Sociopaths and Psychopaths: A Crisis of Conscience and Empathy (What Makes Them Tick Book 1)

picture someone who is socially domineering, highly emotionally resilient, and adventurous. That person will be loud, brash, dominant in every situation, willing to take lots of risks, and he won’t give a fuck. That’s a psychopath.

their meanness comes out through Machiavellianism (i.e. the ends justify the means) and poor empathy skills.

there is a strong link between genes and psychopathy. There is also a strong link between a negative environment and psychopathy. And, when the two are combined, it can get ugly.

key difference between psychopaths and so-called normal people, or even criminals who are not psychopaths, is guilt or shame.

They feel they are entitled to whatever they want, and they either ignore the feelings of others or are unable to comprehend them.

That’s the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy. Disinhibition. Boldness. Meanness. Add to that high extraversion, low conscientiousness, high openness, risk-taking, disagreeability, no fear, and a complete lack of the ability to give a shit. That combination will give you a world-class psychopath.

When people are antisocial, they are against other people—they don’t like people and do terrible things to them.

frightening: Not only do psychopaths have problems with empathy and emotional understanding, but they sometimes have the exact opposite reaction from what you would normally expect.

Machiavellian psychopaths see another person as a means to an end, as opposed to a fully formed, autonomous individual with separate thoughts and feelings.