Posted: Apr 22, 2012 4:20 am
Psychopaths -> lack of caring (though not necessarily empathy*) -> more likely to be successful: Depends on their self-discipline when it comes to obeying the law, projecting the "right image", etc. The successful ones DO avoid prison and at least don't stray too far away into the wrong side of public opinion. The unsuccessful ones - if they do avoid jail time (and a surprising number do), they'll display conning, manipulation, lack of compassion, and habitual pathological lying to an astonishing degree. I was acquainted with at least two people in my life who likely would qualify for psychopathy, and I would not want to repeat the experience. NOTE: these aren't just plain douchebags in the common everyday sense - they go beyond that, to the point where they simply are not normal people (normal in the civilized, reasonably well-behaved sense).
*which i take to mean "people reading", but I could be wrong. Who knows? Maybe they genuinely lack the capacity to feel pain or pleasure in others, and simply detect pleasure and pain via face and body reading cues alone.
As for the pain thrust of the article, that begs the question: Are they less empathetic because they are rich, or are they rich because they are less empathetic to begin with (especially regarding the self-made types)? Narcissism and Celebrity by Young and Pinsky of The University of Southern California, found no correlation between years of experience in Hollywood and narcissism (a condition similar to psychopathy). Reality TV stars seem most inclined to narcissism, followed by comedians, actors, and musicians in that order. Just how relevant it is to the wealthy having less empathy, i'm not prepared to say. Even so, it does suggest that a large number of millionaires (self-made or otherwise) were unempathetic before they became rich (or if born into wealth, were 'baby-ed' so much they developed an unreasonably high sense of entitlement).
*which i take to mean "people reading", but I could be wrong. Who knows? Maybe they genuinely lack the capacity to feel pain or pleasure in others, and simply detect pleasure and pain via face and body reading cues alone.
As for the pain thrust of the article, that begs the question: Are they less empathetic because they are rich, or are they rich because they are less empathetic to begin with (especially regarding the self-made types)? Narcissism and Celebrity by Young and Pinsky of The University of Southern California, found no correlation between years of experience in Hollywood and narcissism (a condition similar to psychopathy). Reality TV stars seem most inclined to narcissism, followed by comedians, actors, and musicians in that order. Just how relevant it is to the wealthy having less empathy, i'm not prepared to say. Even so, it does suggest that a large number of millionaires (self-made or otherwise) were unempathetic before they became rich (or if born into wealth, were 'baby-ed' so much they developed an unreasonably high sense of entitlement).