Psychopaths.

[Os Cangaceiros]

After watching this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLpH40s7nHw

I began to wonder: what do you think makes a person like Kemper into a raging psychopath? He seems like an intelligent, normal individual in the interview, and yet commited acts that were completely and undeniably insane (the insanity plea worked, in his case).

Do you think it's mostly biological/genetic, or is psychotic behavior shaped significantly by early developement? I've always been interested in abnormal psychology, and have heard different views on this matter.

[al8]

What I find most interesting is why more people don't go badshit in our current alienating society. Like why aren't there serial killers that do politicians, employers or class enemies, not just some random people?

[piet11111]

what i would like to know is why all serial killers are white.
i know of mass murderers but not of the truly psychotic torture killers in other "races" (disclaimer i do not believe in "races")

[Os Cangaceiros]

Well, not ALL serial killers are "white"...Charles Ng, an Asian serial killer, comes to mind. And I'm pretty sure that there are serial killers in Africa, Asia, etc.

I also remember watching something on the news about a black serial killer in New Orleans who killed prostitutes and filmed their deaths. I can't remember his name, though.

But it does seem like most of the really famous ones were white.

[Dean]

After watching this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLpH40s7nHw

I began to wonder: what do you think makes a person like Kemper into a raging psychopath? He seems like an intelligent, normal individual in the interview, and yet commited acts that were completely and undeniably insane (the insanity plea worked, in his case).

Do you think it's mostly biological/genetic, or is psychotic behavior shaped significantly by early developement? I've always been interested in abnormal psychology, and have heard different views on this matter.

It depends. Very intelligent people, put in the right conditions, can be in the position to at a young age extrapolate violent, pathological values from society, while at the same time preserving their own ability to resist moral compulsions by questioning society, as the disparitely intelligent often do.

Frankly, I don't see this as qualitatively different from the lives and attitudes of Navy bombers, suicide bombers and military in general, except that the latter have taken on more prevalent and malevolent social values and pathologies. The serial killer is often releasing some real, human tension as a result of a complex. The military is utilizing xenophobia and dehumanization in a sterile moral and philosophic environment to execute human beings.

As for the genetics issue - well I disagree 99%. I think that genetic predispostion can exist, but it is only stimulated by society. Killing other human beings, and all the terrible attitudes that go along with it, not only has a distinctly social meaning, but a distinctly social creativity. It's almost like asking if capitalism is a genetic compulsion: while I'm sure that social alienation can be genetically predisposed, the culmination of all these conditions into a capitalist orientation involve an array of necessarily social conditions.

In any case, thanks for sharing this. It is a very interesting case I hadn't heard of.

[which doctor]

I began to wonder: what do you think makes a person like Kemper into a raging psychopath? He seems like an intelligent, normal individual in the interview, and yet commited acts that were completely and undeniably insane (the insanity plea worked, in his case).
A whole bunch of factors produced Kemper's behavior and we don't lnow nearly enough to provide any kind of diagnosis.


Do you think it's mostly biological/genetic, or is psychotic behavior shaped significantly by early developement? I've always been interested in abnormal psychology, and have heard different views on this matter.
The whole nature vs. nurture debate is a false dichotomy. A combination of many factors, including his genetics and environment, contributed to his behavior. Our genetics are not something that are set for the rest of our lives. Our environments can actually change our gene expressions, it's called epigenetics.

As for Kemper, it sounds like he has some severe psychological problems that probably come from a combination of his genetics and environment.

[Jesus Christ!]

Insanity isn't a biological or scientific classification it's a legal one. It means that you know something is wrong but can't stop yourself from doing it, which his interview completely prove.

[Dóchas]

why is it always the genius that is the serial killer, like charles manson had an IQ of 121!!!! check this out he thinks he did absolutely nothing wrong!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uhmtAmwnDQ

[Module]

what i would like to know is why all serial killers are white.
According to this Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_prolific_murderers_by_number_of_victims), the most prolific serial killers are of a variety of different nationalities, that is, those most likely to suffer from extreme psychological problems.

The first US serial killer on that list is the 18th most prolific, yet below that US citizens seem to be proportionately a lot more likely to be a serial killer than any other nation. In the words of serial killer Andrew Kehoe (gotta love Wikipedia :)) 'Criminals are made, not born', as is undoubtedly the case with these 'psychopaths'.

[Dean]

According to this Wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_prolific_murderers_by_number_of_victims), the most prolific serial killers are of a variety of different nationalities, that is, those most likely to suffer from extreme psychological problems.

The first US serial killer on that list is the 18th most prolific, yet below that US citizens seem to be proportionately a lot more likely to be a serial killer than any other nation. In the words of serial killer Andrew Kehoe (gotta love Wikipedia :)) 'Criminals are made, not born', as is undoubtedly the case with these 'psychopaths'.
"Daddy please, can you see what you're doing to me? Can you see what you've done to my world? Not just my body but you took my soul - I can always hide in a bottle. Once an open heart, now I have a black hole - now they wanna call me a monster. I never heard a child pray to be a monster / I never heard a child pray to be a beast / I never heard a child pray to be a criminal."
-Ramallah

Just some touching lyrics I listened to recently that fit this topic. :blushing:

[Lynx]

Serial killers are rare, psychopaths are more common.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Aren't the most extreme "Greed is good" folks psychopathic (http://www.riskmanagementmagazine.com.au/articles/DE/0C0306DE.asp?Type=124&Category=1240) in a way?

[Dean]

Aren't the most extreme "Greed is good" folks psychopathic (http://www.riskmanagementmagazine.com.au/articles/DE/0C0306DE.asp?Type=124&Category=1240) in a way?

Not in a way, by definition!