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Did you read the article? > But when he underwent a series of genetic tests, he got more bad news. “I had all these high-risk alleles for aggression, violence
by hvidgaard 7y ago
Did you read the article?
> But when he underwent a series of genetic tests, he got more bad news. “I had all these high-risk alleles for aggression, violence and low empathy,” he says, such as a variant of the MAO-A gene that has been linked with aggressive behavior. Eventually, based on further neurological and behavioral research into psychopathy, he decided he was indeed a psychopath—just a relatively good kind, what he and others call a “pro-social psychopath,” someone who has difficulty feeling true empathy for others but still keeps his behavior roughly within socially-acceptable bounds.
> It wasn’t entirely a shock to Fallon, as he’d always been aware that he was someone especially motivated by power and manipulating others, he says. Additionally, his family line included seven alleged murderers, including Lizzie Borden, infamously accused of killing her father and stepmother in 1892."
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> “I’m obnoxiously competitive. I won’t let my grandchildren win games. I’m kind of an asshole, and I do jerky things that piss people off,” he says. “But while I’m aggressive, but my aggression is sublimated. I’d rather beat someone in an argument than beat them up.”
- raxxorrax 7y agoI read the article, that is why I referenced being competitive for example. But the "quote" wasn't meant to be attributed to him, I just thought it funny. Just wanting to throw in the idea, that maybe he isn't a psychopath, not even in the pathological sense.
- hvidgaard 7y agoMy apologies then. One of the defining characteristics of a psychopath is the lack of empathy. That is not to say you cannot learn when to feel empathic, and he touches on that too. Maybe we just need to change our definition, or invent a new one. One can be a pathological psychopath, but not be "a psychopath", because they was loved and cared for properly. Essentially they learned that social connections was overwhelmingly beneficial for them.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y agoPsychopaths can fake empathic behaviours. In fact they're so good at this they can appear unusually friendly and caring. They do this by modelling social interactions and replaying them. It's more of a scripted response: "In this situation, act as if you feel like this." I don't think they can learn to have genuine empathic feelings, because the part of the brain that would normally have them doesn't work very well. It's not something good parenting can fix. It can maybe mitigate it to an extent, but it's not unusual for average-to-good parents to be completely baffled by a son/daughter with serious personality issues that are primarily genetic.