Tango Show, Buenos Aires, 2013

One of the major challenges in understanding psychopaths in systems is that there is vanishingly little written on how such individuals work that can be believed. Most of the “hard” research done on psychopaths has been done on such individuals in prison settings. And the overwhelming body of literature emanating out of the True Crime genre makes one believe that every psychopath is a killer, and that is the end destination of anyone who is a psychopath. The problem with this worldview is one misses all the psychopaths that are non-criminal, and active in our daily lives.

Worse, from the work I’ve read, lots of work done on psychopathy has been done by psychopaths themselves. And while some of that may match one’s personal experience, a lot is done to throw people off the psychopath’s tracks. Think about it — why would any psychopath want to shed light on what might be their own downfall?

What I’ve written below is a summary from my analysis of the overall believable literature, and encompasses some of the definitions of DSM-V Axis II/Cluster B and C personality disorders. I lump all of this together because in the case of psychopaths in systems, the various differentiators are not particularly helpful, as they also can include extensive overlap. Someone who appears to have Antisocial Personality Disorder may also exhibit signs of Narcissistic Personality Disorder. And someone with strong Avoidant disorders may mask multiple behavioral traits that might link to more violent tendencies.

It is beyond the scope of this blog post to review comprehensively the individual characterization of people with personality disorders. Do your own research if you feel compelled. What this piece will do is reveal to you what I have discovered. I also know there is a powerful tendency (especially by psychopaths) for demanding “proof” — names of people I’ve learned these lessons from. That is also not going to happen. It’s easy enough to write about a mass murderer, because that person’s reputation is already ruined. But one thing I’ve learned about all the more ordinary, non-criminal psychopaths I’ve dealt with is that they are a litigious bunch. When you combine this with the willing volubility to lie, that means if you end up in court, you’re likely to lose. Most judges are authoritarian and egocentric, and this maps immediately into the psychopath’s wheelhouse. So no names or relationships. Make of what I write as you will.

If I had to lay down what I’ve discovered about most of the psychopathic personalities I’ve had to deal with, it might boil down to the following points:

1. They are manipulative, projecting liars. They will often lie, and then project their desires on you while declaring themselves innocent.
2. They have some version of an attachment disorder. They will be fascinated with a person, practice or object, until one day, they simply just drop that interest.
3. In moments of excitement, they do not habituate to stimulus. This applies to if you’re hanging on a hook and they’re literally carving you up, or having wild sex. Enough is never enough. Until it is, of course.
4. They are relationally disruptive, and especially so if in a circumstance where external societal forces are promoting some version of victimhood. Current “anti-racial discrimination” or feminist causes are chock-a-block full of psychopaths, who enjoy social endorsement for their natural tendencies.
5. Linked to attachment disorders, they have poor object permanence. Things can simply stop existing in their lives on a whim.
6. They have a poor sense of long-time consequences, and are exceptional in observing short-term spatial and temporal scales. For violent psychopaths, this allows them to literally get away with murder. If you killed someone, when it came to the crime scene, you’d likely miss something. Not a psychopath. The same tendency can favor certain disciplines like surgeons. The best surgeons can repeat the same surgery over and over again, as long as narcissistic supply is provided. And the last thing you want in your heart surgeon is him feeling your pain as he spreads your ribs.
7. They have poor personal boundaries, which might drive their pathologies. This is also a source of their personal attractiveness, especially in romantic situations. Ego-merging is intoxicating until it isn’t. And the object of desire is left out in the cold.
8. They can be, and often are charismatic, and are excellent at mirroring empathy.
9. They can often only be detected through disturbance in the relational field around them.
10. They cannot be understood nor behavior rationalized using the tools of normal human relational dynamics. In fact, attempts to rationalize how they act or react usually disables the healthy individual dealing with the psychopath. Their behavior does not follow a set of rules that normal humans follow.
11. The best set of consistent narratives for understanding the various types of psychopathy is found in ancient myth archetypes. Sorcerers and sorceresses, vampires, shapeshifters, and various monsters all exist as humanity has struggled with various psychopaths through the ages.

The most important weapon in the systemic psychopath’s arsenal is the ability to grab the grounding circumstance for an individual, and then distort reality around that altered circumstance. This ability is called ‘gaslighting’, and explained here. The way this is occurs is through mirroring alignment by the psychopath with the target. The goal of the psychopath is to quite literally “get inside one’s head” through some emotional state matching and consilience of circumstance. Isolated individuals are obviously more susceptible than people in healthy communities. Sexual ego fusion is also a prime gateway. There’s a reason why the Chinese government (and governments past) used honeypots for conversion and betrayal of individuals toward their nation-state.

There are many techniques through using alignments of belief systems and mental models that psychopaths operate. Detection by an observer of manipulation depends on identifying top-level information that is either emotionally triggering or emotionally paralyzing, followed by a lack of information that delivers context for a given manipulative attack. In the recent onslaught against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a notable trope has turned into focusing on children attached to illegal aliens who have at least violated illegal entry laws, and often much worse. There is a societal propriety mechanism that says children should not be exposed to violence (even if they are) and makes discussion of individual cases mostly taboo. Yet the psychopath has no problem showing a picture of a child to establish control of the dialog. A great recent example is Liam Conejo Ramos, in a blue hat, who was being detained with his father after his father fled ICE agents outside his residence, and potentially refused custody with his mother. The situation is actually ambiguous. But the psychopath has no problem offering the ICE-condemnatory version up as proof that ICE needs to be defunded. Many such cases involving children being attached to parents in violation of immigration or other laws are used as psychopathic manipulation against DHS and ICE efforts.

This piece on hunger relief programs is a case study of how psychopaths use mental models to sabotage any reform of social services through deep-brain manipulation. As an example, the Democratic Party has used such techniques around the country to stonewall against reform of homelessness alleviation programs. If you take a program initially in line with a country’s values, like alleviating poverty, even after the problem is maximally solved (no societal problem can ever be completely put to bed) a good psychopath can continue the same manipulation strategy to pour money into their own coffers.

One of the key elements mentioned above regarding recognizing psychopaths in social systems is their use of relational disruption to sow chaos and allow them to gain control of situations and organizations. The way psychopaths work is not just directly instigating conflict between people. There is the metacognitive, “dark matter” effect, where organizations in chaos resolve into quiet when the psychopath is removed. People inside such an organization might behave in an aberrant or suppressed manner when a given psychopath is present, yet re-equilibrate to peace and harmony when that person is removed. In “A Primate’s Memoir“, Robert Sapolsky documented this transition in a baboon troop, where three aggressive, likely psychopathic baboons that ran a baboon troop died from eating refuse laced with bovine tuberculosis. After their passing, the remaining baboons basically stopped fighting and restored peaceful coexistence.

The usual result of having disruptive psychopaths in a given social network is actually a time-dependent trajectory. When a charismatic psychopath initially arrives, whether in a leadership or even in a lower level position, there is a flurry of relational disruption as the psychopath rearranges the topography of the social network. But over time, if disruption from the individual persists, human communities will functionally isolate the disruptor. Homeostasis returns, or collapse ensues.

Psychopaths have always been with us. The key to moving forward in an advanced society is to realize where they are at, and their impact. Only then can we alleviate the societal chaos they cause.