An allegory: Psychopaths see normal people as a very special, if plentyful, breed of dogs which demand careful treatment due to their very special racial traits that you have to become a dog expert in order to know how to rear correctly, but if we do it right we get unique dogs.
Psychopaths are no different. To normal people we are the special breed of dogs which demand careful treatment. But it is with this as with most in the world: If we learn about it from early on in life dealing with dogs becomes like second nature.
Do we label Pit-bull Terriers as evil? Strange as it may sound, Pit-bulls are outlawed in some countries. Now should we outlaw Pit-bulls altogether? Which breed will we outlaw next? The Rottweiler seems a likely choice. And then …!? – I think I’ve proven my point and stretched the allegory all it can take for now.
Being antisocial is not part of our nature, it is something we develop in our experiences and interactions with our surroundings, and it begins early on in life.
So yes, Robert Hare is right when he says psychopaths use what we learn to our own benefit and against the benefit of others, IF we’re antisocial and don’t have the understanding that I think I can claim I have at present (my nature will never change, that’s not what I’m saying. I will always have to fight urges and use extra energy on keeping myself in check, not lie, not abuse, etc., but I have other traits as part of my condition that allows me to change my ways to such an extent which would probably be impossible to non-psychopaths). That the notion that psychopaths should be kept from learning about ourselves and about others should be extended to also mean that we shouldn’t learn anything at all right from the beginning will be the greatest mistake that society can possibly make.
I say this as a representative of a group of psychopaths who have in fact been brought up under such conditions, with knowledge about all kinds of things being withheld from me, and I can say right away that if you really want to keep us from learning anything right from the beginning, from we’re children, then you have better isolate us completely, especially if we’re intellectually gifted. For we WILL learn! There’s no way you can avoid it! And our antisocial traits will only become worse with time the more you keep from us! Come to think of it, completely isolated is not far from how I was brought up, and I learned even so. So ‘completely isolated’ should probably be in the context of a maximum security prison for infants.
As I have said all along, from the start when I first launched the Psychopathic Writings Project: In spite of all the ‘bad’ things I’ve done – having been mentally and physically abusive, having broken people down psychologically until a few committed suicide, and even having killed on three occasions – I do not believe I’m a bad person! I did what I did because it was the best I knew how to do at the time and in the situations I was in.
And yes, I do need a lot of stimulation, but this is not being acknowledged, so I must see to it that I get it myself. How can you expect me to acknowledge your needs and your feelings when you do not acknowledge mine? Who are you to say my need for stimulation is worth less than your need for love? Who are you to decide which is better or which works best? The world as it looks at present doesn’t bode well for the neurotypical, normal human being, why don’t you look at your own flaws and investigate possible uses of those who are different from you? Your arrogance can be your undoing!
The human condition is a spectrum, and psychopaths are human. We are here for a reason, just like the rest of you!
