WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 I want you to picture someone. Maybe it's a guy 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:05.459 you work with. Let's call him David. David is, 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:08.000 well, he's perfect. Oh, the perfect ones are 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.039 always the most interesting. Right. He's always 00:00:10.039 --> 00:00:12.679 dressed impeccably. He's got that firm handshake. 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:15.279 He maintains just the right amount of eye contact. 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.100 He's charming, tells great stories at the water 00:00:18.100 --> 00:00:20.399 cooler. And the boss, I mean, the boss absolutely 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:22.420 loves him. He never seems stressed, I'm guessing. 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.859 Never. Never seems rattled at all. He is, by 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:27.140 all accounts, just the model of mental health. 00:00:27.260 --> 00:00:30.559 Okay, I'm with you. But then... Imagine you're 00:00:30.559 --> 00:00:34.219 at a company dinner. A waiter accidentally spills 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:37.799 a full glass of red wine on David's very expensive, 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:42.380 very white shirt. The ultimate test. And for 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:45.520 just a microsecond, the mask slips. David doesn't 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.219 yell. He doesn't get red in the face. He just 00:00:47.219 --> 00:00:49.420 he looks at the waiter with eyes that are completely 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:52.060 dead. Ah, there it is. There's no anger. There's 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:55.880 no frustration. There's just a total. A total 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:58.100 absence of humanity. It's like looking into the 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:00.899 eyes of a shark. And then it's gone. Gone. Snap. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:03.520 The smile is back. He's making a joke about the 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.700 dry cleaning bill. And everyone laughs, relieved. 00:01:06.099 --> 00:01:09.799 But you, you saw it. You saw the nothingness. 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:12.519 That is a visceral way to open. And that nothingness, 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:15.680 that absolute void, that is exactly what we are 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:18.060 here to unpack today. Welcome back to the Deep 00:01:18.060 --> 00:01:22.260 Dive. Today we are exploring a topic that I think... 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.950 It scares people more than ghosts or goblins 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:27.030 because it's real and it's walking among us. 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:30.170 We are talking about psychopathy. And I'll be 00:01:30.170 --> 00:01:32.209 honest, going through the research you sent over 00:01:32.209 --> 00:01:35.090 this massive stack of articles and the main Wikipedia 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:38.769 deep dive, I realized I have been using that 00:01:38.769 --> 00:01:41.349 word wrong my entire life. You and pretty much 00:01:41.349 --> 00:01:43.170 everyone else. It's one of those words that has 00:01:43.170 --> 00:01:45.469 been completely hijacked by pop culture. Oh, 00:01:45.469 --> 00:01:47.689 completely. We say, oh, my ex is a total psycho 00:01:47.689 --> 00:01:50.230 or that driver is a psychopath. We usually just 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:52.459 mean they're, you know, erratic or. angry or 00:01:52.459 --> 00:01:56.159 just difficult. Exactly. Or we picture the Hollywood 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.620 version. We picture Hannibal Lecter wearing a 00:01:58.620 --> 00:02:01.900 face mask or Patrick Bateman chasing people with 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:04.299 a chainsaw in American Psycho. We think of these 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:07.140 monsters hiding in the dark. And that's the danger. 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:10.219 Because while those characters are iconic, they 00:02:10.219 --> 00:02:14.060 focus almost exclusively on the extreme violence. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:17.560 The reality of psychopathy, the clinical reality, 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:20.610 is so much more subtle. And more unsettling, 00:02:20.629 --> 00:02:22.650 I think. Far more unsettling, in my opinion. 00:02:22.789 --> 00:02:24.689 We aren't necessarily talking about the guy with 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:26.449 the chainsaw. We're talking about a specific 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:29.129 personality construct that might be your surgeon, 00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:31.969 your CEO, or that perfect guy, David, you just 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:33.689 described. That's what I want to get to the bottom 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:36.229 of. The mask of sanity. I saw this phrase popping 00:02:36.229 --> 00:02:38.370 up repeatedly in the notes. It comes from Hervey 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:40.729 Cleckley, right? Back in the 40s. 1841, yes. 00:02:41.490 --> 00:02:44.750 Hervey Cleckley wrote a seminal book titled The 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:47.389 Mask of Sanity. It basically, I mean, it completely 00:02:47.389 --> 00:02:49.330 revolutionized how we see this condition. How 00:02:49.330 --> 00:02:52.969 so? What was the thinking before him? Well, before 00:02:52.969 --> 00:02:55.490 Cleckley, people often confused psychopathy with 00:02:55.490 --> 00:02:58.729 insanity or psychosis. You know, madness. The 00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:02.069 idea that they were crazy? Exactly. But Cleckley 00:03:02.069 --> 00:03:04.449 made this startling observation. He was treating 00:03:04.449 --> 00:03:06.569 patients who weren't crazy in the traditional 00:03:06.569 --> 00:03:09.009 sense. They weren't hearing voices. They weren't 00:03:09.009 --> 00:03:11.789 hallucinating. They weren't, you know, anxious 00:03:11.789 --> 00:03:15.280 or depressed. So they seemed... Normal. Better 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:17.919 than normal. Yeah. He described how they often 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:19.879 appeared to be the most sane people in the hospital. 00:03:20.120 --> 00:03:23.659 Wow. They were articulate, intelligent, totally 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:26.939 logical. But Cleckley realized that this sanity 00:03:26.939 --> 00:03:31.259 was a thin veneer. It was a mask. Underneath, 00:03:31.259 --> 00:03:34.000 there was a fundamental hollowness, a profound 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.979 poverty of emotion. So they could mimic human 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:39.020 emotion. Perfectly. They could say the right 00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:41.280 things, but they couldn't actually feel them. 00:03:41.500 --> 00:03:43.490 That's the core of it. There was a quote in the 00:03:43.490 --> 00:03:45.050 research that I think you flagged and it gave 00:03:45.050 --> 00:03:47.830 me chills too. It said, they know the words but 00:03:47.830 --> 00:03:50.509 not the music. Yes, that one. It's the perfect 00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:53.629 analogy. It really is. Imagine trying to explain 00:03:53.629 --> 00:03:56.949 the feeling of being moved by a beautiful piece 00:03:56.949 --> 00:03:59.349 of music, you know, a symphony, to someone who 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:01.330 is completely tone deaf. They could read the 00:04:01.330 --> 00:04:03.479 sheet music. They could analyze it perfectly. 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:05.860 They can say, ah, yes, a C sharp followed by 00:04:05.860 --> 00:04:07.939 an E flat that's a minor third. They understand 00:04:07.939 --> 00:04:10.319 the mechanics. But they don't get the goosebumps. 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:13.280 They don't feel that swell of emotion in their 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:15.360 chest. And that is the psychopath with, say, 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:20.319 love. Or guilt. Or remorse. Or empathy. They 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:24.040 know I love you is a phrase you say to get someone 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:28.420 to stay. Or to get sex. Or to get money. They 00:04:28.420 --> 00:04:31.259 know the words. They just don't hear the music. 00:04:31.689 --> 00:04:34.050 So our mission today is to figure out how that 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:35.949 machine works. We want to strip away the slang 00:04:35.949 --> 00:04:37.930 and look at the actual mechanics. Is it genetic? 00:04:38.110 --> 00:04:39.769 Is it something that happens to you as a kid? 00:04:39.970 --> 00:04:42.050 And the big paradox, the one that I think fascinates 00:04:42.050 --> 00:04:44.769 everyone. The one I'm obsessed with. Why do some 00:04:44.769 --> 00:04:46.910 of these people become serial killers while others 00:04:46.910 --> 00:04:50.089 become wildly successful business leaders? It 00:04:50.089 --> 00:04:52.430 is the ultimate paradox of the trait. And to 00:04:52.430 --> 00:04:54.149 get there, we have to start by clearing up the 00:04:54.149 --> 00:04:56.949 biggest confusion of all. The difference between 00:04:56.949 --> 00:05:01.089 psycho, as in psychotic, And psychopath. I feel 00:05:01.089 --> 00:05:03.009 like I've used these interchangeably at parties 00:05:03.009 --> 00:05:04.829 and probably embarrassed myself more than once. 00:05:05.009 --> 00:05:08.430 You're not alone. But the distinction is absolutely 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:11.870 crucial. Psychosis or being psychotic is a break 00:05:11.870 --> 00:05:14.329 from reality. Okay. That is what you see in something 00:05:14.329 --> 00:05:17.329 like schizophrenia, for example. If you are psychotic, 00:05:17.490 --> 00:05:20.389 you might have delusions. You might believe the 00:05:20.389 --> 00:05:22.370 government is beaming thoughts into your head 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:24.910 through the toaster. Right. You might hear voices 00:05:24.910 --> 00:05:27.250 telling you to do things. You are suffering. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:29.800 Because your mind has separated from the real 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:32.579 world. Okay, so the psychotic person thinks the 00:05:32.579 --> 00:05:34.800 toaster is talking to them. Right. The psychopath, 00:05:35.139 --> 00:05:37.459 on the other hand, knows the toaster is just 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:40.639 a toaster. They are grounded firmly in reality. 00:05:40.819 --> 00:05:43.779 They are rational. They are logical. Often they 00:05:43.779 --> 00:05:46.379 are colder and more rational than you or I because 00:05:46.379 --> 00:05:48.339 they aren't clouded by all that messy emotion. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:51.540 So the psychotic person is mad in the classic 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:55.480 sense. The psychopath is what? Bad. That's the 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:57.500 simplified way to look at it, I suppose. The 00:05:57.500 --> 00:05:59.519 psychotic person is often a victim of their own 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:02.800 broken mind. They are suffering. The word pathos 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:05.160 means suffering after all. But the psychopath, 00:06:05.459 --> 00:06:08.500 they don't suffer. They cause suffering. They're 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.899 the engine of chaos. Exactly. For everyone else, 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:13.100 while they remain perfectly calm at the center 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.339 of the storm. So if I suspect my neighbor is 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:17.620 a psychopath, I can't just look up psychopathy 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:20.300 in the big book of mental disorders, right? I 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:22.439 tried to find it in the notes about the DSM, 00:06:22.459 --> 00:06:24.699 a diagnostic and statistical manual, and it's 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:27.279 not there. It's not. And this drives criminologists 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:30.519 and many forensic psychologists absolutely crazy. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:32.959 Why not? It seems like such a well -known concept. 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:37.550 It is, but... The DSM, for various reasons, doesn't 00:06:37.550 --> 00:06:39.810 have a standalone diagnosis called psychopathy. 00:06:40.170 --> 00:06:42.290 The closest thing you'll find is something called 00:06:42.290 --> 00:06:45.949 antisocial personality disorder, or ASPD. But 00:06:45.949 --> 00:06:48.009 they aren't the same thing. They overlap, like 00:06:48.009 --> 00:06:51.269 a Venn diagram, but they are absolutely not synonyms. 00:06:51.750 --> 00:06:54.769 ASPD is very, very behavior -based. It's focused 00:06:54.769 --> 00:06:57.269 on what you do. Like a checklist of bad actions. 00:06:57.470 --> 00:06:59.579 A total checklist of trouble. If you look at 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:02.199 the criteria for ASPD, it's things like, do you 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:04.600 consistently break laws? Do you lie repeatedly? 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:07.199 Are you impulsive? Do you get into physical fights? 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:09.319 Do you show a reckless disregard for the safety 00:07:09.319 --> 00:07:11.660 of others? Okay, so it's basically the criminality 00:07:11.660 --> 00:07:15.259 disorder. Roughly, yes. It's very good at catching 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:17.360 the people who act out, who end up in the criminal 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:20.480 justice system. But here is the catch, and it's 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.160 a big one. Go on. You can be a psychopath and 00:07:23.160 --> 00:07:25.740 never get arrested. You can be a psychopath and 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:28.170 never get into a fistfight. You might destroy 00:07:28.170 --> 00:07:30.689 people psychologically or bankrupt a company 00:07:30.689 --> 00:07:33.370 or emotionally scar your children for life. But 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:36.009 you do it within the letter of the law. Or just 00:07:36.009 --> 00:07:39.290 smart enough to not get caught. Those people, 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:42.529 the so -called successful psychopaths, would 00:07:42.529 --> 00:07:44.870 likely not get diagnosed with ASPD because they 00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:47.839 aren't antisocial in that. crude legal sense. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.740 They're too smart for that. Or too controlled. 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:53.100 So researchers, especially in the forensic world, 00:07:53.240 --> 00:07:55.759 knew they needed a better tool. They needed a 00:07:55.759 --> 00:07:57.839 way to measure the personality, not just the 00:07:57.839 --> 00:07:59.800 rap sheet. The stuff going on underneath the 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:02.079 surface. The hollowness, the lack of empathy. 00:08:02.259 --> 00:08:04.860 And that brings us to the gold standard, the 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:08.040 PCLR. The psychopathy checklist revised. This 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:10.509 was developed by Dr. Robert Hare. i want to spend 00:08:10.509 --> 00:08:12.430 some time here because i feel like this is where 00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:14.949 we really see the ingredients of the mask it's 00:08:14.949 --> 00:08:18.430 a scoring system right it is it's a 20 item checklist 00:08:18.430 --> 00:08:21.829 for each of those 20 items a trained clinician 00:08:21.829 --> 00:08:25.029 and they have to be trained reviews a person's 00:08:25.029 --> 00:08:27.569 entire life history interviews police records 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:29.910 family interviews everything this isn't a quiz 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:32.710 you take online absolutely not and for each item 00:08:32.710 --> 00:08:35.370 the clinician gives a score zero means doesn't 00:08:35.370 --> 00:08:38.450 apply at all one means apply somewhat and two 00:08:38.450 --> 00:08:41.210 means That's a perfect description of this person. 00:08:41.309 --> 00:08:43.730 And the max score is 40, a perfect two on all 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:46.409 20 items. Max is 40, yes. Okay, let's play a 00:08:46.409 --> 00:08:47.990 game. I want to really understand these traits. 00:08:48.350 --> 00:08:50.350 I'm going to invent a character. Let's call him 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:53.850 Gary. Gary is a guy I used to know loosely based 00:08:53.850 --> 00:08:56.169 on a real person, but I won't name names. I like 00:08:56.169 --> 00:08:57.789 it. Let's do it. I'm going to describe Gary, 00:08:57.889 --> 00:09:00.370 and you tell me how we'd score him on some of 00:09:00.370 --> 00:09:03.490 these key PCLR items. All right, let's diagnose 00:09:03.490 --> 00:09:06.750 Gary. Fire away. Okay, item one. glibness, and 00:09:06.750 --> 00:09:09.529 superficial charm. Gary was the life of the party. 00:09:09.690 --> 00:09:11.789 He always had a funny story. He could talk to 00:09:11.789 --> 00:09:15.019 anyone about anything, but... It always felt 00:09:15.019 --> 00:09:16.879 a little rehearsed, like he was performing a 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:19.179 script he'd memorized. And if you tried to get 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:21.720 deep with him, ask him about his feelings, he'd 00:09:21.720 --> 00:09:24.299 just deflect with a joke and that perfect dazzling 00:09:24.299 --> 00:09:26.580 smile. That's a classic two points. That's the 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:28.899 mask. Yeah. It's the ability to be entertaining 00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:31.600 and engaging, but it's all on a very surface 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.639 level. It's described as slick, but without any 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.320 real warmth or substance behind it. Slick is 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:39.440 the perfect word. Okay. Two points for Gary. 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:44.120 Next item. Grandiose sense of self -worth. Gary 00:09:44.120 --> 00:09:45.740 didn't just think he was smart. He thought he 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:48.740 was a god among men. He'd say things like, I'm 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:50.620 the only one in this company who actually has 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:53.639 a brain. He genuinely believed rules were for 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:56.240 little people, not for him. Another solid two. 00:09:56.460 --> 00:09:59.299 This isn't just confidence. Confidence is, I 00:09:59.299 --> 00:10:02.019 think I can do this job well. Grandiosity is, 00:10:02.179 --> 00:10:04.860 I am inherently superior to you, and the laws 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:08.200 of physics, society, and basic decency shouldn't 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:10.100 apply to me. He's racking up the points. What 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:12.659 about pathological lying? Gary lied about everything. 00:10:12.899 --> 00:10:15.059 He lied about where he went to college. He lied 00:10:15.059 --> 00:10:17.059 about how much money he made. He even lied about 00:10:17.059 --> 00:10:19.600 what he had for lunch for no reason. And that's 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.299 the key. For no reason. That's why it's pathological. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.279 A normal person lies to avoid trouble or despair 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:28.019 someone's feelings. No, honey, those genes don't 00:10:28.019 --> 00:10:30.480 make you look fat. A social lubricant. Right. 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:34.000 A psychopath lies for the thrill of it or just 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.700 to control the narrative. Yeah. There's a term 00:10:35.700 --> 00:10:38.039 for it. Duping delight. They get a little kick, 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:40.039 a little jolt of pleasure out of successfully 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:43.639 tricking you. Duping delight. That is incredibly 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:47.139 creepy. OK, here's a big one. Lack of remorse 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:50.200 or guilt. Gary cheated on his wife, got caught. 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:53.120 And when she was crying, screaming, his reaction 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.139 wasn't, I'm so sorry. It was, why are you making 00:10:56.139 --> 00:10:58.240 such a big deal out of this? You're being hysterical. 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:00.600 Quintessential, too. It's the externalization 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:03.480 of blame. I didn't hurt you. Your reaction is 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:06.169 the problem. There is no internal mechanism that 00:11:06.169 --> 00:11:08.789 says, I caused another human being pain and that 00:11:08.789 --> 00:11:11.289 makes me feel bad. That entire circuit is missing. 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:14.370 So if Gary keeps going like this across all 20 00:11:14.370 --> 00:11:16.970 items, getting twos on cunning, manipulative, 00:11:17.009 --> 00:11:19.470 parasitic lifestyle, impulsivity, callousness. 00:11:19.750 --> 00:11:22.769 If he scores above a 30, that's the cutoff in 00:11:22.769 --> 00:11:25.429 the U .S. and Canada. He is clinically labeled 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:28.870 a psychopath. The UK is a bit more conservative. 00:11:29.009 --> 00:11:32.149 They use a cutoff of 25. A 30. To give you some 00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:34.590 context, what would an average person score? 00:11:35.450 --> 00:11:37.509 The average person walking down the street scores 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:42.340 a 4 or a 5, maybe? A 4. I feel like I'd score 00:11:42.340 --> 00:11:44.279 a four just on a Monday morning when I haven't 00:11:44.279 --> 00:11:46.440 had coffee yet. We all have traits, right? Yeah. 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:48.399 Maybe you're a little impulsive sometimes. That's 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.200 a one. Maybe you're a bit irresponsible in your 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:52.679 20s. That's another one. But you are not hitting 00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:55.879 30 unless you have a profound and pervasive deficit 00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:58.480 in your personality structure. Okay. What about 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:00.919 a criminal? A non -psychopathic criminal? Great 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:03.480 question. Your average violent prisoner, a guy 00:12:03.480 --> 00:12:06.039 in jail for assault or robbery, scores about 00:12:06.039 --> 00:12:08.299 a 22. Wait, wait. So a guy in prison for beating 00:12:08.299 --> 00:12:11.179 someone up is a 22, but a psychopath is a 30. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.440 Exactly. The psychopath is in a completely different 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.980 league. They are the apex predators of the prison 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:18.139 yard. That puts it in perspective. There was 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:19.799 another framework in the notes that I found a 00:12:19.799 --> 00:12:22.019 bit easier to visualize than the 20 -point checklist. 00:12:22.539 --> 00:12:25.259 The triarchic model. Yes, from Christopher Patrick. 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:28.460 It describes psychopathy as a three -legged stool. 00:12:29.070 --> 00:12:31.029 I found this really helpful. It's a more modern 00:12:31.029 --> 00:12:33.149 way to look at it, and it helps explain why they 00:12:33.149 --> 00:12:35.570 can be so contradictory, why they can be so charming 00:12:35.570 --> 00:12:38.210 one minute and so cruel the next. It breaks it 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:40.289 down into three core components. Okay. Break 00:12:40.289 --> 00:12:43.029 down the three legs for us. Leg one is boldness. 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:45.029 It's the part that actually looks kind of cool. 00:12:45.309 --> 00:12:48.909 It's low fear, high stress tolerance, social 00:12:48.909 --> 00:12:51.549 assertiveness. The James Bond trait. Exactly. 00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.690 Or a fighter pilot or an ER surgeon. They stay 00:12:54.690 --> 00:12:57.580 calm when the building is on fire. We admire 00:12:57.580 --> 00:13:00.320 this trait. So boldness on its own isn't bad. 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:03.379 In fact, it's often a leadership trait. It is. 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:06.460 We vote for boldness. We promote boldness. But 00:13:06.460 --> 00:13:09.889 then you add leg two, disinhibition. Which is? 00:13:10.070 --> 00:13:12.110 Which is poor impulse control. Yeah. The inability 00:13:12.110 --> 00:13:14.710 to plan for the long term. A constant demand 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:17.230 for immediate gratification. It's the toddler 00:13:17.230 --> 00:13:19.730 brain. I want it and I want it now. So you have 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:21.889 a fearless guy who acts like a toddler. That's 00:13:21.889 --> 00:13:24.289 already a bad combo. A very bad combo. And then 00:13:24.289 --> 00:13:26.289 you add leg three, which is the darkest leg of 00:13:26.289 --> 00:13:29.169 the stool. Meanness. That's a very blunt term 00:13:29.169 --> 00:13:31.730 for a scientific model. It's exactly what it 00:13:31.730 --> 00:13:34.649 says on the tin. It's an act of cruelty. A lack 00:13:34.649 --> 00:13:37.190 of empathy. A willingness to exploit others. 00:13:37.370 --> 00:13:40.009 To use them as objects to build yourself up. 00:13:40.149 --> 00:13:43.690 So if you mix those three ingredients, a fearless, 00:13:43.830 --> 00:13:47.149 impulsive person who enjoys cruelty. You get 00:13:47.149 --> 00:13:50.049 the perfect predator. Boldness means they aren't 00:13:50.049 --> 00:13:52.330 afraid to hunt you. Meanness means they don't 00:13:52.330 --> 00:13:54.789 care if they hurt you. And disinhibition means 00:13:54.789 --> 00:13:56.610 they're going to strike the moment they see an 00:13:56.610 --> 00:13:58.929 opportunity without thinking about the consequences. 00:13:59.409 --> 00:14:02.139 That is a terrifying cocktail, but... Before 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:03.960 we leave the definition phase, I have to ask 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:05.740 the question that I know listeners are screaming 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:08.679 at their speakers right now. Psychopath versus 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:11.120 sociopath. Is there a difference or is it just 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.259 semantics? It's a bit of a debate in the field, 00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:15.600 to be honest. Some researchers use them interchangeably. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:18.379 But for those who do make a distinction, like 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:21.720 Robert Hare, the general consensus is born versus 00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:23.919 made. Okay, elaborate on that. Nature versus 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:27.080 nurture. Exactly. Leading researchers tend to 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:30.279 view psychopathy as a nature problem. You were 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.799 born with a wiring. It's genetic. It's biological. 00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:34.759 We'll talk about the brain scans in a minute. 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:36.980 But the hardware is fundamentally different from 00:14:36.980 --> 00:14:39.039 the start. So the psychopath arrives that way. 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:41.840 The blueprint is there from birth. Roughly, yes. 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:45.500 The potential is there. Sociopathy, on the other 00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:49.000 hand, is often seen as a result of nurture. It's 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.399 environmental. So you're not born a sociopath. 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:54.500 You become one. That's the idea. Maybe you grew 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.120 up in a terrible, abusive home or a war -torn 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:59.740 neighborhood, or you were initiated into a gang. 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:03.059 You learned to be antisocial to survive. Your 00:15:03.059 --> 00:15:05.059 environment beat the empathy out of you. So a 00:15:05.059 --> 00:15:07.019 sociopath might have a conscience. It's just 00:15:07.019 --> 00:15:10.659 buried or broken. Or it's selective. A sociopath 00:15:10.659 --> 00:15:13.139 might rob a bank and shoot a guard, but they 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:15.100 would never, ever rat out their friends. They 00:15:15.100 --> 00:15:16.919 might have a deep loyalty to their gang or their 00:15:16.919 --> 00:15:19.019 family. They have a code. It's a twisted code, 00:15:19.139 --> 00:15:22.419 but it's there. It's there. A psychopath. They 00:15:22.419 --> 00:15:24.799 have no code. They have no loyalty to anyone 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:26.919 but themselves. They would throw their own mother 00:15:26.919 --> 00:15:29.419 under a bus if it got them better concert tickets. 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:31.860 And they'd do it without a second thought. That 00:15:31.860 --> 00:15:35.059 distinction, the nature aspect of psychopathy, 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:37.620 really sets us up for the next section. Because 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:39.480 if they're born this way, if the hardware is 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.240 different, that means we should be able to see 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.659 it. We should. We should be able to look under 00:15:44.659 --> 00:15:46.840 the hood and see the broken parts. And we can. 00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:50.139 This is where the science gets really, really 00:15:50.139 --> 00:15:52.840 interesting and frankly, a little scary. Let's 00:15:52.840 --> 00:15:55.080 talk about that biology, the fearless biology. 00:15:55.299 --> 00:15:57.519 There was an experiment mentioned in the text 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:01.340 involving electric shocks that I found just stunning. 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.860 The countdown experiment. It's a classic pioneered 00:16:04.860 --> 00:16:07.740 by a researcher named Lichen. So imagine I bring 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:10.200 you into a lab. I hook you up to sensors that 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.080 measure your skin conductance. Basically, a fancy 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:14.820 way of saying how much your palms are sweating. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:17.379 I'm already nervous just thinking about it. Exactly. 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:20.019 And your sweat glands show it. I tell you, in 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:23.039 10 seconds, I'm going to give you a painful but 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:26.840 not harmful electric shock. And I start a clock 00:16:26.840 --> 00:16:30.820 on a big screen. 10, 9, 8. What is your body 00:16:30.820 --> 00:16:33.500 doing? My heart is pounding. I'm sweating. I'm 00:16:33.500 --> 00:16:36.440 clenching my teeth. I'm bracing for impact. My 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:39.639 whole body is screaming, danger. That's the anticipatory 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:43.480 anxiety. Your brain is predicting pain and flooding 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:45.440 your system with stress hormones to prepare. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.360 Now, we bring in a high -scoring psychopath. 00:16:48.440 --> 00:16:51.279 We tell them the same thing. Ten, nine, eight. 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.840 Red, flat line. The needle on the skin conductance 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:56.779 machine barely moves. No sweat, no heart rate 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:58.559 spike. But they know it's coming. They understand 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.580 the words. Oh, perfectly. They know the shock 00:17:00.580 --> 00:17:03.019 is coming. They know what will hurt. But their 00:17:03.019 --> 00:17:05.039 body simply does not produce the fear response. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.420 It's like the message gets lost in the mail. 00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.220 That's alien. It's hard to even comprehend. Think 00:17:10.220 --> 00:17:12.400 about what that means for how we learn. How did 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.079 you learn not to steal cookies from the cookie 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:16.369 jar when you were a kid? Well, my mom would catch 00:17:16.369 --> 00:17:19.549 me and yell or get a timeout. And I'd feel that 00:17:19.549 --> 00:17:22.509 awful pit in my stomach, that shame, that fear 00:17:22.509 --> 00:17:25.549 of getting in trouble again. Exactly. We learn 00:17:25.549 --> 00:17:27.869 it through aversive conditioning. We associate 00:17:27.869 --> 00:17:30.109 the bad behavior with the bad feeling of fear 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:33.309 or shame or anxiety. But if you are physically 00:17:33.309 --> 00:17:36.329 incapable of feeling that fear, Punishments don't 00:17:36.329 --> 00:17:39.049 work. They don't land. The threat of prison. 00:17:39.450 --> 00:17:41.750 It doesn't register emotionally. The threat of 00:17:41.750 --> 00:17:43.849 your wife leaving you. It's just information, 00:17:44.269 --> 00:17:46.470 not a gut punch. The threat of getting fired. 00:17:46.730 --> 00:17:49.750 An inconvenience. So the entire teaching mechanism 00:17:49.750 --> 00:17:52.769 of society is broken for them. Completely. And 00:17:52.769 --> 00:17:54.829 it's broken because of specific structures in 00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:57.589 the brain. The biggest culprit is a little almond 00:17:57.589 --> 00:17:59.869 -shaped structure deep in the temporal lobe. 00:17:59.990 --> 00:18:02.789 The amygdala. The amygdala. I always think of 00:18:02.789 --> 00:18:04.910 that as the brain's panic button. It's the security 00:18:04.910 --> 00:18:06.970 guard. It's constantly scanning the environment 00:18:06.970 --> 00:18:09.460 for threats. Is that a snake? Is that an angry 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:12.799 face? Is that a sad face that I caused? In psychopaths, 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:15.160 the amygdala is often physically smaller. Some 00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:17.880 studies show up to 18 % smaller and significantly 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:20.839 less active, especially in response to fearful 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:25.180 or sad expressions. 18 % is a huge chunk of brain 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:27.539 real estate to be missing or underperforming. 00:18:27.539 --> 00:18:29.619 It is a massive deficit. Yeah. So the security 00:18:29.619 --> 00:18:32.619 guard is asleep on the job. But it's not just 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:35.019 the guard. It's the communication lines between 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:37.160 the different departments of the brain. The wiring. 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:39.960 Yes. There's a specific tract of white matter 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:42.880 called the uncinate fasciculus. It's a mouthful, 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:45.359 but think of it as the high -speed fiber optic 00:18:45.359 --> 00:18:48.279 cable connecting two critical parts of the brain. 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:50.700 Which two parts? It connects the amygdala, which 00:18:50.700 --> 00:18:52.940 we said is the emotion and fear center, to the 00:18:52.940 --> 00:18:55.940 ventromedial prefrontal cortex, or the VMPFC. 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.740 And what does the VMPFC do? That's the manager. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:01.119 That's the CEO of the brain. It's the part right 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:03.740 behind your forehead that makes decisions, considers 00:19:03.740 --> 00:19:06.940 consequences, processes guilt, and applies moral 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:09.400 reasoning. Okay, so a security guard sees a threat, 00:19:09.539 --> 00:19:12.240 calls the manager to decide what to do. That's 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:14.279 how it's supposed to work. The security guard, 00:19:14.420 --> 00:19:17.099 amygdala, sees a sad face on a person you just 00:19:17.099 --> 00:19:20.019 insulted. It sends an urgent signal down that 00:19:20.019 --> 00:19:23.349 fiber optic cable to the manager. And the manager 00:19:23.349 --> 00:19:26.190 says, oh, I caused that person pain. That violates 00:19:26.190 --> 00:19:28.309 our moral code. I should apologize and feel guilt. 00:19:28.430 --> 00:19:32.130 But in a psychopath. The cable is frayed. Studies 00:19:32.130 --> 00:19:34.609 on the uncinate fasciculus in psychopaths show 00:19:34.609 --> 00:19:37.250 it's disorganized, degraded. The signal just 00:19:37.250 --> 00:19:39.250 doesn't get through with any clarity. I love 00:19:39.250 --> 00:19:41.609 that analogy. It's like a dropped call. The manager 00:19:41.609 --> 00:19:43.450 is making decisions. I'm going to steal that 00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:45.849 person's wallet. And the security guard is in 00:19:45.849 --> 00:19:48.369 the basement screaming, bad idea, moral violation. 00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:51.700 They'll be sad. But the line is dead. The manager 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:54.319 never gets the memo. Precisely. The manager is 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:57.200 operating on pure, cold, unadulterated logic 00:19:57.200 --> 00:19:59.700 and self -interest, completely unburdened by 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:02.339 emotional feedback. This explains the crucial 00:20:02.339 --> 00:20:05.099 difference between cognitive empathy and emotional 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:07.220 empathy. Break that down for us. I think people 00:20:07.220 --> 00:20:09.700 often use empathy as one single thing. They're 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:12.480 very different. Cognitive empathy is knowing 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.250 what someone feels. It's the ability to read 00:20:16.250 --> 00:20:19.190 social cues. I see your brow is furrowed and 00:20:19.190 --> 00:20:22.190 your fists are clenched. I deduce that you are 00:20:22.190 --> 00:20:25.289 angry. It's an intellectual exercise. Exactly. 00:20:25.650 --> 00:20:27.970 And so psychopaths are often brilliant at this. 00:20:28.069 --> 00:20:30.309 They use it to manipulate you. They are expert 00:20:30.309 --> 00:20:32.630 people readers. They know exactly what to say 00:20:32.630 --> 00:20:35.049 to make you trust them or fear them or pity them. 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:36.849 They know the password to get into your head. 00:20:37.029 --> 00:20:39.130 But emotional empathy, that's feeling what you 00:20:39.130 --> 00:20:41.869 feel. It's that mirror neuron response where 00:20:41.869 --> 00:20:43.769 if I see you smash your thumb with a hammer. 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.240 I physically wince in pain with you. Psychopaths 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:49.779 don't wince. They watch you cry with the same 00:20:49.779 --> 00:20:53.380 emotional detachment as watching paint dry. It's 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:55.200 just data to them. It's the difference between 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:58.059 reading a manual on how pain works and actually 00:20:58.059 --> 00:21:00.240 getting punched in the face. A perfect way to 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.019 put it. And it's not just the brain structure. 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:04.900 It's the biochemical cocktails sloshing around 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:07.359 inside. The hormones and neurotransmitters. Yes. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:09.640 They often show high levels of testosterone, 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:11.799 which is linked to approach behavior and reward 00:21:11.799 --> 00:21:14.680 sensitivity. They also have low levels of cortisol, 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:17.019 the stress hormone. So they're always seeking 00:21:17.019 --> 00:21:19.220 rewards and never feel stress. And you add in 00:21:19.220 --> 00:21:21.400 dysregulation of serotonin, which is linked to 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:23.559 impulsivity, and you have a perfect storm. High 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:26.180 drive, high impulsivity, no fear, no stress. 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:29.579 It creates a biological machine built for aggressive, 00:21:29.700 --> 00:21:33.140 dominant behavior without any of the natural 00:21:33.140 --> 00:21:35.880 breaks that fear or guilt provide. Which brings 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:37.819 us back to the ultimate nature nurture question. 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.660 Because if you have this brain, this small amygdala, 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:44.380 this frayed wiring, this hormonal cocktail, are 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:46.880 you doomed? Are you destined to be a monster 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:49.220 from day one? That is the million dollar question. 00:21:49.579 --> 00:21:51.539 And for a long time, the answer was thought to 00:21:51.539 --> 00:21:55.079 be a very pessimistic yes. we see that the core 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:58.799 callous unemotional traits are highly heritable, 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:02.819 over 60 % in some studies. More than 60%. That's 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:04.640 huge. It's one of the more heritable psychological 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:07.579 traits. We also hear a lot about the MAOA enzyme, 00:22:07.740 --> 00:22:10.200 the so -called warrior gene. Right. I've seen 00:22:10.200 --> 00:22:12.480 that in headlines. It's a gene involved in breaking 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:14.980 down neurotransmitters like serotonin. If you 00:22:14.980 --> 00:22:17.700 have the low activity version of this gene, you're 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:19.880 predisposed to be more aggressive when provoked. 00:22:20.170 --> 00:22:22.789 So if I get a 23 cyclone result that says I have 00:22:22.789 --> 00:22:26.630 the warrior gene, am I a psychopath? No. And 00:22:26.630 --> 00:22:28.450 this is the most hopeful part of the research, 00:22:28.529 --> 00:22:31.109 and it's a huge but. Genes are the loaded gun, 00:22:31.289 --> 00:22:34.609 but the environment is what pulls the trigger. 00:22:34.750 --> 00:22:37.589 Okay. There's a famous neuroscientist, Dr. James 00:22:37.589 --> 00:22:40.430 Fallon. He was studying the brain scans of convicted 00:22:40.430 --> 00:22:42.390 serial killers. He had a whole stack of them 00:22:42.390 --> 00:22:44.930 on his desk, and he knew what the psychopathic 00:22:44.930 --> 00:22:48.150 brain looked like. A dark, inactive amygdala. 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.539 and vmpfc he was an expert in seeing the pattern 00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:54.720 right and as a control for his study he had scanned 00:22:54.720 --> 00:22:57.660 himself and his entire family one day he's looking 00:22:57.660 --> 00:22:59.759 through a pile of scans and he finds one that 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:03.480 looks clearly terrifyingly psychopathic a textbook 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:06.319 case and whose scan was it it was his own no 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:08.579 way you're kidding it's a true story he looked 00:23:08.579 --> 00:23:10.819 at his own brain and realized he had the biology 00:23:10.819 --> 00:23:13.319 of psychopath He later got his genes tested. 00:23:13.480 --> 00:23:15.579 He had the high -risk warrior gene and a bunch 00:23:15.579 --> 00:23:17.119 of other markers for violence and aggression. 00:23:17.299 --> 00:23:20.380 Well, he's not a killer. No. He's a successful, 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:22.799 happily married scientist with kids. So he asked 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:25.279 himself, why am I not in prison? How did he answer 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:27.769 that? Because he had an incredibly loving, supportive, 00:23:27.970 --> 00:23:30.589 and stable childhood. His parents nurtured him. 00:23:30.690 --> 00:23:33.230 He was never abused. He was raised in a way that 00:23:33.230 --> 00:23:35.589 taught him to channel those traits. The boldness, 00:23:35.589 --> 00:23:38.390 the lack of fear, the intense focus into pro 00:23:38.390 --> 00:23:40.869 -social things like science and ambition rather 00:23:40.869 --> 00:23:43.430 than violence and manipulation. So if you take 00:23:43.430 --> 00:23:45.730 that same brain, James Fallon's brain, and you 00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:48.670 put it in a chaotic, abusive, neglectful home. 00:23:48.869 --> 00:23:51.829 Then you have a disaster. A ticking time bomb. 00:23:52.150 --> 00:23:54.190 The research shows a very strong correlation. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:57.700 Physical abuse and neglect in childhood correlates 00:23:57.700 --> 00:24:00.039 with the disinhibition leg of the stool, the 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:03.339 impulsivity. Sexual abuse correlates with the 00:24:03.339 --> 00:24:07.180 meanness leg, the cruelty. It's a tragedy. You 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:09.500 take a brain that is already struggling to process 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.039 emotion and you subject it to trauma that forces 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:14.180 it to shut down emotion even further just to 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:16.319 survive. Just pouring gasoline on a fire. This 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:18.720 leads to the early warning signs. We hear about 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.059 the classic triad, bedwetting, fire starting. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:25.000 The McDonald triad. Bedwetting, past a certain 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:27.640 age, arson, and cruelty to animals. The animal 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:29.319 cruelty thing is the one that always gets me. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.240 It feels like such a pure indicator of something 00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:34.359 wrong. It's the reddest of red flags. A normal 00:24:34.359 --> 00:24:36.559 child might pull a cat's tail and get scratched, 00:24:36.700 --> 00:24:39.039 and they learn. They feel scared, they feel bad. 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:41.940 If a child tortures or kills a small animal and 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:44.660 feels no remorse, or even feels a sense of power 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:47.599 or curiosity, that is a profound sign that the 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:50.430 empathy circuit is not firing. In the DSM -5, 00:24:50.549 --> 00:24:53.609 for kids, it's called conduct disorder with callous 00:24:53.609 --> 00:24:55.930 unemotional traits. Exactly. They added that 00:24:55.930 --> 00:24:58.990 specifier, the callous unemotional part, to distinguish 00:24:58.990 --> 00:25:01.569 these kids from regular troublemakers. These 00:25:01.569 --> 00:25:03.670 are the kids who lack guilt, who have a shallow 00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:06.289 affect, who use others for their own ends. But 00:25:06.289 --> 00:25:08.170 parents listening shouldn't panic if their toddler 00:25:08.170 --> 00:25:12.130 bites a friend, right? No. Good grief, no. Toddlers 00:25:12.130 --> 00:25:14.210 are natural sociopaths. They haven't developed 00:25:14.210 --> 00:25:16.630 empathy yet. Their prefrontal cortex is still 00:25:16.630 --> 00:25:18.569 under construction. We're talking about older 00:25:18.569 --> 00:25:21.430 children and a persistent, pervasive pattern 00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:24.049 of cruelty and lack of connection. And even then, 00:25:24.069 --> 00:25:26.630 there is hope. There is. Brains are plastic, 00:25:26.789 --> 00:25:29.009 especially when you're young. One longitudinal 00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:31.549 study tracked high -risk 13 -year -olds who scored 00:25:31.549 --> 00:25:34.470 high on these traits. By age 24, less than a 00:25:34.470 --> 00:25:36.650 third of them were still classified as psychopathic. 00:25:36.769 --> 00:25:38.970 So two -thirds grew out of it. Or learned to 00:25:38.970 --> 00:25:41.410 manage it. They matured. Their frontal lobes 00:25:41.410 --> 00:25:44.170 came online. They found a different path. So 00:25:44.170 --> 00:25:47.609 biology isn't destiny. Not always. But for some, 00:25:47.630 --> 00:25:50.210 it is. And let's talk about the ones who don't 00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:53.069 grow out of it. They become adults. And they 00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:55.089 don't all become criminals. In fact, a lot of 00:25:55.089 --> 00:25:56.970 them put on a suit and tie and get a corner office. 00:25:57.529 --> 00:26:01.809 Section four, the corporate psychopath. Ah, yes. 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:05.490 The boardroom predator. The snakes in suits. 00:26:05.869 --> 00:26:08.740 The stats here just blew my mind. In the general 00:26:08.740 --> 00:26:10.700 population, the rate of psychopathy is about 00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:13.500 1%, 1 in 100 people. Which is already a lot more 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:16.200 than people think. It is. But in senior management 00:26:16.200 --> 00:26:20.099 positions, CEOs, executives. It shoots way up. 00:26:20.180 --> 00:26:23.519 The most cited studies put it at 3 % to 4%. But 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:25.339 some researchers who study high stakes fields 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:28.000 like finance or politics think it could be much, 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:30.740 much higher. So you are potentially four times 00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:32.980 more likely to find a psychopath in the C -suite 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:35.460 than in the mailroom. Why? What is it about that 00:26:35.460 --> 00:26:37.259 environment that attracts them or helps them 00:26:37.259 --> 00:26:39.539 succeed? Think about the typical job description 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:42.960 of a CEO, especially during a crisis. You need 00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:45.319 someone who can make hard decisions. You need 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.579 someone who can fire 5 ,000 people to save the 00:26:47.579 --> 00:26:49.759 stock price and then go home and sleep like a 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:52.200 baby. You need someone with low emotional empathy. 00:26:52.940 --> 00:26:55.880 You need someone with that boldness trait. You 00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:57.980 need someone who doesn't feel the stress of the 00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:00.960 shareholders yelling at them. The core psychopathic 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:05.079 traits, fearlessness, dominance, charisma, coolness 00:27:05.079 --> 00:27:08.519 under pressure, they perfectly mimic. our cultural 00:27:08.519 --> 00:27:11.160 image of a strong leader. We mistake their lack 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.339 of anxiety for strength. We do, time and time 00:27:13.339 --> 00:27:15.519 again. We see their ruthlessness and call it 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:18.059 decisive. We see their charm and call it visionary. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:20.519 It's the kiss -up -kick -down dynamic that I 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:23.099 read about. That is their signature move. I want 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:25.960 you to imagine a big meeting, a corporate psychopath, 00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:28.940 let's call him Boss Axe. is in a room with his 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:31.859 superiors, the board of directors. He is charming. 00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:35.299 He's visionary. He's promising the moon. He is 00:27:35.299 --> 00:27:38.240 mirroring exactly what they want to hear. He's 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:41.480 their golden boy. The mask is firmly on. Bolted 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:45.359 on. But the moment the superiors leave, and it's 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.180 just Boss X and his team of subordinates, the 00:27:48.180 --> 00:27:51.339 mask drops. He's bullying. He's taking credit 00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:53.079 for their work. He's pitting them against each 00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:55.400 other, creating chaos just for fun, just to watch 00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:58.460 the show. To maintain control. Exactly. There 00:27:58.460 --> 00:28:00.200 was a fascinating study from the University of 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:03.319 Notre Dame that found that people with high psychopathic 00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:06.099 traits actually thrive under abusive supervision. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.460 What does that even mean? They like being yelled 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:11.539 at. It means that in a toxic, shouting, high 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:14.619 -pressure culture, normal people crumble. They 00:28:14.619 --> 00:28:16.380 get stressed. Their performance suffers. They 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:20.099 burn out. They quit. The psychopath. They love 00:28:20.099 --> 00:28:22.400 it. It's their natural habitat. It's their playground. 00:28:22.599 --> 00:28:24.380 They don't get their feelings hurt by an abusive 00:28:24.380 --> 00:28:27.900 boss. They see the chaos as a ladder. So in a 00:28:27.900 --> 00:28:31.119 truly toxic company, over time, the psychopaths 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:32.940 are the only ones left standing. They're the 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:34.900 last ones to turn out the lights. They're like 00:28:34.900 --> 00:28:37.140 the cockroaches of the corporate world. They 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:39.539 can survive the nuclear fallout that kills everyone 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:42.180 else. And then they rise to the top. But the 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:45.680 cost to the company is massive. They are organizational 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:49.180 parasites. They might boost profits in the short 00:28:49.180 --> 00:28:52.380 term by cutting ethical corners or slashing staff. 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:55.279 But they rot the culture from the inside out. 00:28:55.619 --> 00:28:59.240 Fraud increases. Employee turnover skyrocket. 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:02.000 It's the Enron scenario. Precisely. A group of 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:04.900 very smart, very charming guys at the top who 00:29:04.900 --> 00:29:06.839 didn't care who got hurt as long as the stock 00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:09.440 number went up. But not every psychopath is satisfied 00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:12.539 with just destroying a company. Some destroy 00:29:12.539 --> 00:29:15.609 lives. Physically. We have to talk about... The 00:29:15.609 --> 00:29:17.410 link to violence. We mentioned earlier that not 00:29:17.410 --> 00:29:20.150 all psychopaths are violent, but when they are, 00:29:20.329 --> 00:29:23.410 it's different. It is profoundly different. Criminologists 00:29:23.410 --> 00:29:25.670 make a vital distinction between reactive aggression 00:29:25.670 --> 00:29:28.250 and instrumental aggression. Reactive is the 00:29:28.250 --> 00:29:30.650 bar fight. Right. Hot blooded. Right. You spill 00:29:30.650 --> 00:29:32.849 my drink. I feel disrespected. My emotions flare 00:29:32.849 --> 00:29:35.430 up and I punch you. That's hot aggression. It's 00:29:35.430 --> 00:29:37.890 an emotional outburst. Psychopaths can certainly 00:29:37.890 --> 00:29:40.230 do this, but so can lots of normal people with 00:29:40.230 --> 00:29:42.089 a temper. But instrumental aggression. That is 00:29:42.089 --> 00:29:44.809 cold. That is predatory. I'm not hitting you 00:29:44.809 --> 00:29:47.049 because I'm angry. I'm hitting you because you 00:29:47.049 --> 00:29:49.130 have something I want. Maybe it's your wallet. 00:29:49.289 --> 00:29:52.130 Maybe it's your car. Maybe it's just the feeling 00:29:52.130 --> 00:29:54.710 of power from seeing you in pain. Violence is 00:29:54.710 --> 00:29:57.170 a tool. It's a screwdriver you use to get a job 00:29:57.170 --> 00:29:59.289 done. And the stat here was staggering. Something 00:29:59.289 --> 00:30:02.670 like 93 % of homicides committed by psychopaths 00:30:02.670 --> 00:30:06.730 were instrumental. 93 .3%, to be exact, compared 00:30:06.730 --> 00:30:10.650 to less than half 48 .4 % for non -psychopathic 00:30:10.650 --> 00:30:13.799 murderers. That's... single statistic chills 00:30:13.799 --> 00:30:15.740 me to the bone every time I read it. Because 00:30:15.740 --> 00:30:17.880 it means it was planned. It was planned. It was 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:20.119 goal -oriented. Yeah. And it was executed without 00:30:20.119 --> 00:30:22.119 a raised heart rate. It's the difference between 00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:24.880 a crime of passion and an assassination. And 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:27.039 this creates a complete nightmare for the legal 00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:29.140 system. Because if you catch them and you put 00:30:29.140 --> 00:30:31.940 them in prison... They often don't stay there. 00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:34.319 The infamous revolving door. This is a paradox 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:36.500 that frustrates every parole board member in 00:30:36.500 --> 00:30:39.619 the country. The data is crystal clear. Psychopaths 00:30:39.619 --> 00:30:41.980 are significantly more likely to re -offend and 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:44.480 re -offend violently than other criminals. They 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:46.079 are the highest risk category. Okay, so they're 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:49.259 the most dangerous. By far. Yeah. But they are 00:30:49.259 --> 00:30:52.640 2 .5 times more likely to be granted parole than 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:54.920 other inmates. That makes absolutely no sense. 00:30:55.220 --> 00:30:57.859 If they are the most dangerous, why on earth 00:30:57.859 --> 00:30:59.720 are we letting them out? Because of the mask. 00:31:00.269 --> 00:31:02.450 Imagine you're on the parole board. A normal 00:31:02.450 --> 00:31:04.930 prisoner comes in. They might be sullen. They 00:31:04.930 --> 00:31:07.230 might be anxious, avoid eye contact because they're 00:31:07.230 --> 00:31:09.890 ashamed. They might struggle to articulate their 00:31:09.890 --> 00:31:13.589 remorse. To the board, they look shifty or unreformed. 00:31:13.769 --> 00:31:15.990 And then the psychopath comes in. The psychopath 00:31:15.990 --> 00:31:18.789 puts on an Oscar -worthy performance. I've learned 00:31:18.789 --> 00:31:21.289 so much during my time here, Your Honor. I've 00:31:21.289 --> 00:31:24.640 found God. I see the error of my ways. I want 00:31:24.640 --> 00:31:26.880 to dedicate my life to helping youth avoid the 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:29.619 mistakes I made. They say everything the board 00:31:29.619 --> 00:31:32.220 wants to hear. Perfectly. They make perfect eye 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:34.599 contact. They seem sincere. They are charming. 00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:36.680 They've manipulated the prison psychologist. 00:31:36.779 --> 00:31:38.680 They have charmed the guards. They hacked the 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:40.799 interview. So the system designed to detect risk 00:31:40.799 --> 00:31:43.319 is the most vulnerable to their specific brand 00:31:43.319 --> 00:31:45.859 of manipulation. It's their superpower. And then 00:31:45.859 --> 00:31:47.720 they get out and do it all again. This brings 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:50.640 up a deep philosophical question. The Damasio 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:52.859 experiment you mentioned. With the airplane scenario. 00:31:53.099 --> 00:31:55.660 Can we walk through that? This is a variation 00:31:55.660 --> 00:31:59.339 of the famous trolley problem. Dr. Antonio Damasio 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:02.339 studied patients with damage to that VMPFC area, 00:32:02.539 --> 00:32:04.980 the manager part of the brain, the same area 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:07.039 that's dysfunctional in psychopaths. So these 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.279 are people with acquired sociopathy from a brain 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:12.920 injury. Exactly. He gave him a scenario. A passenger 00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:14.900 plane has been hijacked. It's heading for a major 00:32:14.900 --> 00:32:17.819 city. If you do nothing, thousands will die. 00:32:18.279 --> 00:32:20.359 Your only option is to shoot it down. If you 00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:22.779 shoot it down, you will kill the 200 innocent 00:32:22.779 --> 00:32:25.380 passengers on board, but you will save the city. 00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:28.440 It's the ultimate utilitarian choice. The cold 00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:31.079 math says shoot the plane to save more lives. 00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:33.960 Right. And most people, when posed this dilemma, 00:32:34.140 --> 00:32:36.579 will eventually land on that answer. But for 00:32:36.579 --> 00:32:38.559 a normal person, it's an agonizing decision. 00:32:38.880 --> 00:32:41.359 The thought of actively killing 200 innocent 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:44.039 people creates a visceral, painful, emotional 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.049 reaction. Takes them time to decide. They sweat. 00:32:47.210 --> 00:32:49.150 They feel awful. And the patients with the brain 00:32:49.150 --> 00:32:51.609 damage. Immediate answer. Shoot it down. No hesitation. 00:32:51.950 --> 00:32:55.250 No anguish. None. They look at the researcher 00:32:55.250 --> 00:32:57.190 like, why is this a hard question? To them, it's 00:32:57.190 --> 00:33:00.529 just math. 200 is less than 2 ,000. Next problem. 00:33:00.849 --> 00:33:03.589 And that is the crux of the legal issue. If their 00:33:03.589 --> 00:33:06.390 brain physically cannot process the anguish of 00:33:06.390 --> 00:33:09.859 the decision, are they fully responsible? If 00:33:09.859 --> 00:33:11.779 I was colorblind and I ran a red light because 00:33:11.779 --> 00:33:13.559 I couldn't see the color, you'd say, well, his 00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:15.980 eyes don't work. If a psychopath has a morally 00:33:15.980 --> 00:33:19.079 blind brain, can we truly blame them? The law, 00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:23.019 as it stands, says yes. Emphatically yes. Why? 00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:25.799 Because they know the rules. They are not psychotic. 00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:28.640 They understand that society says murder is wrong. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.099 They just don't care. Right. And legal systems, 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:33.259 by and large, have decided that indifference 00:33:33.259 --> 00:33:35.900 isn't a valid excuse. So we hold them responsible. 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:38.720 But it's an uncomfortable reality to sit with. 00:33:39.019 --> 00:33:42.000 So if we lock them up, can we fix them? Is there 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:44.680 a cure for this? This is, I think, the bleakest 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:46.619 part of the entire deep dive. The short answer 00:33:46.619 --> 00:33:49.180 is no. And worse, trying to fix them with traditional 00:33:49.180 --> 00:33:51.240 methods can make things much, much worse. Oh, 00:33:51.339 --> 00:33:53.680 I thought therapy was good for everyone. Therapy 00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:56.440 relies on two fundamental things. One, you have 00:33:56.440 --> 00:33:58.759 to believe you have a problem. And two, you have 00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:01.839 to have a desire to change. Psychopaths don't 00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:03.799 think they have a problem. They think we are 00:34:03.799 --> 00:34:05.660 the ones with the problem. They think we're weak 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:08.280 for having feelings. Exactly. They see themselves 00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:11.820 as evolved, as superior beings, unburdened by 00:34:11.820 --> 00:34:14.880 useless emotions like guilt or love. They have 00:34:14.880 --> 00:34:17.119 zero personal distress, so why would they change? 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:18.900 So they just sit there in the therapy session 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:21.900 and roll their eyes. Worse. They take notes. 00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:24.460 There's a well -documented phenomenon called 00:34:24.460 --> 00:34:27.280 the training risk or the finishing school effect. 00:34:27.559 --> 00:34:30.280 Finishing school, like for etiquette and manners. 00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:32.780 Exactly. If you put a psychopath in group therapy, 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:36.039 they don't engage with the material to get better. 00:34:36.139 --> 00:34:38.800 They sit back and watch other people. They listen 00:34:38.800 --> 00:34:41.659 intently as vulnerable inmates describe their 00:34:41.659 --> 00:34:43.920 pain, their trauma, their moments of regret. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:46.199 They're gathering data. They're building a library 00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:49.869 of emotional scripts. They think, aha. So when 00:34:49.869 --> 00:34:52.409 your mother dies, your voice is supposed to crack 00:34:52.409 --> 00:34:54.610 like that. And you're supposed to look down at 00:34:54.610 --> 00:34:57.510 your hands. Interesting. They learn the vocabulary 00:34:57.510 --> 00:35:00.010 of emotion. They learn to mimic empathy better. 00:35:00.130 --> 00:35:02.889 My God. They come out of therapy more dangerous 00:35:02.889 --> 00:35:04.449 than when they went in because now they have 00:35:04.449 --> 00:35:07.210 a better disguise. They are more effective manipulators. 00:35:07.389 --> 00:35:09.969 That is straight out of a horror movie. You send 00:35:09.969 --> 00:35:12.289 them to a doctor to get better and they come 00:35:12.289 --> 00:35:15.099 out a better predator. Which is why most. Modern 00:35:15.099 --> 00:35:17.860 treatment programs for psychopaths have abandoned 00:35:17.860 --> 00:35:20.320 empathy training entirely. It just doesn't stick. 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.639 So what do you do? Just lock them away forever 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:25.199 and throw away the key? If they are violent, 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:28.880 in many cases, yes, that's the only safe option. 00:35:29.460 --> 00:35:31.980 But for management or for those who aren't violent, 00:35:32.139 --> 00:35:34.639 you have to appeal to the only thing they understand, 00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:37.539 self -interest. You don't try to make them care 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:39.800 about others. You don't say, don't hit Gary. 00:35:40.329 --> 00:35:42.550 because it hurts him and makes him sad. You say, 00:35:42.590 --> 00:35:45.909 don't hit Gary, because if you do, you lose your 00:35:45.909 --> 00:35:48.550 Xbox privileges for a month. You make it a pure 00:35:48.550 --> 00:35:51.050 transaction. Everything is a transaction to them. 00:35:51.130 --> 00:35:54.349 So you have to rig the game so that pro -social 00:35:54.349 --> 00:35:57.389 behavior, being good, is the most profitable 00:35:57.389 --> 00:35:59.719 and rewarding move for them personally. It's 00:35:59.719 --> 00:36:01.719 cynical, but it's the only thing that seems to 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:04.039 have even a modest effect. Before we wrap up, 00:36:04.099 --> 00:36:05.480 I want to touch on something we haven't mentioned. 00:36:05.579 --> 00:36:08.539 Gender. We've been saying he and him this whole 00:36:08.539 --> 00:36:12.000 time. Are there female psychopaths? Absolutely. 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:15.099 But they are harder to spot and they are diagnosed 00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:18.139 much, much less frequently. Why is that? A few 00:36:18.139 --> 00:36:21.349 reasons. First, the PCLR, that 20 -item checklist, 00:36:21.730 --> 00:36:24.650 was largely developed and validated on male prison 00:36:24.650 --> 00:36:27.449 populations. It focuses heavily on things like 00:36:27.449 --> 00:36:30.969 physical violence, overt criminality, and a parasitic 00:36:30.969 --> 00:36:33.130 financial lifestyle. So if the test is looking 00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:35.570 for a fistfight, it misses the poison in the 00:36:35.570 --> 00:36:37.989 teacup. That's a perfect way to put it. Men with 00:36:37.989 --> 00:36:40.369 psychopathy tend to externalize. Their aggression 00:36:40.369 --> 00:36:44.090 is obvious. Violence, theft, assault. Women with 00:36:44.090 --> 00:36:46.269 psychopathy tend to use more relational aggression. 00:36:46.570 --> 00:36:50.030 Manipulation, gossip, rumors. Destroying a reputation. 00:36:50.690 --> 00:36:54.130 Turning a family against each other. Gaslighting. 00:36:54.369 --> 00:36:57.710 A female psychopath might be the perfect mother 00:36:57.710 --> 00:37:00.449 on the outside who systematically destroys her 00:37:00.449 --> 00:37:02.929 child's self -esteem to keep them dependent and 00:37:02.929 --> 00:37:05.059 under control. She might be the office manager 00:37:05.059 --> 00:37:07.980 who orchestrates a subtle campaign to get a rival 00:37:07.980 --> 00:37:10.539 fired without ever raising her voice. Exactly. 00:37:10.619 --> 00:37:13.599 It's quieter, more insidious, but just as destructive. 00:37:13.860 --> 00:37:16.239 It's a different kind of mask, and we are only 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:18.320 just starting to develop the tools to properly 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:20.900 identify it. Wow. Okay, so we've covered the 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:23.219 brain, the genes, the corporate climbers, the 00:37:23.219 --> 00:37:25.880 unfixable nature of it, but I want to zoom out 00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:28.179 for the end here to the biggest question of all, 00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:32.179 evolution. The why. Yes. If these people are 00:37:32.179 --> 00:37:34.500 parasites, if they destroy trust, if they kill, 00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:37.519 if they ruin companies, why hasn't natural selection 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:40.739 weeded them out? Humans are social animals. We 00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:44.139 survive by cooperation. Psychopaths are the definition 00:37:44.139 --> 00:37:46.519 of anti -cooperation. Why are they still here 00:37:46.519 --> 00:37:48.639 after thousands of years? There are three main 00:37:48.639 --> 00:37:50.840 theories, and they're all fascinating. The first 00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:52.780 is called the frequency -dependent parasitic 00:37:52.780 --> 00:37:55.159 strategy. That sounds like a biology paper title. 00:37:55.199 --> 00:37:58.059 Break it down. It basically means this. Being 00:37:58.059 --> 00:38:00.659 a parasite works, but only if there aren't too 00:38:00.659 --> 00:38:03.940 many of you. Imagine a large, trusting flock 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:07.019 of sheep. If there is one wolf who learns to 00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:09.940 wear a sheepskin, he eats very well. He thrives. 00:38:10.059 --> 00:38:13.719 But if half the flock is wolves in sheep's clothing? 00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:16.460 The whole system collapses. There's no one left 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:20.420 to exploit. The strategy fails. So nature keeps 00:38:20.420 --> 00:38:23.780 the number low around that 1 % mark, just enough 00:38:23.780 --> 00:38:26.039 to exploit the trusting majority, but not enough 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:28.840 to destroy the entire species. So they're biologically 00:38:28.840 --> 00:38:31.280 designed to be the minority. A successful but 00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:34.780 rare strategy. Exactly. Theory two is that psychopathy 00:38:34.780 --> 00:38:36.940 is a spandrel. A spandrel. It's an architectural 00:38:36.940 --> 00:38:39.619 term. It's the triangular space between two arches. 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:42.139 It wasn't designed on purpose. It's just an accidental 00:38:42.139 --> 00:38:44.340 byproduct of building the arches. Okay, so how 00:38:44.340 --> 00:38:46.309 does that apply here? The idea is that we as 00:38:46.309 --> 00:38:49.289 a species value certain traits. We need fearlessness. 00:38:49.369 --> 00:38:51.650 We need a high sex drive. We need intense focus. 00:38:51.849 --> 00:38:54.250 We want brave hunters and warriors to protect 00:38:54.250 --> 00:38:56.590 the tribe. So evolution selects for those traits. 00:38:56.949 --> 00:39:00.170 Right. But genetics is a messy roll of the dice. 00:39:00.650 --> 00:39:02.730 Sometimes you get a role that has too much fearlessness, 00:39:02.869 --> 00:39:05.590 too much drive, and by accident, zero empathy. 00:39:06.110 --> 00:39:09.150 It's not that nature wanted to create a psychopath. 00:39:09.309 --> 00:39:12.250 It's that nature wanted a brave warrior and accidentally 00:39:12.250 --> 00:39:15.820 overshot the mark. A genetic typo. An unfortunate 00:39:15.820 --> 00:39:19.119 byproduct of creating heroes. And the third theory. 00:39:19.360 --> 00:39:21.880 This one is the most straightforward. Reproductive 00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:25.179 success. Let's be blunt. Psychopaths are often 00:39:25.179 --> 00:39:27.679 charming, confident, and promiscuous. They are 00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:30.300 masters of the short -term mating strategy. They 00:39:30.300 --> 00:39:33.059 are often sexually coercive. The result is they 00:39:33.059 --> 00:39:35.179 tend to have a lot of partners and a lot of children. 00:39:35.380 --> 00:39:37.840 They spread their DNA far and wide. And then 00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:39.920 they often abandon those children and partners, 00:39:40.099 --> 00:39:42.530 leaving others to raise them. It's a quantity 00:39:42.530 --> 00:39:45.670 over quality strategy. From a cold, selfish gene 00:39:45.670 --> 00:39:48.030 perspective, if you have 20 kids and abandon 00:39:48.030 --> 00:39:50.070 them all, you might still pass on more of your 00:39:50.070 --> 00:39:52.510 genes than the nice, stable guy who has two kids 00:39:52.510 --> 00:39:54.969 and raises them perfectly. Evolution is cold. 00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:57.570 It doesn't care about morality. It only cares 00:39:57.570 --> 00:40:00.670 about replication. So this leaves me with a really 00:40:00.670 --> 00:40:03.050 uncomfortable thought to end on. We've spent 00:40:03.050 --> 00:40:05.530 this whole deep dive talking about how dangerous 00:40:05.530 --> 00:40:09.469 they are, the empty soul, the parasite, but... 00:40:09.800 --> 00:40:11.440 Think about that surgeon again. The one saving 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:13.980 your life on the operating table. Yeah. If I'm 00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:16.179 on the table and something goes terribly wrong, 00:40:16.340 --> 00:40:19.739 my artery bursts. Do I want the surgeon who feels 00:40:19.739 --> 00:40:22.880 deep, overwhelming empathy? The one whose hands 00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:24.420 start to shake because he's so worried about 00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:26.519 me and my family? Or do you want the cold, emotionless 00:40:26.519 --> 00:40:28.860 technician with ice in his veins? I want the 00:40:28.860 --> 00:40:31.159 psychopath. I want the guy who just sees a plumbing 00:40:31.159 --> 00:40:35.099 problem and fixes the pipe. If we are in a war, 00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:38.199 do we want a general who agonizes over every 00:40:38.199 --> 00:40:40.199 single soldier's life to the point of paralysis? 00:40:40.800 --> 00:40:43.340 Or do we want one who can make the cold, hard 00:40:43.340 --> 00:40:46.019 calculation to sacrifice one platoon to save 00:40:46.019 --> 00:40:48.500 the entire army and win the war? This is the 00:40:48.500 --> 00:40:50.820 ultimate paradox. We fear them individually. 00:40:51.139 --> 00:40:52.880 We don't want to date them. We don't want them 00:40:52.880 --> 00:40:55.900 as our neighbors or our bosses. But as a society, 00:40:56.079 --> 00:40:58.860 we might actually need a sprinkle of psychopathy 00:40:58.860 --> 00:41:01.400 to function. We need people who can do the dirty 00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:03.679 work without losing sleep. So the question isn't 00:41:03.679 --> 00:41:06.559 just how do we stop them? It's where do we draw 00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:09.619 the line between a monster and a necessary evil? 00:41:09.840 --> 00:41:12.599 It's a very fine line. And usually the only difference 00:41:12.599 --> 00:41:14.840 is whether they're on our side or not. Well, 00:41:14.960 --> 00:41:17.219 on that comforting note, I'm going to go analyze 00:41:17.219 --> 00:41:20.800 my entire office with a new and frankly terrified 00:41:20.800 --> 00:41:23.500 perspective. Just don't let them see you doing 00:41:23.500 --> 00:41:25.860 it. Fair point. That's it for this deep dive. 00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:28.599 Stay curious, stay safe, and maybe keep an eye 00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:29.980 on David. See you next time.