Pyscho- or sociopaths, no. However I've come to theorize that it's a common defensive reaction in many people to go slightly (or majorly) "numb" when they find

Pyscho- or sociopaths, no. However I've come to theorize that it's a common defensive reaction in many people to go slightly (or majorly) "numb" when they find themselves involved in actions in which others are also likely to be hurt in some significant way -- even if their role is entirely passive, and/or the action is necessary and basically unavoidable. Which would explain a lot of the vapid e-mail announcements about layoffs / firings, as well as the tone of most rejection letters these days ("We think you suck, basically, and/or we didn't really bother to read your resume before contacting you and gobbling up all your time with our dorky interview process. Or if we did read your resume, we didn't really think about what we read or whether you'd fit the position. But either way, we hope you have a great weekend!")