this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2025
222 points (100.0% liked)
politics
24800 readers
2384 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS.
It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments.
Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Register To Vote
• Citizenship Resource Center
• Congressional Awards Program
• Federal Government Agencies
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• The White House
• U.S. House of Representatives
• U.S. Senate
Partnered Communities:
• News
• World News
• Business News
• Political Discussion
• Ask Politics
• Military News
• Global Politics
• Moderate Politics
• Progressive Politics
• UK Politics
• Canadian Politics
• Australian Politics
• New Zealand Politics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I always wonder about people like her. What is it like inside her brain? How does she see the world and her place in it?
Broadly, she's obviously mentally ill - no sane and rational person could make the decisions she makes. But how specifically? Is she delusional? Does she just not live in consensual reality? If not that, then what is it? Is she amoral - entirely unable to even grasp the concept of morality? Or is she so pathologically self-absorbed that she has no principles or ethics? Or is she just so greedy and/or power-hungry that she ignores everything else? Or does she have some speck of principles or morals or empathy thatvshe silences with alcohol or drugs?
I really have no idea, but I can't help but wonder. It's just so bizarre to me that any human being could be that utterly loathsome. What goes through their heads in those unguarded moments when they're standing in the shower or sitting on the toilet or laying in bed? How can they not have at least some awareness of how foul they are?
Psychopathy.
5% of the population is psychopathic. No shame. No guilt. No fear. Zero motivations beyond their own amusement. Contrary to popular belief, people like her are born that way.
However, this type of brain damage is on a spectrum, and judging by opinion polls and various psychometric data over the last century, I would estimate at least 30% of the population to be categorically incapable of moral reasoning. A conservative estimate. This outsize fraction of humans possess rudimentary moral intuitions, like most mammals, but no inclination or capacity for abstract reflection.
They also do not exhibit any of the transcendental values that separate “persons” from animals. But we are forbidden from having that uncomfortable discussion because of some weird hang ups about dehumanization. Nevermind that Homo sapiens are literally animals and there’s nothing shocking about the fact that a huge fraction of us are nothing more than animals.
Nice bit of wordplay there!
Pretty big number you're throwing around. 5% seems like bs to me.
Where is that number from?
If i had to make a guesstimation myself, it might be 1 in 400. Maybe
This paper estimates that 4.5% of the population ~~is psychopathic~~ has psychopathic traits, and 1.2% is psychopathic by conventional standards of measurement. (Edited to correct my original misstatement, thanks to teslasaur's reply below.)
Prevalence of Psychopathy in the General Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Archive links, in case the US government deletes it along with the rest of science:
These numbers are extremely low. We are limited by our diagnostic capabilities, and a lot of psychopathy is simply passed off as narcissism, particularly among non-violent psychopaths.
If a psychopath is intelligent enough to simply get a job on Wall Street then how do we diagnose him? The PCL-22 requires him to engage in extreme behaviors. Following a profit motive doesn’t “count” and neither does voting for Trump.
Has psychopatic traits*
I don't understand why, but they dont account for sociopathy at all in that study.
I would agree that 5 % of people have psychopatic traits. To varying degrees. Many of those that take riskful jobs have psychopatic traits, it doesn't have to be an "evil" job. Pilots, fire fighters, police, doctors, etc all have some parts of their job that is fitting for someone with traits that allows you to ignore risk to the benefit of others.
Diagnosed psychopathy is very rare in comparison.
Sociopath is not a clinically defined term. Sociopath is basically a slang term for a person with anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). ASPD can be one part of a psychopathy diagnosis but they are not the same thing.
Also known as "on a spectrum" ...right?
Not in the DSM as such maybe?
Thanks. I corrected the misreading in my comment above.
Nurture ~~vs. Nature~~ her brother is in on it so one has to assume the family is horrendous.
Sort of like Erik Prince and Betsy DeVos.
Or classically, the Borgias.
All of the above.
Except for maybe the speck of principles or morals, we all know she has none.