya know? It’s such a large topic and our populations all over the world are growing expontentially – creating less time to unravel and cure behaviors that develop in a negative direction. It takes time and patience to teach children love.
Spot on.
I agree to spot on. The karma is so thick we are elbows to assholes on the way to consciousness.
I hear you! The anonymity of social media is too often a wedge between people, a smokescreen, a curtain to hide behind, instead of the unifying tool it can be if people were honest and compassionate.
That reply was meant for Plutolover.
There is an excellent article in Mother Jones about the correlation between leaded gasoline and the rise in violent crime during the 1940-1980 period.
I can’t help wondering if there is also a correlation to the rise in psychopathy.
Just a thought.
For all interested in this topic of psychopaths, there’s a great book by M Scott Peck called “People of the Lie.” It’s been helpful to me and to several others. Available on Amazon…
“Alan Harrington posited that the psychopath is the new man being produced by the evolutionary pressures of modern life.”
No. It’s isn’t a “new” thing of “modern life” but has been in effect, right in front of people’s noses, for thousands of years, flourishing gradually and steadily to its current global scale — https://www.rolf-hefti.com/covid-19-coronavirus.html
“My question in putting this out here is to ask what non-psychopaths supposed to do about this?”
The cited article elaborates on that. But the problem is immense because it isn’t just a matter of having leading authorities that are psychopaths.
The times we live in are the perfect atmosphere for psychopaths.
-People have been raised to believe that image is EVERYTHING. A great selfie and pretend life = good person. This is, How To Be a Psychopath 101.
-No one is accountable for ANYTHING. Do whatever you want, it’s someone else’s fault. Psychopath 101. Simply watch a government hearing, such as the SCOTUS hearing…don’t answer a direct question, obfuscate, obfuscate, obfuscate…no one has been required to give direct answers for decades…now here we are.
-We stopped worshipping God and began worshipping ourselves. Psychopath 101
I think there are many more psychopaths these days as a result, but I think the main thing is, the people caught up with the psychopaths.
If you’ve ever been involved with one, there is a stage of disbelief…where you are trying to convince yourself that what you have been led to believe and thus your actions couldn’t possibly be a result of a gaslighting psychopath. At some point the bottom falls out and you’re forced to face the truth. I hope and pray we as a society are getting close to this point.