It Just Irks Me

[guardians_song]

“Psychopathy is probably the most pleasant-feeling of all the mental disorders,” says the journalist Jon Ronson, whose book, The Psychopath Test, explored the concept of psychopathy and the mental health industry in general. “All of the things that keep you good, morally good, are painful things: guilt, remorse, empathy.”
(source)

Well, no, actually. There's the joy of accomplishment, the self-esteem benefit of knowingly doing good, the happiness of causing improvement (of oneself, others, or the world)...

STOP GLAMORIZING PSYCHOPATHY AND UNDERCUTTING VIRTUE.

The fear of punishment alone won't make you good. All it will make you is neutral. Goodness actually takes work and motivation. A lump of stone has committed no evil. It has committed no good either.

PEOPLE DON'T JUST DO GOOD AND AVOID EVIL BECAUSE OF "PAINFUL THINGS'. WHAT THE FUCK.

Comments

[sarajayechan]

THANK YOU. I love it when people rant about these things, it makes me feel less alone. ;3;

[guardians_song]

Heh. You're welcome.

It creeps me out. At some point, I have to stop thinking people like this are just being stupid and begin thinking that they're actively trying to rig it up so that psychopathy is portrayed as the smart, fun, glamorous thing and morality is portrayed as something for dweebs and losers that everyone should praise them for even temporarily practicing in the first place. D| ...And people like this write news articles and influence public opinion? EUGH.

[redwoodalchan]

"At some point, I have to stop thinking people like this are just being stupid and begin thinking that they're actively trying to rig it up so that psychopathy is portrayed as the smart, fun, glamorous thing and morality is portrayed as something for dweebs and losers that everyone should praise them for even temporarily practicing in the first place."

I've actually come across people on the 'Net who've said that sort of thing outright, but to their credit at least they're honest enough to admit that they're selfish, greedy animals and just don't care.

Now I'm sorta reminded of a time long ago, where (if I recall correctly) I came across a thing which said something to the effect of "Psychopaths are so superficially charming that they're good at finding sexual partners which is why they're still around." D:

Except, no, that can't be the case, because the fact that a trait exists does not necessarily imply that it makes it easier to get mates--just that it won't make you utterly fail at it. If there were any actual evolutionary advantage to being a psychopath, most people would be psychopaths by now--it wouldn't be limited to a small proportion of the population, most of which have a history of trauma.

[guardians_song]

I've actually come across people on the 'Net who've said that sort of thing outright, but to their credit at least they're honest enough to admit that they're selfish, greedy animals and just don't care.
Or they're Stephenie Meyer. 'Vampires are evil because they're like predators, you can't hold them to human law! The Cullens are better because sparkles.' D|

Except, no, that can't be the case, because the fact that a trait exists does not necessarily imply that it makes it easier to get mates--just that it won't make you utterly fail at it. If there were any actual evolutionary advantage to being a psychopath, most people would be psychopaths by now--it wouldn't be limited to a small proportion of the population, most of which have a history of trauma.
Yeah, people fail at biology. D|

(Technically it could be that psychopaths are better at getting MATES. However, passing on genes isn't just a matter of mating - it's also whether your offspring survive to adulthood and in turn get mates, and whether THEY can take care of their offspring. Psychopaths are notoriously unreliable at best and horrifically abusive at worst, and their children often end up with problems due to that neglect and abuse [even if they don't become psychopaths themselves, which carries its own effects on survival] ASSUMING THAT their parents don't actively fuck with their lives in adulthood (which is not necessarily true, alas D:), so it may be that their kids die at higher rates AND/OR have decreased success at finding mates AND/OR have THEIR OWN children die at higher rates and/or have decreased success at finding mates because they lack the skills to get resources and care for children.

TL;DR: fucking everyone over is not adaptive in the long, LONG run. Short run's ultimately irrelevant. :\)

[lliira]

The "good at getting mates" thing doesn't even make sense. Every single trait that has survived this far in the human population is not adaptive, for one. For another, humans spent a long time trying to make other humans unable to choose their own mates, and plenty still do or try to. But I guess bad backs must be adaptive because so many people have those? Alcoholism must be incredibly adaptive, there are waaaay more alcoholics than psychopaths. There's this underlying assumption that this is the best of all possible worlds, all hail our god Evolution which has created it all, and now we are perfect and fated to be this way, and I see people treat evolution like this a lot and it is very annoying.

[lliira]

Wow, he's just full of shit, isn't he? Doing good for others feels good. There have been tons of studies showing that the happiest people are those who think of themselves least and doing good for others most. And empathy is "painful"? Since when? Sure, it's painful when bad things are happening to other people, but it's wonderful when good things are happening to them, and especially when you're the one making good things happen.

Where'd this guy get his degree, anyway? Personality Disorders R Us?

ETA: Looking up "psychopaths depression", the first link on Google was this article: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/psychotic-affective-disorders/hidden-suffering-psychopath-0

Some quotes:
Like anyone else, psychopaths have a deep wish to be loved and cared for. This desire remains frequently unfulfilled, however, as it is obviously not easy for another person to get close to someone with such repellent personality characteristics.

Despite their outward arrogance, inside psychopaths feel inferior to others and know they are stigmatized by their own behavior.

As psychopaths age they are not able to continue their energy-consuming lifestyle and become burned-out and depressed, while they look back on their restless life full of interpersonal discontentment. Their health deteriorates as the effects of their recklessness accumulate.

[guardians_song]

Wow, he's just full of shit, isn't he? Doing good for others feels good. There have been tons of studies showing that the happiest people are those who think of themselves least and doing good for others most. And empathy is "painful"? Since when? Sure, it's painful when bad things are happening to other people, but it's wonderful when good things are happening to them, and especially when you're the one making good things happen.
Exactly. I didn't call out the "empathy" remark because it can get painful, but yep, he completely ignored the good side.

Where'd this guy get his degree, anyway? Personality Disorders R Us?
Wherever LKH got hers. |P

Thanks for the link! That's interesting...

[shamanicshaymin]

All the eye-rolling in the world from this douchebag. Ugh.

[guardians_song]

I prefer headdesking. My optic nerves would probably get twisted up from doing several 360-degree revolutions at this guy. D|

[redwoodalchan]

It's particularly ridiculous when you consider that many (not to say all) people who display those sorts of personality traits display them because they have a history of abuse or something else like it. People who do really terrible things are not usually particularly happy people.

[guardians_song]

Yep.

But I suppose it's edgier to claim that evil=happiness or something. because a lot of opinion columnists sound like teenagers in thirtysomething bodies, especially when they complain about how dumb all the other kids are and how things were so much better when they were younger