“冷血精神病患者”（psychopath）

摘要：
这类人的关键词：
1. 自由！其内在就像失控的汽车颠簸在高低起伏的山路上！
2. 没有灵魂。其内在一片黑暗。无法体验周围人的情感，无同情心、同理心，无道德天地良心的羁绊！其行为完全随性自私。
3. 装b。其所有外在情感表现都是装的。开始可表现的及其热情有魅力，但之后会露出其凶残冷血的真面目。
这类人是所有与之有亲密关系的人的噩梦！若这类人是你的家人，你无法离开，那么，如何对付这类人
＊＊冷血精神病患者拥有完全的自由！所有的外在情感全都是装的习得的，其目的并非自我表达，而只是为了操纵他人。他们的内在十分冷血好无良心内疚羞耻感可言！他们天生具有发现别人弱点的能力，然而发现之后并非去帮助对方的弱点，而是去利用践踏其弱点来达到操控别人的目的！
"You are completely free of internal restraints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please, with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the world."
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Psychopath是指，缺乏正常人类情感的性格障碍者 虽然行为和正常人一样，Psychopath的大脑不能理解情感，但是他们倒是很擅长"模仿"情感和利用情感。他们自私，毫无同情心，毫无忠诚度,而且非常的自恋。 经常能发现出他们行为模式的矛盾，异于常人越犯暴力事件越能沉着冷静. 不太能够区别笑容和哭脸的照片，不太会区别残酷和暴力的词和带有情绪的词. psychopath一生中很有可能是出色的辩论家，而且描述事物时的手动作非常丰富，对于残酷性的免疫力非常强。
Robert Hair博士亲自拟出了"PCL-R"测试，满分是40分，著名的Psychopath罪犯Jane topaen此测验的得了38分被判定为psychopath之最
每一条测试，在3层会有标准答案和psychopath答案
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Psychopath是指，没有正常人类情感的有暴力倾向的性格障碍者.
虽然行为和正常人一样，但是经常能发现出他们行为模式的矛盾，异于常人越犯暴力事件越能沉着冷静.
不太能够区别笑容和哭脸的照片，不太会区别残酷和暴力的词和带有情绪的词.
psychopath一生中很有可能是出色的辩论家，而且描述事物时的手动作非常丰富，对于残酷性的免疫力非常强
psychopath[词典释义] n. 1. 精神病患者 [网络释义] 1.精神变态者；精神变态者
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http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2126228687
Inside the Mind of a Psychopath 变态人格的脑起源
撰文肯特•A•契尔(Kent A. Kiehl)
&乔舒亚•W•巴克霍尔兹(Joshua W. Buckholtz)
神经科学家们发现有些极其冷血的杀手们并非内心邪恶。是病态的大脑使得他们漂流在一个没有情感的世界里。
提起“冷血精神病患者”（psychopath）这个词，我们似乎总能够联想起电影中那些残忍的、无法理喻的暴力镜头：杰克•尼科尔森(JackNicholson)在电影《闪灵》(The Shining)中提着斧头追杀自己的家人，或者安东尼•霍普金斯(Anthony Hopkins)扮演的天才精神病医生汉尼拔•莱克特(Hannibal Lecter)——脸上戴着上了锁的盔甲面具，以防咬死别人。然而，现实生活却向我们展现了杀手们善良美好的另外一面：泰德•邦迪(Ted Bundy)不仅是法律系的学生，而且是华盛顿州政府的助理；而约翰•维恩•盖西(John WayneGacy)则是青年商会的“年度杰出青年”。只要他们想去做，冷血精神病患者同样可以是讨人喜爱的。
我们已经对数百名监犯进行了访谈，进而评价他们的精神健康状况。我们在应对冷血精神病患者这方面已经受到了许多的训练，但即便如此，真正面对这些真实的案例时依然会感到异常的激动和紧张。冷血精神病患者有一种非常显著的特质，那就是，他们缺乏共情（同情心），并且会对本应承担的最普通的社会责任置之不理。他们谎话连篇还耍手段，心中却没有一丝一毫内疚或后悔——事实上，他们不会对任何事情产生更深刻的感觉。
正常人大都是经由情绪来感知这个世界。它指引着我们本能的决定，我们与他人和外界的联系，以及我们的归属感和意图。你几乎无法想象没有情绪体验的世界会是什么样子——直到你遇到一个冷血精神病患者。然而，这些冷血精神病患者常常会用一种迷人的魅力时刻掩饰自己的缺陷，你需要花很多的时间才能够明白你所面对的是什么样的人。
契尔曾经要求一些对此毫无经验的研究生在不知其犯罪史的情况下去采访一个非常有人格魅力的监犯。结果这些成长中的“心理学家”们都确信这样一个谈吐优雅，值得信赖的人一定是错误地被投进了监狱。接下来，当他们阅读完他的档案——拉皮条、贩毒、诈骗、抢劫等等——再去重访的时候，这个监犯会不假思索地回应：“我并没有打算告诉你那些事情，已经是过去式了。”
这种正常的表现（所谓的“精神正常的面具”）给冷血精神病患者研究带来了重重困难。尽管他们会对自己那些情绪化的、不负责任的、破坏性的、暴力的行为感到歉疚，他们的行为却不会表现出任何经典的精神疾病的症状：他们不会产生任何形式的幻觉；他们既不会感到迷惑、担忧，或者被极其强烈的强迫作用所驱使，也没有对社会不适应的倾向；他们的智商通常在平均水平以上。另外，他们并不会表现出发自内心的自责悔恨或者是改变自己的愿望。我们似乎更容易把冷血精神病患者简单地看作机会主义者，而非精神极端不稳定的受害者。简单来说：他们是疯了还是真的很坏？
从《圣经》中的该隐（Cain），到尤皮爱斯基摩人(Yupi Eskimos)所说的谎话出口成章、到处欺骗偷窃并且和很多女人上床的人(kunlangeta)，以及尼日利亚语中自私又充满恶意的人(arankan)——几乎现存的每一种文化都有关于个人的反社会行为威胁公众的记载。多亏现在的技术能够实时捕捉大脑活动，专家们不用再局限于检测冷血精神病患者的异常行为。我们可以研究在他们思考，做决定以及对环境作出反应的同时内部的心理过程。我们发现的是，冷血精神病患者远不是单纯的自私，而是具有严重的生理缺陷。他们似乎有一种学习上的缺陷阻碍了情感的发展。
精神病学家们一直对冷血精神病患者束手无策并且很久以来都认为无法给予他们帮助。然而现在，科技正在逐步揭开这种紊乱背后的机制——是时候改变对他们的这种态度了。如果说是特定的生理缺陷阻碍了冷血精神病患者对他人的共情，建立稳定的人际关系，以及从自身错误中习得经验，那搞清楚这一点就会带来一些新的疗法：可能是药物，或者是目标性行为治疗策略。
契尔已经启动了一项耗资数百万美元的宏伟项目（由美国国立精神卫生研究所(NIMH)、美国国家药物滥用研究所(NIDA)和约翰&凯瑟琳•麦克阿瑟基金会(the John D. and Catherine T. Mac-Arthur Foundation)资助）以收集基因信息、大脑成像以及1000个冷血精神病患者的历史案例，并将其汇编成一个可查询的数据库。为了提高工作效率，契尔设计了一台便携式扫描仪——一台安置在拖车里的功能性磁共振机器——以便在监狱内操作，从而避免了将危险的犯人带出监狱所需要的高等级的许可。
我们相信冷血精神病患者和其他患有精神疾病的人一样需要接受治疗，但你不需要出于同情才去帮助他们。美国的监犯有15%-35%是冷血精神病患者。冷血精神病患者犯罪会比正常人更早、更频繁、更暴力，并且他们在获释后再犯罪的比率是常人的4-8倍。事实上，在一个40点精神病量表的测试中（参见28页的表格），冷血精神病患者得分的高低与他们违背获释时誓言的可能性大小有着直接的相关。契尔最近估算了一下，每年起诉并关押冷血精神病患者的花费，加上他们对他人生活造成的损失，总计已经高达2500-4000亿美元。再也没有其它如此大的精神健康问题象冷血精神病患者这样被如此故意地忽略了。
高智商，低情商
一个叫布莱德(Brad)的罪犯犯下重罪被捕入狱。一次采访中，他向我们讲述了当初自己是如何劫持了一名年轻女子，将她绑在树上强奸了2天，并切破她的喉咙，将她杀死后离开。随后，他以几句让你无法忘记的完全不搭边的话收场：“你拥有过一个女孩么？我认为关爱、交流和怜悯这3“C”(caring,communication and compassion)是十分重要的。这是和别人搞好关系的关键所在。我试着用3“C”和周围的每个人相处。”他说这些话时语气毫无迟疑，显然意识不到在给出这些可怕的供词之后，这种平静的自我辩护听起来是多么别扭。
这些冷血精神病患者看起来或许很有魅力，但由于很难体会到自己和他人的感觉，他们甚至无法辨别音高。想象一下，从来没有忧伤，没有悔恨，没有自尊心，同样对任何人任何事不关心会是什么样子。冷血精神病患者的情感世界很简单：他们无法随心所欲时便会烦躁和恼怒，因为一些最微不足道的理由干出冒险的事。他们缺少忠诚和激情，游荡在生活中，经常一时兴起而犯罪——一个小小的刺激和冲动就可能使他们去欺骗、剽窃、强奸，甚至谋杀。至于奉献、愧疚或者愉悦这类复杂的情感，他们只知道书本定义，人们称他们是“只懂单词却不懂音乐”(know the words but not the music)。
众多的研究表明，冷血精神病患者体验世界的方式与常人完全不同。他们很难作出适当的道德价值判断并且克制犯罪的冲动。他们对情感、语言和分心刺激的反应也有障碍——这是一种在5岁以前的小孩子身上才会存在的问题。
奇怪的是，冷血精神病患者几乎对情感线索毫无察觉。2002年，美国国立精神卫生研究所(NIMH)的詹姆斯•布莱尔(James Blair)的研究表明，冷血精神病患者很难通过人的声音来检测情绪，尤其是恐惧的情绪。他们同样也很难鉴别恐惧的面部表情。1991年，这个领域的先驱者，不列颠哥伦比亚大学的心理学家罗伯特•哈瑞(Robert D. Hare)（他也是契尔的研究生导师）与别人合作完成的一个经典实验表明，冷血精神病患者会忽略言语中情感的细微差别。研究者们在监犯面前闪现一些真实的或者毫无意义的单词，要求他们在看到真实的单词时按下按钮。冷血精神病患者区分以上两者的速度和非冷血精神病患者是一样快的。然而实验还有更进一步的设计，在那些真实的单词中，有些词是正性的（“牛奶”）或负性的（“伤疤”），而另外的词则是中性的（“门”）。对于非冷血精神病患者来说，当带有情感倾向的单词闪现在屏幕上时，他们的大脑会自动反应，在脑电图上显示出不同的电位变化，同时他们也会更快地按下按钮。而冷血精神病患者对情感类单词的反应则不会加快，他们的脑电波形也没有发生任何变化。
越来越多的证据表明冷血精神病患者在理解言语的其它方面也会遇到困难。冷血精神病患者很难理解隐喻修辞。譬如，相比其它人来说，他们更有可能将“爱是包治百病的药”这个句子判断为是负性的。另外，契尔在一个1999年的研究中发现，冷血精神病患者在识别抽象单词（如“爱”、“欺骗”、“信任”、“奉献”和“好奇”）时会犯更多错误。
冷血精神病患者的另一个缺陷与他们如何注意事物有关。在一个巧妙的赌博实验中，威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校的约瑟夫•纽曼(JosephP. Newman)，和我们两个当中的巴克霍尔兹(Buckholtz)进行了更深入的工作，结果表明即使当前的方法无法帮助他们达成目标，冷血精神病患者也很难去改变策略。参与实验的人员每人拿到一副电脑操作的牌，这副牌以这样的形式排列：第一组10张牌中9张为人头牌（扑克牌的J.Q.K），第二组10张牌中8张为人头牌，第三组10张牌中7张为人头牌，如此类推。游戏规则是这样的：翻出人头牌得一分，反之则少一分。玩家可以随时结束游戏。玩家们最初能够轻松得分，但当情况越来越糟时，非冷血精神病患者会有所注意并在大约翻开50张牌后退出游戏。可是冷血精神病患者却会继续将所有牌翻完，分数当然也所剩无几。
纽曼相信，冷血精神病患者显而易见的冷酷无情其实是注意力缺陷导致的：当他们的注意力被其他的东西吸引时，便不会接收新的信息。之前的调查暗示冷血精神病患者很迟钝：即使在恶臭的气味之中或者看到残缺不全的面孔图片，他们的手心都丝毫都不会出汗。不过纽曼和他的同事最近证明，实际上冷血精神病患者对不愉快的刺激也会有正常生理反应（譬如触电的威胁），除非他们的注意被别的东西所吸引。一旦集中注意到某个目标，冷血精神病患者会一直进行下去，就如同火车不到站他们就不下车一样。这种锲而不舍的专注，全速前进的趋势，再加上冷血精神病患者的冲动，就可能产生《冷血》(In Cold Blood)中描述的恐怖场景：彻夜进行的严刑拷打几乎毫无目的，两个罪犯一旦开始了这场暴力，就会对可能终止这场罪恶的信息（如受害者的恳求）不管不顾，直到罪行结束都无法回头。
被改变的大脑
1848年，一个叫菲尼斯•盖奇(Phineas Gage)的风华正茂的黑发男子在佛蒙特州的拉特兰－伯灵顿铁路作工地领班。正当他和下属们清理岩石区域的时候，一个意外的爆炸炸飞了他的铁钎。这根铁钎超过3英尺长，是一根很重的金属杆。铁钎从他的左脸穿入，从头顶部穿出。这样严重的伤害按理说应该会导致死亡，至少是瘫痪。不过据主治医师回忆，虽然有一半茶匙容量的脑组织漏到了地上，盖奇的意识却始终都很清醒，并且康复也相当顺利。然而，他的同事却发现了他的变化——一个比无法运用四肢更令人不安的变化。从前聪慧的、性情平和的、有责任感的盖奇，现在变得粗暴、难以琢磨并且非常情绪化。盖奇的故事成为了神经科学的经典案例，因为它揭示出，人类的行为看起来是由于个人意愿，究其根本却是生物性的原因。
盖奇失去了腹内侧前额叶皮层的功能。这个部分在眼睛后面，其结构与旁边的眶额皮层非常相似。很多科学家相信冷血精神病患者都会有眶额皮层的机能障碍。眶额皮层牵涉到对风险的敏感性，奖赏与惩罚等复杂的决策任务。大脑这部分受损的人在冲动抑制和理解力方面存在问题，并且对感知到的侵犯有强烈的反应——就像盖奇一样。事实上，这样的病人通常被认为患有“获得性精神病”。
但是盖奇的变化是由事故引起的，他并未表现出冷血精神病患者的全部特征，比如缺乏共情。这里面还有其它的大脑结构也牵涉其中。一个可能的部位是形状像是杏仁的杏仁核，它能产生诸如害怕一类的情绪。杏仁核受损的猴子会径直向人走来而不会害怕。冷血精神病患者的无畏同样非常明显：看到气势汹汹逼近的攻击者或者瞄准他们的武器时，他们甚至连眼睛都不会眨一下。
不过证据显示，一两个脑区的损伤并不足以产生冷血精神病患者所拥有的严重缺陷。最近契尔提出，这种精神变态可能是由旁边缘系统引起的。旁边缘系统是一系列相互关联的脑结构，牵涉到情绪加工、目标搜寻、动机以及自我控制（参见上面的图解说明）。支持这一假说的是契尔和其他人制作的冷血精神病患者大脑的fMRI图像，其中显示出旁边缘系统组织明显地变薄，从而证明他们这部分大脑发育不全，就如同一块不强壮的肌肉。
除了眶额皮层和杏仁核，旁边缘系统还包括前扣带回和脑岛。前扣带回调控情绪的状态，帮助人们抑制冲动并且监控人们的行为上的错误。
脑岛在识别违犯社会准则的行为，体验愤怒、恐惧、同情和厌恶的情绪中起着重要的作用。从定义上来说，精神变态行为指的是对社会期望的不敏感。如同先前提到的，冷血精神病患者对恶心的事物具有极高的忍受阈限，他们对于厌恶气味或图像可以泰然处之。
脑岛还与疼痛的感知有关。对冷血精神病患者（包括一个被电击的冷血精神病患者）的研究发现，在某些特定的情况下，他们几乎完全不受疼痛威胁的干扰；同时他们也很难意识到自身的错误并且相应地改正自身的行为（这个事实也能够帮助我们解释为什么冷血精神病患者一次次入狱，却无法从过去的错误中学习经验的原因）。
冷血精神病患者是后天造成的还是生而如此？可能两者都有。如同研究人员相信的那样，如果基因只能够解释成人反社会特质的50%，这就意味着生活环境和生物遗传是同样重要的。一些冷血精神病患者具有创伤痛苦的童年经历，而其他人却是美满家庭中的败家子。先不讨论基因和环境哪个影响更大的问题，无论如何，早期干预（或许早到幼儿园时期）都应该是非常关键的。就像幼儿时期大脑会为学习语言（以后这个任务会变得非常困难）做好准备一样，我们怀疑构成所谓的“道德心”基础的社会能力和认知能力的发展同样也会有一个早期的关键时期。
被忽略的风险
对于冷血精神病患者有很多的误解。这个事实也许并不会重要到足以使我们动容或者牵动我们的心弦，但却已经是我们所有人的问题。一些研究人员估计，在美国监狱有50万冷血精神病患者，并且可能还有25万不在监狱——他们可能没犯重罪但依然会威胁到周围公众的利益。帮助他们控制自己的冲动性和侵犯性可以保护很多无辜者。然而直到现在，在这个研究方向上都几乎没有付出多少努力。在抑郁症领域被投入了数十亿美金的研究费用，而为冷血精神病患者寻找治疗方法的资金则只有大约不到一百万美元，这部分地是由于一些证据表明冷血精神病患者是不可治疗的。举个例子，一些研究发现，相比于没有接受过治疗，在监狱接受一系列治疗后，冷血精神病患者反而更可能重新犯罪。其实，对于冷血精神病患者来说，通常的治疗手段中使用的互相听取其他人袒露内心显然并不是个好方法：众所周知，冷血精神病患者最擅长学习和利用别人的弱点。而且，他们同样很难理解抽象的想法，因此关于个人责任的说教也不太行得通。
不过也不用太悲观：一种针对有精神变态倾向的顽固少年犯的新疗法已经获得极大成功。迈克尔• 考德威尔，一个位于威斯康星麦迪逊的门多塔青少年治疗中心的心理学家发展出来一种强化一对一疗法，这种减压疗法的目的在于终结“惩罚坏行为会引发更多坏行为，反过来又会受到惩罚”的怪圈。慢慢地，参与考德威尔这一项目的青少年的过激行为出现频率会越来越少，从而逐渐可以参与到标准的恢复疗法中。
相对于在普通青少年行为校正中心接受治疗的人来说，考德威尔治疗的150多个年轻人在治疗后其暴力犯罪的机率要低50%。常规系统下治疗的年轻人在获释后的头4年内杀了16个人，而参与考德威尔项目的年轻人没有杀任何人。经济上的好处也是很大的：每出1万美元社会花费用于治疗，我们就能够节约用来看护监犯所需的7万美元支出。
正在进行中的脑与基因的研究可能会进一步增进考德威尔的成果：也许，如同对抑郁症的治疗一样，疗法与药物的结合将会更加有效。但是这种进展也许会很慢，因为事实上精神变态通常会被精神健康的主流所忽略，它甚至没有被包含进《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》(Diagnostic and StatisticalManual of Mental Disorders,缩写为DSM)中。这是一本包含300多种已知精神病状况的详尽目录，被奉为临床医生的圣经。DSM的编写者们只是相应地创造了一种针对于犯罪倾向的广义诊断方法，称作反社会人格障碍，然后就到此为止了。
为什么冷血精神病患者会被排除在外？DSM的创始人可能会觉得对于一般的治疗专家来说，做出精确的诊断太困难了：毕竟，冷血精神病患者毫无疑问能够在访谈中编出精妙的谎言。
无论原因是什么，很多精神病医生都一直错误地认为冷血精神病患者和反社会人格障碍是一样的，但其实它们并不一样。如果要问一个人是否有坏行为的倾向，反社会人格障碍的诊断是有帮助的，但它并不能用来区分罪犯。在有反社会人格障碍的人中，只有五分之一是冷血精神病患者。然而在一次次的庭审中，专家们都会错误地证明如果一个被告具有反社会人格，就说明他是冷血精神病患者。换句话说，他很有可能再犯罪，不应该获假释。
随着科学家继续了解冷血精神病患者大脑的机能障碍，这些成果并不仅仅是给那些深受其害的个体带来希望，同样也会让我们的社会更加清醒。因为冷血精神病患者既然已经对我们的社会构成了如此大的威胁我们却仍然选择忽视，这显然是不合情理的。当律师、监狱看守、精神病医生以及其他人开始正确看待冷血精神病患者——他们不是魔鬼，而是由于情感缺陷导致行为怪异的人——我们就会慢慢地走向更为安全的未来。
P24
图下文字：
尽管缺乏共情，冷血精神病患者却能够毫无破绽地伪装正常的情绪从而使得他们风度翩翩甚至是充满魅力。他们学习去补偿自身情绪的缺陷，就象是断肢的人不使用四肢去生活。
图右大字：
冷血精神病患者不只是单纯的自私，他们的大脑加工信息的方式是与常人迥然不同的。他们似乎有一种学习上的缺陷阻碍了情感的发展。
事实概览：
与生活不一致
1.在EEGs和大脑扫描技术的帮助下，科学家发现冷血精神病患者有严重损伤，影响他们体验情绪、理解他人暗示和从自身错误中学习的能力。
2.这些缺陷可能在五岁以下的孩子身上才会明显体现。
3.如果你清点审讯，监禁以及遭受的破坏产生的费用，冷血精神病患者每年会消耗我们2500-4000亿美元。
4.冷血精神病患者通常被看做是无法治疗的，但新式的疗法带来了希望。
P25
图下文字：
麻木不仁或者是专注？一旦某件事情引起了他们的兴趣，冷血精神病患者就很难注意周围其它的事物。
关于作者
肯特•A • 契尔是新墨西哥大学的精神系统科学家，以及精神研究网络(Mind Research Network)（一个致力于促进精神疾病治疗的非营利性组织）的主要研究者。
乔舒亚•W•巴克霍尔兹是范德比尔特大学神经科学博士生。他在这里研究基因风险因素如何使人们产生反社会行为和附带问题的倾向。
P26
图旁大字：
虽然有一半茶匙容量的脑组织漏到了地上，菲尼斯盖奇依然康复了。但是他却像变了一个人：从前聪慧的、性情平和的、有责任感的盖奇，现在变得粗暴、喜怒无常而难以琢磨。
左下角图片：
不同的脑电波形
当我们将有意义的单词和无意义的单词显现在人们眼前并要求他们区分两者时，大多数人对像“血”这样有意义的并且有一定情绪色彩的词汇反应更快。然而冷血精神病患者看到“血”按下按钮的速度并不会比诸如“房子”这样的中性词更快。不仅如此，无论他们看到了什么词，他们的EEG的波形都差不多一样。而当其他人看到一个有情绪色彩的单词时，他们的EEGs
波形会明显地发生改变。另外，无论冷血精神病患者看到了什么词，他们都会有形状不寻常的脑波（参见上图）。这些发现暗示了冷血精神病患者的大脑电活动与其它人是不一样的。
P27
右下角图片旁边文字：
冷血精神病患者不仅仅是不在意遭受的疼痛，他们通常也不会害怕疼痛。
上部图片文字：
大脑出错了
一群位于大脑最深处的马蹄铁形状的组织可能是导致冷血精神病患者机能障碍的区域。这群被称作旁边缘系统的组织，包含了一些相互连接的大脑区域。这些大脑区域负责表达情绪和其他的感知，并且将决定你体验到的情绪强度。这些大脑部位还负责决策、高级归因和冲动控制。这些区域受损的人有可能显示出冷血精神病患者的特征和行为。另外，脑成像研究表明，冷血精神病患者的旁边缘系统区域发育不全。
Anterior cingulate Empathy, affect, decision making, cognitive control
前扣带回 共情，情感，决策，认知控制
Orbitofrontal cortex Learning from rewards and punishments, behavioral flexibility, impulse control, emotional and social decision making
眶额皮层 奖惩学习，行为灵活性，冲动控制，情绪及决策
Amygdala Evaluation of sensory stimuli; generation of emotional responses
杏仁核 感觉刺激的评价；情绪反应的产生
Posterior cingulate Emotional memory, emotion processing
后扣带回 情绪记忆，情绪加工
Insula Awareness of body states, pain perception
脑岛 身体状态深知，疼痛知觉
Temporal pole Integration of emotion and perception, social processing
颞极 情绪与知觉的整合， 社会加工
P28
你认识冷血精神病患者吗？
从概率上讲，你很可能遇见过冷血精神病患者。这样的人占总人口的0.5%至1%。如果排除妇女和儿童（至今难以解释的是，很少有妇女是冷血精神病患者），以及那些已经被关进大牢的人，可以算出大概有25万冷血精神病患者在美国自由地生活。
如何辨认出一个冷血精神病患者？专家使用的黑尔精神病态症状清单（修订版）(the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised)包括了20种标准，每种都以0、1或2计分。这个标准包含了诸如病理性谎言、易于厌烦的倾向性和性滥交的行为和特征（参见下面的一览表）。这些行为和特征的通过访谈、寻访监狱以及警方报告和其他官方记录进行评定。最高分数为40分（20种标准每种都为2分），但任何人得分在30分以上都可以被诊断为冷血精神病患者。
事实是，每个人在某些方面都会显示出精神变态。人们的平均得分在4左右，但是在十几岁和二十几岁的年轻人中有很多人得分很高——并非高到被官方诊断为冷血精神病患者的程度，但也有严重的（经常是明显的）冷血精神病患者倾向。这些人一般是蛮横霸道的老板、流浪汉以及那些总是敲诈朋友和恋人的不负责任的人
Antisocial Behavior 反社会行为
需要刺激，易厌烦
寄生的生活方式
行为控制能力差
性滥交
缺乏现实的长远目标
冲动性
缺乏责任感
早期行为问题
少年犯罪
违反假释或者缓期条例
Emotional/Interpersonal Traits情绪/人际交往的特质
口若悬河和表面的魅力
夸大的自我价值
病理性谎言
指挥和操控他人
缺乏自责和歉疚感
狭隘的情感
麻木不仁和缺乏同情心
无法为自己的行为负责
Other Factors 其他因素
犯有多种罪行
有多次短暂的婚姻关系
P29
图下文字：
在经历小组疗法这样的标准治疗之后，冷血精神病患者通常会变得更糟，而不是更好。有机会去窥视他人脆弱的内心反而会成为他们磨练操控他人技能的机会。
图右侧大字：
减压疗法对于治疗有精神变态倾向的年轻人非常有效，我们每在其中花费1万美元，就能够节省出把他们关进监狱所需要的7万美元。
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The Hidden Suffering of the Psychopath
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/psychotic-affective-disorders/hidden-suffering-psychopath-0
Psychopathy is characterized by diagnostic features such as superficial charm, high intelligence, poor judgment and failure to learn from experience, pathological egocentricity and incapacity for love, lack of remorse or shame, impulsivity, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, manipulative behavior, poor self-control, promiscuous sexual behavior, juvenile delinquency, and criminal versatility among others (Cleckley, 1982; Hare et al., 1990). As a consequence of these criteria the psychopath has the image of a cold, heartless, inhuman being. But do all psychopaths show a complete lack of normal emotional capacities and empathy? Like healthy people, many psychopaths love their parents, spouse, children and pets in their own way, but have difficulty loving and trusting the rest of the world. Furthermore, psychopaths do suffer emotionally as a consequence of separation, divorce, death of a beloved person or dissatisfaction with their own deviant behavior (Martens, 1997).
Sources of Sadness
Psychopaths can suffer emotional pain for a variety of reasons. Like anyone else, psychopaths have a deep wish to be loved and cared for. This desire remains frequently unfulfilled, however, as it is obviously not easy for another person to get close to someone with such repellent personality characteristics. Psychopaths are at least periodically aware of the effects of their behavior on others and can be genuinely saddened by their inability to control it. The lives of most psychopaths are devoid of a stable social network or warm, close bonds.
The life histories of psychopaths are often characterized by a chaotic family life, lack of parental attention and guidance, parental substance abuse and antisocial behavior, poor relationships, divorce, and adverse neighborhoods (Martens, 2000). They may feel that they are prisoners of their own etiological determination and believe that they had, in comparison with normal people, fewer opportunities or advantages in life.
Despite their outward arrogance, inside psychopaths feel inferior to others and know they are stigmatized by their own behavior. Although some psychopaths are superficially adapted to their environment and are even popular, they feel they must carefully hide their true nature because it will not be accepted by others. This leaves psychopaths with a difficult choice: adapt and participate in an empty, unreal life, or do not adapt and live a lonely life isolated from the social community. They see the love and friendship others share and feel dejected knowing they will never take part in it.
Psychopaths are known for needing excessive stimulation, but most foolhardy adventures only end in disillusionment due to conflicts with others and unrealistic expectations. Furthermore, many psychopaths are disheartened by their inability to control their sensation-seeking and are repeatedly confronted with their weaknesses. Although they may attempt to change, low fear response and associated inability to learn from experiences lead to repeated negative, frustrating and depressing confrontations, including trouble with the justice system.
As psychopaths age they are not able to continue their energy-consuming lifestyle and become burned-out and depressed, while they look back on their restless life full of interpersonal discontentment. Their health deteriorates as the effects of their recklessness accumulate.
Emotional Pain and Violence
Social isolation, loneliness and associated emotional pain in psychopaths may precede violent criminal acts (Martens, 2000, 1999, 1997; Palermo and Martens, in press). They believe that the whole world is against them, eventually becoming convinced that they deserve special privileges or rights to satisfy their desires. As psychopathic serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilson expressed, violent psychopaths ultimately reach a point of no return, where they feel they have cut through the last thin connection with the normal world. Subsequently their sadness and suffering increase, and their crimes become more and more bizarre (Palermo and Martens, in press).
Dahmer and Nilsen have stated that they killed simply for company (Palermo and Martens, in press). Both men had no friends and their only social contacts were occasional encounters in homosexual bars. Nilsen watched television and talked for hours with the dead bodies of his victims; Dahmer consumed parts of his victims' bodies in order to become one with them: he believed that in this way his victims lived further in his body.
For the rest of us it is unimaginable that these men were so lonely -- yet they describe their loneliness and social failures as unbearably painful. They each created their own sadistic universe to avenge their experiences of rejection, abuse, humiliation, neglect and emotional suffering.
Dahmer and Nilsen claimed that they did not enjoy the killing act itself. Dahmer tried to make zombies of his victims by injecting acid into their brains after he had numbed them with sleeping pills. He wanted complete control over his victims, but when that failed, he killed them. Nilsen felt much more comfortable with dead bodies than with living people -- the dead ones could not leave him. He wrote poems and spoke tender words to the dead bodies, using them as long as possible for company. In other violent psychopaths, a relationship has been found between the intensity of sadness and loneliness and the degree of violence, recklessness and impulsivity (Martens, 1999, 1997; Palermo and Martens, in press).
- See more at: http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/psychotic-affective-disorders/hidden-suffering-psychopath-0#sthash.0ki811Sv.dpuf
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THE PSYCHOPATH - The Mask of Sanity
Special Research Project of the Quantum Future School
Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.
And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.
Now add to this strange fantasy the ability to conceal from other people that your psychological makeup is radically different from theirs. Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless.
You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience, that they seldom even guess at your condition.
In other words, you are completely free of internal restraints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please, with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the world.
You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences will most likely remain undiscovered.
How will you live your life?
What will you do with your huge and secret advantage, and with the corresponding handicap of other people (conscience)?
The answer will depend largely on just what your desires happen to be, because people are not all the same. Even the profoundly unscrupulous are not all the same. Some people - whether they have a conscience or not - favor the ease of inertia, while others are filled with dreams and wild ambitions. Some human beings are brilliant and talented, some are dull-witted, and most, conscience or not, are somewhere in between. There are violent people and nonviolent ones, individuals who are motivated by blood lust and those who have no such appetites. [...]
Provided you are not forcibly stopped, you can do anything at all.
If you are born at the right time, with some access to family fortune, and you have a special talent for whipping up other people's hatred and sense of deprivation, you can arrange to kill large numbers of unsuspecting people. With enough money, you can accomplish this from far away, and you can sit back safely and watch in satisfaction. [...]
Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 4 percent of the population....
The prevalence rate for anorexic eating disorders is estimated a 3.43 percent, deemed to be nearly epidemic, and yet this figure is a fraction lower than the rate for antisocial personality. The high-profile disorders classed as schizophrenia occur in only about 1 percent of [the population] - a mere quarter of the rate of antisocial personality - and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the rate of colon cancer in the United States, considered "alarmingly high," is about 40 per 100,000 - one hundred times lower than the rate of antisocial personality.
The high incidence of sociopathy in human society has a profound effect on the rest of us who must live on this planet, too, even those of us who have not been clinically traumatized. The individuals who constitute this 4 percent drain our relationships, our bank accounts, our accomplishments, our self-esteem, our very peace on earth.
Yet surprisingly, many people know nothing about this disorder, or if they do, they think only in terms of violent psychopathy - murderers, serial killers, mass murderers - people who have conspicuously broken the law many times over, and who, if caught, will be imprisoned, maybe even put to death by our legal system.
We are not commonly aware of, nor do we usually identify, the larger number of nonviolent sociopaths among us, people who often are not blatant lawbreakers, and against whom our formal legal system provides little defense.
Most of us would not imagine any correspondence between conceiving an ethnic genocide and, say, guiltlessly lying to one's boss about a coworker. But the psychological correspondence is not only there; it is chilling. Simple and profound, the link is the absence of the inner mechanism that beats up on us, emotionally speaking, when we make a choice we view as immoral, unethical, neglectful, or selfish.
Most of us feel mildly guilty if we eat the last piece of cake in the kitchen, let alone what we would feel if we intentionally and methodically set about to hurt another person.
Those who have no conscience at all are a group unto themselves, whether they be homicidal tyrants or merely ruthless social snipers.
The presence or absence of conscience is a deep human division, arguably more significant than intelligence, race, or even gender.
What differentiates a sociopath who lives off the labors of others from one who occasionally robs convenience stores, or from one who is a contemporary robber baron - or what makes the difference betwen an ordinary bully and a sociopathic murderer - is nothing more than social status, drive, intellect, blood lust, or simple opportunity.
What distinguishes all of these people from the rest of us is an utterly empty hole in the psyche, where there should be the most evolved of all humanizing functions. [Martha Stout, Ph.D., The Sociopath Next Door] (highly recommended)
For those of you who are seeking understanding of psychopathy, Hervey Cleckley's book The Mask of Sanity, the absolutely essential study of the psychopath who is not necessarily of the criminal type. This book is no longer available. We have it scanned and our team of researchers spent two weeks going over the text carefully to eliminate text conversion errors. You may download the entire book FREE as a PDF from the link at left, top. (Read A Sample Chapter of The Mask of Sanity)
"Likeable," "Charming," "Intelligent," "Alert," "Impressive," "Confidence-inspiring," and "A great success with the ladies": These are the sorts of descriptions repeatedly used by Cleckley in his famous case-studies of psychopaths. They are also, of course, "irresponsible," "self-destructive," and the like. These descriptions highlight the great frustrations and puzzles that surround the study of psychopathy.
Psychopaths seem to have in abundance the very traits most desired by normal persons. The untroubled self-confidence of the psychopath seems almost like an impossible dream and is generally what "normal" people seek to acquire when they attend assertiveness training classes. In many instances, the magnetic attraction of the psychopath for members of the opposite sex seems almost supernatural.
Cleckley's seminal hypothesis concerning the psychopath is that he suffers from a very real mental illness indeed: a profound and incurable affective deficit. If he really feels anything at all, they are emotions of only the shallowest kind. He does bizarre and self-destructive things because consequences that would fill the ordinary man with shame, self-loathing, and embarrassment simply do not affect the psychopath at all. What to others would be a disaster is to him merely a fleeting inconvenience.
Cleckley also gives grounds for the view that psychopathy is quite common in the community at large. He has collected some cases of psychopaths who generally function normally in the community as businessmen, doctors, and even psychiatrists. Some researchers see criminal psychopathy - often referred to as anti-social personality disorder - as an extreme of a "normal" personality dimension (or dimensions).
We would characterize criminal psychopaths as "unsuccessful psychopaths." The implication, of course, is that many psychopaths may exist in society who cope better than do those who come to the attention of the judicial and welfare systems.
Harrington goes so far as to say that the psychopath is the new man being produced by the evolutionary pressures of modern life. Other researchers criticize this view, pointing out the real disabilities that the clinical psychopath also suffers.
The study of "ambulatory" psychopaths - what we call "The Garden Variety Psychopath" - has, however, hardly begun. Very little is known about subcriminal psychopathy. However, some researchers have begun to seriously consider the idea that it is important to study psychopathy not as an artificial clinical category but as a general personality trait in the community at large. In other words, psychopathy is being recognized as a more or less a different type of human.
One very interesting aspect of the psychopath is his "hidden life" that is sometimes not too well hidden. It seems that the psychopath has a regular need to take a "vacation into filth and degradation" the same way normal people may take a vacation to a resort where they enjoy beautiful surroundings and culture. To get a full feeling for this strange "need" of the psychopath - a need that seems to be evidence that "acting human" is very stressful to the psychopath - read more of The Mask of Sanity, chapters 25 and 26.
Also, read Cleckley's speculations on what was "really wrong" with these people. He comes very close to suggesting that they are human in every respect - but that they lack a soul. This lack of "soul quality" makes them very efficient "machines." They can be brilliant, write scholarly works, imitate the words of emotion, but over time, it becomes clear that their words do not match their actions. They are the type of person who can claim that they are devastated by grief who then attend a party "to forget." The problem is: they really DO forget.
Being very efficient machines, like a computer, they are able to execute very complex routines designed to elicit from others support for what they want. In this way, many psychopaths are able to reach very high positions in life. It is only over time that their associates become aware of the fact that their climb up the ladder of success is predicated on violating the rights of others."Even when they are indifferent to the rights of their associates, they are often able to inspire feelings of trust and confidence."
The psychopath recognizes no flaw in his psyche, no need for change.
Psychopaths In the New Age
At the present time, there is a veritable explosion of reports from our readers about their experiences with individuals they have encountered in the "alternative research" fields, as well as in general interactions of their lives. What is so shocking is the number of such individuals that must exist, based on these reports. This is not just an occasional event, it seems to be almost a pandemic!
Our research team and egroup have been engaged for some time in researching and analyzing these interactions and the characteristics and the dynamics and the personalities. Our research has led us to identify them with "Psychopaths." They can also be Narcissists since Narcissism seems to be merely a "facet" of the psychopath or a "milder" manifestation. You could say that the Narcissist is a "garden variety psychopath" who, because of his or her "social programming," has less likelihood of running afoul of the law. In this way, they are very efficient "survival machines," living out their lives doing untold damage to their families, friends and business associates.
It is only when a person takes a long and careful look at the full-blown psychopath - a sort of exaggerated Narcissist - that they are able to see the caricature of the traits that then make it easier for them to identify the "garden variety" psychopath - and/or the Narcissist.
Our world seems to have been invaded by individuals whose approach to life and love is so drastically different from what has been the established norm for a very long time that we are ill- prepared to deal with their tactics of what Robert Canup calls "plausible lie." As he demonstrates, this philosophy of the "plausible lie" has overtaken the legal and administrative domains of our world, turning them into machines in which human beings with real emotions are destroyed.
The recent movie, "The Matrix," touched a deep chord in society because it exemplified this mechanistic trap in which so many people find their lives enmeshed, and from which they are unable to extricate themselves because they believe that everyone around them who "looks human" is, in fact, just like them - emotionally, spiritually, and otherwise.
Take, for example, the "legal argument" as explicated by Robert Canup in his work on the "Socially Adept Psychopath." The legal argument seems to be at the foundation of our society. This amounts to little more than con-artistry: the one who is the slickest at using the structure for convincing a group of people of something, is the one who is believed. Because this "legal argument" system has been slowly installed as part of our culture, when it invades our personal lives, we normally do not recognize it immediately.
Human beings have been accustomed to assume that other human beings are - at the very least - trying to "do right" and "be good" and fair and honest. And so, very often, we do not take the time to use due diligence in order to determine if a person who has entered our life is, in fact, a "good person." And when a conflict ensues, we automatically fall into the cultural assumption that in any conflict, one side is partly right one way, and the other is partly right the other, and that we can form opinions about which side is mostly right or wrong. Because of our exposure to the "legal argument" norms, when any dispute arises, we automatically think that the truth will lie somewhere between two extremes. In this case, application of a little mathematical logic to the problem of the legal argument might be helpful.
Let us assume that in a dispute, one side is innocent, honest, and tells the truth. It is obvious that lying does an innocent person no good; what lie can he tell? If he is innocent, the only lie he can tell is to falsely confess "I did it." But lying is nothing but good for the liar. He can declare that "I didn't do it," and accuse another of doing it, all the while the innocent person he has accused is saying "I didn't do it," and is actually telling the truth.
The truth - when twisted by good liars, can always make an innocent person look bad - especially if the innocent person is honest and admits his mistakes.
The basic assumption that the truth lies between the testimony of the two sides always shifts the advantage to the lying side and away from the side telling the truth. Under most circumstances, this shift put together with the fact that the truth is going to also be twisted in such a way as to bring detriment to the innocent person, results in the advantage always resting in the hands of liars - psychopaths. Even the simple act of giving testimony under oath is useless. If a person is a liar, swearing an oath means nothing to that person. However, swearing an oath acts strongly on a serious, truthful witness. Again, the advantage is placed on the side of the liar. [Robert Canup]
This highlights one of the unique things about the psychopath: their seeming inability to conceive of the abstract idea of "the future."
It has often been noted that psychopaths have a distinct advantage over human beings with conscience and feelings because the psychopath does not have conscience and feelings. What seems to be so is that conscience and feelings are related to the abstract concepts of "future" and "others." It is "spatio-temporal." We can feel fear, sympathy, empathy, sadness, and so on because we can IMAGINE in an abstract way, the future based on our own experiences in the past, or even just "concepts of experiences" in myriad variations. We can "predict" how others will react because we are able to "see ourselves" in them even though they are "out there" and the situation is somewhat different externally, though similar in dynamic. In other words, we can not only identify with others spatially - so to say - but also temporally - in time.
The psychopath does not seem to have this capacity.
They are unable to "imagine" in the sense of being able to really connect to images in a direct "self connecting to another self" sort of way.
Oh, indeed, they can imitate feelings, but the only real feelings they seem to have - the thing that drives them and causes them to act out different dramas for effect - is a sort of "predatorial hunger" for what they want. That is to say, they "feel" need/want as love, and not having their needs/wants met is described as "not being loved" by them. What is more, this "need/want" perspective posits that only the "hunger" of the psychopath is valid, and anything and everything "out there," outside of the psychopath, is not real except insofar as it has the capability of being assimilated to the psychopath as a sort of "food." "Can it be used or can it provide something?" is the only issue about which the psychopath seems to be concerned. All else - all activity - is subsumed to this drive.
In short, the psychopath - and the narcissist to a lesser extent - is a predator. If we think about the interactions of predators with their prey in the animal kingdom, we can come to some idea of what is behind the "mask of sanity" of the psychopath. Just as an animal predator will adopt all kinds of stealthy functions in order to stalk their prey, cut them out of the herd, get close to them and reduce their resistance, so does the psychopath construct all kinds of elaborate camoflage composed of words and appearances - lies and manipulations - in order to "assimilate" their prey.
This leads us to an important quesion: what does the psychopath REALLY get from their victims? It's easy to see what they are after when they lie and manipulate for money or material goods or power. But in many instances, such as love relationships or faked friendships, it is not so easy to see what the psychopath is after. Without wandering too far afield into spiritual speculations - a problem Cleckley also faced - we can only say that it seems to be that the psychopath ENJOYS making others suffer. Just as normal humans enjoy seeing other people happy, or doing things that make other people smile, the psychopath enjoys the exact opposite.
Anyone who has ever observed a cat playing with a mouse before killing and eating it has probably explained to themselves that the cat is just "entertained" by the antics of the mouse and is unable to conceive of the terror and pain being experienced by the mouse, and the cat, therefore, is innocent of any evil intent. The mouse dies, the cat is fed, and that is nature. Psychopaths don't generally eat their victims.
Yes, in extreme cases the entire cat and mouse dynamic is carried out and cannibalism has a long history wherein it was assumed that certain powers of the victim could be assimilated by eating some particular part of them. But in ordinary life, psychopaths and narcissists don't go all the way, so to say. This causes us to look at the cat and mouse scenarios again with different eyes. Now we ask: is it too simplistic to think that the innocent cat is merely entertained by the mouse running about and frantically trying to escape? Is there something more to this dynamic than meets the eye? Is there something more than being "entertained" by the antics of the mouse trying to flee? After all, in terms of evolution, why would such behavior be hard-wired into the cat? Is the mouse tastier because of the chemicals of fear that flood his little body? Is a mouse frozen with terror more of a "gourmet" meal?
This suggests that we ought to revisit our ideas about psychopaths with a slightly different perspective. One thing we do know is this: many people who experience interactions with psychopaths and narcissists report feeling "drained" and confused and often subsequently experience deteriorating health. Does this mean that part of the dynamic, part of the explanation for why psychopaths will pursue "love relationships" and "friendships" that ostensibly can result in no observable material gain, is because there is an actual energy consumption?
We do not know the answer to this question. We observe, we theorize, we speculate and hypothesize. But in the end, only the individual victim can determine what they have lost in the dynamic - and it is often far more than material goods. In a certain sense, it seems that psychopaths are soul eaters or "Psychophagic."
Conscience seems to depend on the ability to imagine consequences. But most "consequences" relate to pain in some way, and psychopaths really don't understand pain in the emotional sense. They understand frustration of not getting what they want, and to them, that is pain. But the fact seems to be that they act based solely on a sort of Game Theory evaluation of a situation: what will they get out of it, and what will it cost? And these "costs" have nothing to do with being humiliated, causing pain, sabotaging the future, or any of the other possibilities that normal people consider when making a choice. In short, it is almost impossible for normal people to even imagine the inner life of the psychopath.
This leads us to what psychopaths DO have that is truly outstanding: an ability to give their undivided attention to something that interests them intensely. Some clinicians have compared this to the concentration with which a predator stalks his prey. This is useful if one is in an environment with few variables, but most real life situations require us to pay attention to a number of things at once. Psychopaths often pay so much attention to getting what they want that they fail to notice danger signals.
For example, some psychopaths earned reputations for being fearless fighter pilots during World War II, staying on their targets like terriers on an ankle. Yet, these pilots often failed to keep track of such unexciting details as fuel supply, altitude, location, and the position of other planes. Sometimes they became heroes, but more often, they were killed or became known as opportunists, loners, or hotshots who couldn't be relied on - except to take care of themselves. [Hare]
It should be emphasized that psychopaths are interesting as all get out - even exciting! They exude a captivating energy that keeps their listeners on the edge of their seats. Even if some part of the normal person is shocked or repelled by what the psychopath says, they are like the mouse hypnotized by the torturing cat. Even if they have the chance to run away, they don't. Many Psychopaths "make their living" by using charm, deceit, and manipulation to gain the confidence of their victims. Many of them can be found in white collar professions where they are aided in their evil by the fact that most people expect certain classes of people to be trustworthy because of their social or professional credentials. Lawyers, doctors, teachers, politicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, generally do not have to earn our trust because they have it by virtue of their positions. But the fact is: psychopaths are found in such lofty spheres also!
At the same time, psychopaths are good imposters. They have absolutely no hesitation about forging and brazenly using impressive credentials to adopt professional roles that bring prestige and power. They pick professions in which the requisite skills are easy to fake, the jargon is easy to learn, and the credentials are unlikely to be thoroughly checked. Psychopaths find it extremely easy to pose as financial consultants, ministers, psychological counselors and psychologists. And that's a scary thought.
Psychopaths make their way by conning people into doing things for them; obtaining money for them, prestige, power, or even standing up for them when others try to expose them. But that is their claim to fame. That's what they do. And they do it very well. What's more, the job is very easy because most people are gullible with an unshakable belief in the inherent goodness of man.
Manipulation is the key to the psychopath's conquests. Initially, the psychopath will feign false emotions to create empathy, and many of them study the tricks that can be employed by the empathy technique. Psychopaths are often able to incite pity from people because they seem like "lost souls" as Guggenbuhl-Craig writes. So the pity factor is one reason why victims often fall for these "poor" people.
Psychologist Robert Hare cites a famous case where a psychopath was "Man of the Year" and president of the Chamber of Commerce in his small town. (Remember that John Wayne Gacy was running for Jaycee President at the very time of his first murder conviction!) The man in question had claimed to have a Ph.D. from Berkeley. He ran for a position on the school board which he then planned to parlay into a position on the county commission which paid more.
At some point, a local reporter suddenly had the idea to check up on the guy - to see if his credentials were real. What the reporter found out was that the only thing that was true about this up and coming politician's "faked bio" was the place and date of birth. Everything else was fictitious. Not only was the man a complete impostor, he had a long history of antisocial behavior, fraud, impersonation, and imprisonment. His only contact with a university was a series of extension courses by mail that he took while in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. What is even more amazing is the fact that before he was a con-man, he was a "con-boy." For two decades he had dodged his way across America one step ahead of those he had hoodwinked. Along the way he had married three women and had four children, and he didn't even know what had happened to them. And now, he was on a roll! But darn that pesky reporter!
When he was exposed, he was completely unconcerned. "These trusting people will stand behind me. A good liar is a good judge of people," he said. Amazingly, he was right. Far from being outraged at the fact that they had all been completely deceived and lied to from top to bottom, the local community he had conned so completely to accrue benefits and honors to himself that he had not earned, rushed to his support!
I kid you not! And it wasn't just "token support." The local Republican party chairman wrote about him: "I assess his genuineness, integrity, and devotion to duty to rank right alongside of President Abraham Lincoln." As Hare dryly notes, this dimwit was easily swayed by words, and was blind to deeds.
What kind of psychological weaknesses drive people to prefer lies over truth?
This may have something to do with what is called Cognitive Dissonance. Leon Festinger developed the theory of Cognitive Dissonance in the 50's when he apparently stumbled onto a UFO cult in the Midwest. They were prophesying a coming world cataclysm and "alien rapture." When no one was raptured and no cataclysm he studied the believers response, and detailed it in his book "When Prophecy Fails." Festinger observed:
A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.
We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We are familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their convictions, managing to keep them unscathed through the most devastating attacks.
But man's resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.
It seems that part of the problem has to do with ego and the need to be "right." People with a high "need to be right" or "perfect" seem to be unable to acknowledge that they have been conned. "There is no crime in the cynical American calendar more humiliating than to be a sucker." People will go along with and support a psychopath, in the face of evidence that they have and ARE being conned, because their own ego structure depends on being right, and to admit an error of judgment would destroy their carefully constructed image of themselves.
Even more amazing is the fact that when psychopaths do get exposed by someone who is not afraid to admit that they have been conned, the psychopath is a master at painting their victims as the "real culprits." Hare cites a case of the third wife of a forty year old high school teacher:
For five years he cheated on me, kept me living in fear, and forged checks on my personal bank account. But everyone, including my doctor and lawyer and my friends, blamed me for the problem. He had them so convinced that he was a great guy and that I was going mad, I began to believe it myself. Even when he cleaned out my bank account and ran off with a seventeen-year-old student, a lot of people couldn't believe it, and some wanted to know what I had done to make him act so strangely!
Psychopaths just have what it takes to defraud and bilk others: they can be fast talkers, they can be charming, they can be self-assured and at ease in social situations; they are cool under pressure, unfazed by the possibility of being found out, and totally ruthless. And even when they are exposed, they can carry on as if nothing has happened, often making their accusers the targets of accusations of being victimized by THEM.
I was once dumbfounded by the logic of an inmate who described his murder victim as having benefited from the crime by learning "a hard lesson about life." [Hare]
The victims keep asking: "How could I have been so stupid? How could I have fallen for that incredible line of baloney?" And, of course, if they don't ask it of themselves, you can be sure that their friends and associates will ask "How on earth could you have been taken in to that extent?"
The usual answer: "You had to be there" simply does not convey the whole thing. Hare writes:
What makes psychopaths different from all others is the remarkable ease with which they lie, the pervasiveness of their deception, and the callousness with which they carry it out.
But there is something else about the speech of psychopaths that is equally puzzling: their frequent use of contradictory and logically inconsistent statements that usually escape detection. Recent research on the language of psychopaths provides us with some important clues to this puzzle, as well as to the uncanny ability psychopaths have to move words - and people- around so easily. […]
Here are some examples:
When asked if he had ever committed a violent offense, a man serving time for theft answered, "No, but I once had to kill someone."
A woman with a staggering record of fraud, deceit, lies, and broken promises concluded a letter to the parole board with, "I've let a lot of people down… One is only as good as her reputation and name. My word is as good as gold."
A man serving a term for armed robbery replied to the testimony of an eyewitness, "He's lying. I wasn't there. I should have blown his fucking head off."
From an interview with serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley:
Interviewer: "You make it out that you're the victim of a serial killer, but if you look at the record you're a serial killer."
Henley: "I'm not."
I: "You're not a serial killer?"
H: "I'm not a serial killer."
I: You're saying you're not a serial killer now, but you've serially killed."
H: "Well, yeah, that's semantics."
And so on. The point that the researchers noted was that psychopaths seem to have trouble monitoring their own speech. What is more, they often put things together in strange ways, such as this series of remarks from serial killer Clifford Olson: "And then I had annual sex with her." "Once a year?" "No. Annual. From behind." "Oh. But she was dead!" "No, no. She was just unconscientious." About his many experiences, Olson said, "I've got enough antidotes to fill five or six books - enough for a trilogy." He was determined not to be an "escape goat" no matter what the "migrating facts." [Hare, Without Conscience]
Those of us who have had experiences with psychopaths know that the language of the psychopath is two-dimensional. They are, as someone once said, as "deep as a thimble." An analogy is given of the psychopath as a color blind person who has learned how to function in the world of color by special strategies. They may tell you that they "stopped at a red light," but what it really means to them is that they knew that the light at the top means "stop," and they stopped. They call it the "red" light like everyone else, but they have no experience of what "red" really is.
A person who is color blind who has developed such coping mechanisms, is virtually undetectable from people who see colors.
Psychopaths use words about emotions the same way people who are color blind use words about colors they cannot perceive. Psychopaths not only learn to use the words more or less appropriately, they learn to pantomime the feeling. But they never HAVE the feeling.
This quality of the mind of the psychopath has been extensively tested with word association tests while the subjects are hooked up to an EEG. Words that have emotional content evoke larger brain responses than do neutral words which is apparently a reflection of the large amount of information that can be packed into a word. For most of us, the word cancer can instantly bring to mind not only the description of the disease, but also fear, pain, concern, or whatever, depending upon our experiences with cancer - whether we or someone we love has had it, or if it had some impact on our lives, and so on. The same is true with many words in our collective and individual vocabularies. And, unless we had a traumatic experience with it, a word such as box or paper will be neutral.
Psychopaths respond to all emotional words as if they were neutral. It is as if they are permanently condemned to operate with a Juvenile Dictionary. Hare writes:
Earlier I discussed the role of "inner speech" in the development and operation of conscience. It is the emotionally charged thoughts, images, and internal dialogue that give the "bite" to conscience, account for its powerful control over behavior, and generate guilt and remorse for transgressions. This is something that psychopaths cannot understand. For them, conscience is little more than an intellectual awareness of rules others make up - empty words. The feelings needed to give clout to these rules are missing.
What is more, just as the color blind individual may never know he is color blind unless he is given a test to determine it, the psychopath is unable to even be aware of his own emotional poverty. They assume that their own perceptions are the same as everyone else's. They assume that their own lack of feeling is the same for everyone else. And make no mistake about it: you can NOT hurt their feelings because they don't have any! They will pretend to have feelings if it suits their purposes or gets them what they want. They will verbalize remorse, but their actions will contradict their words. They know that "remorse" is important, and "apologies" are useful, and they will give them freely, though generally in words that amount to blaming the victim for needing to be apologized to.
And this is why they are so good at using Game Theory. And unless we learn the rules of how they think, they will continue to use it on us with devastating results. Normal people HURT when treated cruelly and insensitively. Psychopaths only feign being hurt because they perceive hurt as not getting what they wanted, and tried to get by manipulation!
In the book Violent Attachments, women and men have noted the particular stare of the psychopath - it is an intense, relentless gaze that seems to preclude his destruction of his victim or target. Women, in particular, have reported this stare, which is related to the "predatorial" (reptilian) gaze; it is as if the psychopath is directing all of his intensity toward you through his eyes, a sensation that one woman reported as a feeling of "being eaten." They tend to invade peoples' space either by their sudden intrusions or intimidating look-overs (which some women confuse for sexuality.)
Another extremely interesting study had to do with the way psychopaths move their hands when they speak. Hand movement can tell researchers a lot about what are called "thought units." The studies indicate that psychopaths' thoughts and ideas are organized into small mental packages. This is handy for lying, but makes dealing with an overall, coherent, integrated complex of deep thoughts virtually impossible.
Most people are able to combine ideas that have consistent thought themes, but psychopaths have great difficulty doing this. Again, this suggests a genetic restriction to what we have called the Juvenile Dictionary. Not only are they using extremely restricted definitions, they cannot, by virtue of the way their brains work, do otherwise. Virtually all of the research on psychopaths reveals an inner world that is banal, sophomoric, and devoid of the color and detail that generally exists in the inner world of normal people. This goes a long way to explain the inconsistencies and contradictions in their speech.
The situation is analogous to a movie in which one scene is shot under cloudy conditions and the next scene - which supposedly takes place a few minutes later - is shot in brilliant sunshine. […] Some moviegoers - the victims of psychopaths - might not notice the discrepancy, particularly if they are engrossed in the action.
Psychopaths are notorious for not answering the questions asked them. They will answer something else, or in such a way that the direct question is never addressed. They also phrase things so that some parts of their narratives are difficult to understand. This is not careless speech, of which everyone is guilty at times, but an ongoing indication of the underlying condition in which the organization of mental activity suggests something is wrong. It's not what they say, but how they say it that gives insight into their true nature.
But this raises, again, the question: if their speech is so odd, how come smart people get taken in by them? Why do we fail to pick up the inconsistencies?
Part of the answer is that the oddities are subtle so that our general listening mode will not normally pick them up. But my own experience is that some of the "skipped" or oddly arranged words, or misused words are automatically reinterpreted by OUR brains in the same way we automatically "fill in the blank" space on a neon sign when one of the letters has gone out. We can be driving down the road at night, and ahead we see M_tel, and we mentally put the "o" in place and read "Motel." Something like this happens between the psychopath and the victim. We fill in the "missing humanness" by filling in the blanks with our own assumptions, based on what WE think and feel and mean. And, in this way, because there are these "blank" spots, we fill them in with what is inside us, and thus we are easily convinced that the psychopath is a great guy - because he is just like us! We have been conditioned to operate on trust, and we always try to give the "benefit of the doubt." So, there are blanks, we "give the benefit of the doubt," and we are thereby hoisted on our own petard.
Psychopaths view any social exchange as a "feeding opportunity," a contest or a test of wills in which there can be only one winner. Their motives are to manipulate and take, ruthlessly and without remorse. [Hare]
One psychopath interviewed by Hare's team said quite frankly: "The first thing I do is I size you up. I look for an angle, an edge, figure out what you need and give it to you. Then it's pay-back time, with interest. I tighten the screws." Another psychopath admitted that he never targeted attractive women - he was only interested in those who were insecure and lonely. He claimed he could smell a needy person "the way a pig smells truffles."
The callous use of the old, the lonely, the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, is a trademark of the psychopath. And when any of them wake up to what is happening, they are generally too embarrassed to complain.
One of the chief ways psychopaths prey on others is to make use of the normal person's need to find meaning or purpose in life. They will pose as grief counselors, or "experts" of various sorts that attract followings of people who are looking for answers. They are masters of recognizing "hang-ups" and self-doubts that most people have, and they will brazenly pander to them to gain a follower to use later. Hare tells of a staff psychologist in a mental hospital whose life was destroyed by a psychopathic patient. He cleaned out her bank account, maxed out her credit cards, and then disappeared. How did he get to her? She said that her life had been "empty" and she had just simply succumbed to his sweet words and verbal caresses. As we already know, such words are cheap legal tender to the psychopath. They can say "I'll pray for you," or "I love you" just to create an impression. It really, really doesn't mean a thing. But some people are so lonely and so desperate that even imitations are better than nothing.
Then, of course, there are people who are just simply so psychologically damaged themselves that the psychopath is the obvious choice for a partner. They may have a need to be treated badly, or a need to be excited by danger, or a need to "rescue" or "fix" somebody whose soul is in obvious peril.
In a book about Richard Ramirez, the Satan-worshipping "night Stalker," the author described a young coed who sat through the pretrial hearings and sent love letters and photographs of herself to Ramirez. "I feel such compassion for him. When I look at him, I see a real handsome guy who just messed up his life because he never had anyone to guide him," she is reported to have said. [Hare]
Sadly, as we see, psychopaths have no lack of victims because so many people are ready and willing to play the role. And in many, many cases, the victim simply refuses to believe the evidence that they are being victimized. Psychological denial screens out knowledge that is painful, and persons with large investments in their fantasies are often unable to acknowledge that they are being deceived because it it too painful. Most often, these are women who rigidly adhere to the traditional role of the female with a strong sense of duty to be a "good wife." She will believe that if she tries harder or simply waits it out, her husband will reform. When he ignores her, abuses her, cheats on her, or uses her, she can simply just decide to "try harder, put more energy into the relationship, and take better care of him." She believes that if she does this, eventually he will notice and will see how valuable she is, and then he will fall on his knees in gratitude and treat her like a queen.
Dream on.
The fact is, such a woman, with her fierce commitment to such a man, her dedication to being a proper wife, has allowed such fairy tales to distort her sense of reality. The reality is that she is doomed to a lifetime of abuse and disappointment until "death do us part."
One of the basic assumptions of psychotherapy is that the patient needs and wants help for distressing or painful psychological and emotional problems. The psychopath does not think that they have any psychological or emotional problems, and they see no reason to change their behavior to conform to standards with which they do not agree. They are well-satisfied with themselves and their inner landscape. They see nothing wrong with they way they think or act, and they never look back with regret or forward with concern. They perceive themselves as superior beings in a hostile world in which others are competitors for power and resources. They feel it is the optimum thing to do to manipulate and deceive others in order to obtain what they want.
Most therapy programs only provide them with new excuses for their behavior as well as new insights into the vulnerabilities of others. Through psychotherapy, they learn new and better ways of manipulating. What they do NOT do is make any effort to change their own views and attitudes.
One particular psychopath studied by Hare and his team of researchers was in a group therapy program in a prison. The prison psychiatrist had written in his record: "He has made good progress… He appears more concerned about others and to have lost much of his criminal thinking."
Two years later, Hare's staff member interviewed the man. At this point, it ought to be made clear that, in order to make the research more accurate, the terms were that nothing said by the subjects to Hare or his staff could or would be repeated to the prison authorities, and they kept to their agreement in order to insure that the subjects felt free to talk to them. Psychopaths, if they know that they won't be penalized for what they express, are very happy to boast about their prowess in deceiving others. The man, assessed above by his prison psychiatrist as having made such remarkable improvement, was described by Hare's staffer as "the most terrifying offender she had ever met and that he openly boasted about how he had conned the prison staff into thinking that he was well on the road to rehabilitation. "I can't believe those guys," he said. "Who gave them a license to practice? I wouldn't let them psychoanalyze my dog! He'd shit all over them just like I did."
Psychopaths are not "fragile" individuals, as Robert Hare says after years of research. What they think and do is produced from a "rock solid personality structure that is extremely resistant to outside influences." Many of them are protected for years from the consequences of their behavior by well-meaning family and friends. As long as their behavior remains unchecked or unpunished, they continue to go through life without too much inconvenience.
Some researchers think that psychopathy is the result of some attachment or bonding difficulty as an infant. Dr. Hare has turned the idea around, after all his years digging into the background of psychopaths. He says:
In some children the very failure to bond is a symptom of psychopathy. It is likely that these children lack the capacity to bond readily, and that their lack of attachment is largely the result, not the cause, of psychopathy. [Hare]
In other words: they are born that way and you can't fix them.
To many people, the idea of a child psychopath is almost unthinkable. But the fact is, true psychopaths are born, not made. Oh, indeed, there is the psychopath that is "made," but they are generally different from the born psychopath in a number of ways.
The fact is, clinical research clearly demonstrates that psychopathy does not spring unannounced into existence in adulthood. The symptoms reveal themselves in early life. It seems to be true that parents of psychopaths KNOW something is dreadfully wrong even before the child starts school. Such children are stubbornly immune to socializing pressures. They are "different" from other children in inexplicable ways. They are more "difficult," or "willful," or aggressive, or hard to "relate to." They are difficult to get close to, cold and distant and self-sufficient.
One mother said: "We were never able to get close to her even as an infant. She was always trying to have her own way, whether by being sweet, or by having a tantrum. She can put on a sweet and contrite act…"
The fact is: childhood psychopathy is a stark reality, and failing to recognize it can lead to years of vain attempts to discover what is wrong with a child, and the parent blaming themselves. Hare writes:
As the signs of social breakdown grow more insistent, we no longer have the luxury of ignoring the presence of psychopathy in certain children. Half a century ago Hervey Cleckley and Robert Lindner warned us that our failure to acknowledge the psychopaths among us had already triggered a social crisis. Today our social institutions - our schools, courts, mental health clinics - confront the crisis every day in a thousand ways, and the blindfold against the reality of psychopathy is still in place.[…]
The last decade has seen the emergence of an inescapable and terrifying reality: a dramatic surge of juvenile crime that threatens to overwhelm our social institutions. […] Children under the age of ten who are capable of the sort of mindless violence that once was reserved for hardened adult criminals. […] At this writing, a small town in a western state is frantically searching for ways to deal with a nine-year-old who allegedly rapes and molests other children at knife point. He is too young to be charged and cannot be taken into care because "such action may only be taken when the child is in danger, not his victims," according to a child protection official. [Hare]
Why does it seem that we have a veritable epidemic of psychopaths? Sociobiologists are suggesting that increasing psychopathy is an expression of a particular genetically based reproductive strategy. Simply put, most people have a couple of children and devote a lot of time and effort to their care. Psychopaths systematically mate with and abandon large numbers of women. They waste little of their energy raising children, and in this way, psychopathic genes are being propagated like wildfire. The sociobiologists aren't saying that the sexual behavior of people is consciously directed, only that "nature" has made them a certain way so that it will happen effectively.
The behavior of female psychopaths reflects the same strategy. "I can always have another," one female psychopath coldly replied when questioned about an incident in which her two-year-old daughter was beaten to death by one of her many lovers. When asked why she would want to have another child, (two had been taken into protective custody), she said "I love children." Again we see that the expressed emotion is in contradiction to the behavior.
Cheating skills seem to have an adaptive value in our society. The fact is: psychopaths often end up on the top of the heap, John Forbes Nash, for example.
At the present time, there is something very scary going on in the metaphysical community: talk about the so-called "Indigo Children." One of the chief promoters of this idea, Wendy Chapman, writes:
Indigo Children are the current generation being born today and most of those who are 8 years old or younger. They are different. They have very unique characteristics that set them apart from previous generations of children. [...]
These are the children who are often rebellious to authority, nonconformist, extremely emotionally and sometimes physically sensitive or fragile, highly talented or academically gifted and often metaphysically gifted as well, usually intuitive, very often labeled ADD, either very empathic and compassionate OR very cold and callous, and are wise beyond their years. Does this sound like yourself or your child?
Indigos have come into this world with difficult challenges to overcome. Their extreme levels of sensitivity are hard to understand and appreciate by parents who don't share this trait. Their giftedness is unusual in such high numbers. Their nonconformity to systems and to discipline will make it difficult to get through their childhood years and perhaps even their adult years. It is also what will help them accomplish big goals such as changing the educational system, for instance. Being an Indigo won't be easy for any of them, but it foretells a mission. The Indigo Children are the ones who have come to raise the vibration of our planet! These are the primary ones who will bring us the enlightenment to ascend.
Sounds like a severe case of denial and wishful thinking, in my opinion. But, as we already understand the psychological reality is merely a tool for the Theological Reality, I suspect that the reader already has jumped ahead of me here and realizes what a big snow-job this "indigo children" deal is. Ms. Chapman has kindly provided a check-list to determine an "indigo child." After learning what we have about psychopaths, let's have a look at her list:
Have strong self esteem, connection to source
Know they belong here until they are told otherwise
Have an obvious sense of self
Have difficulty with discipline and authority
Refuse to follow orders or directions
Find it torture to waiting in lines, lack patience
Get frustrated by ritual-oriented systems that require little creativity
Often see better ways of doing thing at home and at school
Are mostly nonconformists
Do not respond to guilt trips, want good reasons
Get bored rather easily with assigned tasks
Are rather creative
Are easily distractible, can do many things at once
Display strong intuition
Have strong empathy for others or NO empathy
Develop abstract thinking very young
Are gifted and/or talented, highly intelligent
Are often identified or suspected of having ADD or ADHD, but can focus when they want to
Are talented daydreamers and visionaries
Have very old, deep, wise looking eyes
Have spiritual intelligence and/or psychic skills
Often express anger outwardly rather than inwardly and may have trouble with rage
Need our support to discover themselves
Are here to change the world - to help us live in greater harmony and peace with one another and to raise the vibration of the planet
What we see above is a list that includes certain definitely psychopathic behaviors along with behaviors of gifted children. We have to wonder at the attempt to weave the two together.
Where did this idea of "Indigo Children" come from? The phrase, "Indigo child" was coined by Nancy Ann Tappe in her book Understanding Your Life Through Color (1982) and refers to the color in these children's aura. Ms. Tappe was interviewed by Jan Tober for her book The Indigo Children (1999) and said: "These young children - every one of them I've seen thus far who kill their schoolmates or parents - have been Indigos."
That didn't stop Tober from writing her book and declaring that these children are "Spiritual Masters, beings full of wisdom, here to teach us a new way of being." The way the followers of the idea justify the fact that "not all Indigo children are filled with unconditional love, tolerance and non-judgment," is by declaring that they require "special" treatment and handling with kid gloves because they are so special and delicate and sensitive.
In a pig's eye. They are psychopaths and they have an altogether different agenda. And somehow, they are aware and seek to ensure that their offspring are well cared for, and that a lot of psychopaths grow up without being identified as what they are.
Nevertheless, there is no explaining the extremes that "true believers" will go to in order to find excuses for inexcusable things. Elizabeth Kirby, a businesswoman in southern California, who has "studied and practiced metaphysics for the last 21 years," writes:
In hearing about the school shootings, I knew Indigo children were pulling the triggers. The Columbine High School shooting was so horrific it caught everyone's attention. At the time my eldest daughter said to me, "Because they (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) were Indigos they wanted to do it, so they just did it. No remorse, no guilt, they just went ahead and shot all those people because they wanted to and felt they needed to." Indigo children don't have guilt to keep them in check and because they balk at authority they don't believe they have to follow the rules.
Writers in mainstream America like Jonathan Kellerman are lumping the Indigo school shooters with the psychopaths; the dark entities who are bullies, con-men, stalkers, victimizers, serial killers and those who kill for thrills. I don't believe these Indigo children who have taken weapons to school to harm other children are psychopaths. They have been bullied and teased and have an avenger attitude seeking justice for injuries inflicted on them. They aren't killing just for the thrill of killing. These kids know changes have to be made within the school system and they chose violence to make their statement, to give us a wake up call. Some of these metaphysical Indigo children are not hesitant about using violence to bring about change, and to bring us to enlightenment.
Indigo violence is here and it will continue, at least with this present generation of Indigo children. We are seeing with the current Indigo violence how the school system needs to be changed and how imperative it is to address the issues of bullying and intimidation in school. As the Indigo children grow to adulthood, their agendas will move out of the school system into our other systems, our social, political and judicial systems for example. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, is an Indigo.
Amazing, huh? Did you catch the remark: "Some of these metaphysical Indigo children are not hesitant about using violence to bring about change, and to bring us to enlightenment."
Don't we find that just a tiny bit contradictory? Aren't we stretching a bit? How about diving straight into denial?
At the present moment in history, the appeal of the psychopath has never been greater. Movies about psychopaths are all the rage. Hare asks "Why? What accounts for the terrific power that the personality without conscience has over our collective imagination? One theorist proposes that people who admire, believe, or identify with psychopaths, are partly psychopathic themselves. By interacting with a psychopath, even peripherally, they are able to voyeuristically enjoy an inner state not dominated by the constraints of morality. Such people are enabled to enjoy aggressive and sexual pleasures at no cost.
For normal people, such movies may serve to remind them of the danger and destructiveness of the psychopath. They will shiver with the sense of something cold and dark having breathed on their neck. For others, people with poorly developed inner selves, such movies and glorification of psychopathic behavior only serves as a role model for serious acts of violence and predation against others.
Some psychologists propose rationalizations for psychopathic behavior, suggesting trauma, abuse, etc. The problem is, that argument does not hold up in case after case after case.
It seems that t he only difference that family background seems to make is how the psychopath expresses himself. A psychopath who grows up in a stable family and has access to positive social and educational resources might become a white-collar criminal, or perhaps a somewhat shady entrepreneur, politician, lawyer, judge, or other professional. Another individual with the same traits, and a deprived background might become a common con-artist, a drifter, mercenary, or violent criminal.
The point is, social factors and parenting practices only shape the expression of the disorder, but have no effect on the individual's inability to feel empathy or to develop a conscience.
Robert Hare once submitted a paper to a scientific journal. The paper included EEGs of several groups of adult men performing a language task. The editor of the journal returned the paper saying "Those EEG's couldn't have come from real people."
But they did. They were the EEG's of psychopaths.
Some people have compared psychopathy to schizophrenia. However, there is a crucial distinction as we will see:
Schizophrenia and psychopathy are both characterized by impulsive, poorly planned behavior. This behavior may originate from a weak or poorly coordinated response inhibition system. We tested the hypothesis that schizophrenia and psychopathy are associated with abnormal neural processing during the suppression of inappropriate responses.
The participants were schizophrenic patients, nonpsychotic psychopaths, and nonpsychotic, nonpsychopathic control subjects (defined by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised), all incarcerated in a maximum security psychiatric facility. We recorded behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) during a Go/No Go task.
Results: Schizophrenic patients made more errors of commission than did the nonpsychopathic offenders. As expected, the nonpsychopathic nonpsychotic participants showed greater frontal ERP negativity (N275) to the No Go stimuli than to the Go stimuli. This effect was small in the schizophrenic patients and absent in the psychopaths. For the nonpsychopaths, the P375 ERP component was larger on Go than on No Go trials, a difference that was absent in schizophrenic patients and in the opposite direction in psychopaths.
Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that the neural processes involved in response inhibition are abnormal in both schizophrenia and psychopathy; however, the nature of these processes appears to be different in the two disorders.
"More and more data are leading to the conclusion that psychopathy has a biological basis, and has many features of a disease," says Sabine Herpertz, a psychiatrist at the RWTH-Aachen University in Germany.
The brain imaging techniques of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provide the opportunity to investigate psychopathy further. They might allow researchers to discover whether psychopaths' physiological and emotional deficits can be pinned down to specific differences in the anatomy or activation of the brain.
Among researchers who are starting to explore this area, there are two main theories of psychopathy. One, championed by Adrian Raine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and supported by the work of Antonio Damasio of the University of Iowa, gives a starring role to a brain region called the orbitofrontal cortex (see diagram, below). This is part of an area of the brain, known as the prefrontal cortex, involved in conscious decision-making.
The other theory, promoted by James Blair of University College London, holds that the fundamental dysfunction lies within the amygdala, a small almond-shaped structure that plays a critical role in processing emotion and mediating fear. Recently, using PET scanning, Blair has shown that activation of the amygdala in normal volunteers is involved in responding to the sadness and anger of others, and he hypothesizes that amygdala dysfunction could explain the lack of fear and empathy in psychopaths.
The two theories may not be mutually exclusive, Blair points out, as the orbitofrontal cortex, which does the 'thinking', and the amygdala, which does the 'feeling', are highly interconnected.
Following widespread concern that the criminal justice and mental health systems are failing to deal effectively with dangerous psychopaths, there is a movement in several countries to instigate fundamental legal reform. The most controversial suggestion is to make it possible for individual who have severe personality disorders to be detained in secure mental institutions even if they have been accused of no crime. Although these particular provisions have alarmed civil liberties campaigners, the raft of measures also includes a major initiative within the prison service to improve the handling of those with APD--including psychopaths.
According to one individual who suffered at the hands of a psychopath:
"The World has only one problem, Psychopaths. There are two basic types of Psychopaths, Social and Anti-Social. The essential feature of Psychopaths is a Pervasive, Obssesive- Compulsive desire to force their delusions on others. Psychopaths completely disregard and violate the Rights of others, particularly the Freedom of Association which includes the right not to associate and the Right to Love."
Over and over again we come up against that little problem: religion and belief systems that have to be defended against objective evidence or the beliefs of others. We have to ask ourselves "where did these belief systems come from that so evidentially are catastrophic?" And then, we have to think about the fact that now, in the present day, when many of these systems are breaking down and being replaced by others that similarly divert our attention away from what IS, it becomes necessary to "enforce" a certain mode of thinking. And that is what Psychopaths do best.
Psychopaths dominate and set the standard for behavior in our society. We live in a world based on a psychopathic, energy stealing food chain, because that's just the way things are. Most people are so damaged they no longer have the capacity to even imagine a different system based on a symbiotic network.
They are not only damaged by others, but also by the thousand little evils they have done to others to survive. For them to see the system for what it is, would require them to see the part they have played in perpetuating it. That is a lot to ask of a fragile ego. Also, those who are not psychopaths, still want to make human connections but are afraid to, for fear of being taken advantage of and stolen from energeticaly speaking.
With the brief historical review we have examined, we are acutely aware that this is NOT a phenomenon confined to our present "time." It is a trans-millennial evolutionary strategy that, step by step, has brought us to our present position. What emerges in the present day is just Machiavellian diversion that focuses the attention of those who are easily deceived. This is reinforced by the "clappers" in the audience, and there seems to be an entire army of psychopaths among us whose job it is act as vectors of attention and direction. We hope that the readers of these pages will give themselves permission to imagine, research and implement a different way of being. And to stand up for themselves while doing it. As Wilhelm Reich wrote:
Why did man, through thousands of years, wherever he built scientific, philosophic, or religious systems, go astray with such persistence and with such catastrophic consequences?" […]
The answer lies somewhere in that area of our existence which has been so heavily obscured by organized religion and put out of our reach. Hence, it probably lies in the relation of the human being to the cosmic energy that governs him.
The same question is posed by Castaneda's Don Juan:
I want to appeal to your analytical mind, ' don Juan said. 'Think for a moment, and tell me how you would explain the contradiction between the intelligence of man the engineer and the stupidity of his systems of beliefs, or the stupidity of his contradictory behavior. Sorcerers believe that the predators have given us our systems of beliefs, our ideas of good and evil, our social mores. They are the ones who set up our hopes and expectations and dreams of success or failure. They have given us covetousness, greed and cowardice. It is the predators who make us complacent, routinary, and egomaniacal.
In order to keep us obedient and meek and weak, the predators engaged themselves in a stupendous maneuver - stupendous, of course, from the point of view of a fighting strategist. A horrendous maneuver from the point of view of those who suffer it. They gave us their mind! Do you hear me? The predators give us their mind, which becomes our mind. […] Through the mind, which, after all, is their mind, the predators inject into the lives of human beings whatever is convenient for them.[Castaneda, The Active Side of Infinity]
The problem is also delineated by Georges Gurdjieff:
"So that in the actual situation of humanity there is nothing that points to evolution proceeding. On the contrary when we compare humanity with a man, we quite clearly see a growth of personality at the cost of essence, that is, a growth of the artificial, the unreal, and what is foreign, at the cost of the natural, the real, and what is one's own.
"Together with this, we see a growth of automatism.
"Contemporary cultures requires automatons. […] One thing alone is certain, that man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. And this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man. [Gurdjieff, op. cit]
Intolerance and cruelty are NEEDED to guarantee the "cover-up." A certain kind of "human being" acts on behalf of this cover-up. And in this sense, psychopaths, as Alien Reaction Machines are the playing pieces in the Secret Games of the Gods.
What Is A Psychopath?
 
The QFG is committed to bringing to your attention any and all information that will help you to live a life free of the soul-killling manipulations of others.
Our Sincere Thanks to the Owner of the website on Psychopathic Personality Disorder for kind permission to quote her research in assembling this report. Until we began to investigate, we had NO idea how widespread the problem was, and how many victims there are. Visit her site, check her links to support groups. For a more comprehensive look at the problem, based on our OWN research, please read our new article:
"Official Culture" in America:
A Natural State of Psychopathy?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
一个非暴力精神病患者的人生 - 大西洋月刊
译者： lilychaung 原作者：Judith Ohikuare
发表时间：2014-04-03浏览量：3190评论数：13挑错数：2
神经学家詹姆斯•法隆在工作之余意外发现自己跟精神病患者有着相似的大脑扫描图，并以此进行研究，弄清了基因对个性塑造所起到的作用，以及大脑是如何影响他的生活的。
2005年，詹姆斯·法隆的生活开始变得有如一个精心设计的笑话亦或是宽屏幕惊悚片的情节一般：有一天，一名神经科学家正在自己的实验室里工作，偶然发现自己可能犯下大错。当时他正在着手老年痴呆症（Alzheimer's-阿尔茨海默症）的研究，并用他自己健康的家庭成员的大脑扫描成像来进行比对，与此同时进行着的还有另一个编外项目，是对精神病杀人犯的大脑做的核磁共振成像进行审查。就在此时，似乎有一张杀人犯的扫描件被弄混进了拿来比对的正常人群的那组里。
因为每张扫描件都是匿名标记的，于是他让技术人员将代码解开，弄清楚这东西究竟是属于他哪位家庭成员的，以便将他或她的扫描件归到正确的地方。然而，就在他看到结果的那一刻，法隆立即要求那位技术人员回去再次核实代码。可惜仍然是同样的结果：那张显示有精神病患者特征的大脑扫描成像正是他本人的。
自从发现自己跟精神病患者有相同的大脑后，法隆开始对他的家谱进行深入的研究，与不同的专家、同事、亲戚和朋友们去沟通，想了解自己的行为是否像摆在他面前的成像一样，带有精神病患者的特征。他不仅发现，对于这个结果其实大部分人并不会感到惊讶，而且他跟危险的犯罪分子之间的界限比他自己推测的要更加模糊。于是法隆将他的研究和发现写进了《精神病的内在世界：一位神经科学家深入大脑黑暗面的亲身经历》一书里，针对这本书的内容，我们谈到了对先天和后天的看法，还有 -- 如果有可能的话 -- 我们能为那些生物学特征跟他们的行为相悖的人们做点什么。
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你在书里首先提到的就是影视剧作品往往会采用一些不切实际的或是荒谬的手法去塑造精神病患者的形象。那是什么促使你决定去跟大家分享自己的经历，承担这一切所带来的风险呢？
我是一名基础神经学家 -- 主要从事干细胞、增长因子、基因影像学这一类的研究。自从得知我自己的扫描存在异常，而其余家庭成员全都非常正常之后，我就随它去了。我曾经为老年痴呆症而忧心，尤其是担心我妻子的那边，我们怕孩子们和孙子们会被这样的疾病所困扰。之后我的实验室就忙碌于精神分裂和老年痴呆症的基因找寻工作，同时还利用我们对成人干细胞的研究技术成立了一家生物技术公司。我们获了一个奖项，但我这几年太过专注于其他的事情，事实上都无暇去顾及我究竟取得了哪些成果。
这种亲身经历真正促使我将注意力转向了一个仅仅是被我无意间闯入的领域，并将分子水平上基因和环境凸显出的重要性镌刻进我的思想里。对于特定的基因来说，它们之间的相互作用确实可以用来解释一些行为的产生。隐藏在我个人经历背后的东西恰恰就是对于青少年恃强凌弱、虐待和街头暴力影响的一种讨论。
你曾相信大体上人们80%是受遗传的影响，而20%则是受环境的影响。这一发现是如何导致你思想上的转变呢？
我曾带着一种对此深信不疑的科学家的偏见去探究这个问题，多年来，在你究竟是谁的这个问题上，遗传学占有绝对的统治地位 -- 你的基因将会告诉你，你究竟会成为什么样的人。但这并不是说，我不再认为包含遗传学在内的生物学是一个主要的决定因素了。我只是从来不知道，一个早期的环境因素是如何深刻的影响着人们的。
当我在写这本书时，我母亲开始告诉我更多有关我自己的事情。她说，她从未告诉过我或我父亲，我在青春期时的某些行为是多么的古怪，尽管那时我是个无忧无虑的孩子。而且在我的成长过程中，鉴于某些行为，大家始终觉得我会成为那种帮派头目或是黑手党成员。一些父母禁止他们的孩子跟我出去鬼混。他们对我的浪子回头简直觉得不可思议 -- 我成了居家男人、事业有成、还是个专业人士，从没蹲过大牢以及所有的这一切。
我问过所有认识我的人，包括同我交往多年、对我的坏习惯了如指掌的精神病专家、遗传学家，他们是如何看我的。他们对我这么多年的所作所为是亲身经历过的，他们说：“那些确实是精神变态的人才干得事情。”我问他们为什么你们都不告诉我呢？他们说：“我们告诉你了。我们所有人都告诉过你了。”我同他们争辩，你们确实以前管我叫“疯子”，但他们说：“不。我们说的是你是个精神病。”
我发现我之所以会这样是因为我有一系列遗传等位基因，其中一种叫“战士基因”（译者注：战士基因，指的是位于X染色体上代号为MAOA的基因，这个基因对应的蛋白在脑部信号分子失去功能后负责将其分解，其中包括血液复合胺、去甲肾上腺素和多巴胺。如果它无法正常工作，这些失效神经传递素的堆积将造成反常情绪和暴力行为），它跟5-羟色胺共同作用，被认为是会有侵略性、暴力倾向、情绪低潮和人与人之间同理心缺失的风险 -- 如果你是成长在一个充满虐待的环境里的话，可能就会有上述问题。但是如果你是在一个非常正能量的环境下长大的，就可以起到抵消一些其他基因的负面影响的效果。
我曾让一些并不认识我的遗传学和精神病专家对我进行独立的检查，并去审视有生之年我所经历的所有的失常行为。它们没有一个是非常严重的。我曾经历过一些像是焦虑症和强迫症之类的轻微事件，但这早已排列在我的基因里了。
科学家们说：“首先，你可能从来没有出生的机会。”因为我母亲曾经流产过几次，而且很有可能存在一些基因缺陷。他们还说，如果我不是受到了很好的照顾的话，我可能都没有机会成长为一个健康的青少年。我可能会自杀或是被杀，因为我天生就是个暴力的家伙。
当听到所有的这一切时，你又作何反应呢？
我说：“随便吧，我才不在乎。”他们说：“那证明你有中等程度的精神病。”科学家们可不喜欢被人说是错误的，而我呢比较自恋因此也很厌恶被人反驳，可是当事实摆在你面前的时候，你不得不接受它，承认它，然后继续向前。我可做不到。
于是我的自恋又发作了，我说：“那好吧，我打赌我能战胜它。看着吧，我会变得更好的。”然后我意识到，这是我的自恋情结在作祟。如果你认识我，你可能会说：“噢，他是个有趣的人。” -- 或者：“他就是个大嘴巴和吹牛皮的自恋狂”，但我觉得你可能还会说：“总的来说，他还是很有意思的，也很聪明，还不错吧。”可问题就在这儿了，你越跟我亲近，评价也就越糟。虽然我有许多非常要好的朋友，在过去的两年里当我问他们时，也都最终告诉了我 -- 而且他们之间从未互相谈论，但无一例外的口径一致 -- 那就是我这个人做事情非常的不负责任。你们有麻烦了，这可不像是我会说的话。如果是我，我会说快来跟我同甘共苦吧。
有没有这方面的例子呢？还有用这样的方式去伤害了某人之后你又该怎么和解呢？
对我而言，我需要这样的东奔西忙，我把自己陷入了危险的境地。多年前，我在内罗毕大学医院工作时，一些医生告诉我艾滋病（AIDS）在该地区不亚于马尔堡病毒（译者注：一种致命病毒）。他们说，有一个人来的时候耳朵和鼻子都在流血，他后来爬埃尔贡火山，去Kitum洞穴探险了。我当时想：“天啊，那不是大象们活动的地方吗？”，我必须去看看。（译者注：位于肯尼亚埃尔贡国家公园里，埃尔贡山的半山腰上有一个巨大的岩洞。每当日落西山，半山腰上会出现一幅奇特壮观的画面：成群的大象像城市孩子们通过人行斑马线一样，规规矩矩排成一队，在成年母象的带领下，踏着碎步走进这黑暗的洞穴）我本打算自己去的，但当时我弟弟跟我在一起。我告诉他，那只是一个成年母象长途跋涉去找寻矿物质的洞穴而已，其他的我一个字都没提。
当我们到那儿的时候，山上在举行很多反政府活动，公园里除了一个守卫就没别人了。我们长驱直入。那么多的稀有动物，感觉太棒了，不过唯一的那个守卫一到这儿以后就染上了马尔堡病毒已经死了，而且没人知道他究竟是怎么染上这种病的。我知道他的巡逻路径，我们沿着它去找寻他的宿营地。
那晚，我们用火堆把自己围了起来，因为那儿不仅有狮子，还有那么多的其他野生动物。我们跳来跳去，挥舞着燃烧的棍棒来驱散藏身在绝对黑暗里的动物们。我母亲知道后都快气疯了，我还跟弟弟开玩笑说：“我只能把我的脑袋躲在你的后面，因为我是有家有口的人，而你没有，所以如果狮子来了，要啃我们俩其中一人的脖子的话，那必须得是你的。”
原谅我吧，我是在开玩笑的，但当时真的是非常很危险。等到第二天，我们走进Kitum洞穴，那里到处散落着被大象们敲碎的岩石。还充斥着所有这些动物粪便的味道 -- 这就是守卫染上马尔堡病毒的地方；而科学家们搞不清到底粪便或者蝙蝠哪个才是病源体。
后来，我弟弟读到了一篇刊登在《纽约客》上关于马尔堡病毒的文章，它还促成了电影《恐怖地带》的拍摄。他跑来质问我到底当时知不知道有这么危险的情况。我说：“知道啊。但这不是很刺激吗？在咱们之前可没人能经历这样的旅行啊。”于是他骂娘了，还说：“这根本不够刺激。我们应该感染马尔堡病毒；我们应该每两秒种被弄死一回才爽呢。”我所有的兄弟们都很有男子气概和活力。在我们家你必须是个硬汉。但从内心来说，那次事情以后，我不觉得从根本上我弟弟会再信任我了。话又说回来，凭什么要求他再信任我呢，对吧？对我而言，这都是无所谓的。
在这次研究全部结束之后，我开始思考这种人生体验或许是一个做一些有价值的事情的契机，让我的整个人生不至于那么混蛋。而不是试图从根本上去改变 -- 因为想要改变任何事情都是很困难的 -- 我想要用那些被认为是缺陷的东西，像是自恋，把它转化成优势从而去做一些有价值的事情。
那它都给你带来了哪些麻烦呢？
我从跟我妻子、姐妹和母亲之间的互动这类简单的事情开始说吧。即便他们总是跟我很亲近，我却没有好好的对待她们。我对陌生人相当好，真的非常好，所以认识我的人往往都很喜欢我，但我对待家人也就仅限于这种程度，彷佛他们跟我在酒吧里认识的陌生人是一样的。我对他们好，但并不是以一种特别的方式去对待。那才是个大问题。
我问过她们这个问题 -- 这些可不是别人会主动对你掏心掏肺的东西 -- 但他们还是说了：“我把一切都给你了。我给了你所有的爱，但你却从来不回报。”他们所有人都这么说，这确实让我很困扰。所以我想看看到底我能不能改变呢。我不太确定，但我愿意去尝试。
为了做到这点，每当我想要做一些事情的时候，我就会迫使自己反复考虑，审视它，然后再做：注意。千万别做那些自私自利或者以自我为中心的事情。慢慢的，大概这么过了一年半的时间，他们都觉得我这样挺好的。他们普遍反映：我们知道其实这不是你真心实意要这么做的，但我们还是很喜欢。
我说：“你在跟我开玩笑吧？你愿意这样？那都是哄人的。”他们却说：“不，这样挺好的。如果你变得对别人更好了，那证明你已经竭尽所能的去尝试了。”这是我始料未及的，至今还摸不着头脑。
但是一视同仁的对待别人并不一定是件坏事，对吧？还是说这只是你身边亲近的人想要从你这儿得到的更多？
没错。他们绝对是期望和想要得到更多的。我的这种做法是一种残忍的行为，一种虐待，因为你没有将你的爱给他们。我妻子有一天对我说跟我一起参加聚会是件很难忍受的事情，因为所有人都围绕在我身边，我会把她或是其他人冷落一旁。她不是个自私的人，但我能感受到这种做法对别人造成的影响。
两年前我在印度孟买的LitFest就人格障碍和精神变态的主题发表过演讲，当时还有一名来自牛津大学的历史学家，针对在心智和社会发展方面对女性施加的暴力发表了看法。演讲结束后，一名女士向我走来，问我是否与愿意与她聊一聊。她是名精神病专家，同时也是科学作家，她说：“你说你生活在一个扁平化的情感世界里　－　也就是说，你对待每一个人都是一视同仁的。只有佛教徒会这么做吧。”我对佛教一无所知，但她继续说道：“那些与你亲近的人会因为跟你亲近而倍感失望吧，这太遗憾了。恐怕只有佛教徒们会认为你这种做法是正确的。”我无言以对。
有时候真相不仅仅是种伤害，而且会叫人深感失望。你相信浪漫，想在生活里拥有浪漫　－　即使是最铁石心肠、冷静理智的人也会有想要浪漫的念头。它会让生命更多几分活着的价值。但围绕这些事情，你会开始去思考我们人究竟是一台怎样的机器　－　我们中的有些人不需要这类情感，而另一些则非常渴望它，这都意味着什么。从某种程度上，这样的做法破坏了社会的浪漫结构。
所以在这种情况下，我能做的是去思考：我要怎样去对待在我生命里出现的那些人们，仿佛我是他们的儿子、他们的兄弟、或是他们的丈夫？这是能为他们做的更深层次事情，这样他们才能知道我已懂得这些才是我应该去做的事情。我知道每当状况出现时，我的直觉都会让我做一些自私的举动。所以相反的，我让自己慢下来，然后试着思考它。就像把愚蠢的行为矫正过来一样。这可没有窍门可言，但我对自己说：“好吧，为什么一定要有窍门呢？”我试着将它当作一件通俗易懂的事情去看待，当状况发生时，要认识到这次我可能会犯错，或者会用一种拙劣的方法去应对，或者完全不参杂任何形式的爱在其中 -- 就像一个正常人做的那样。
几年前在《纽约时报》上刊登过一篇文章，名为《儿童会得冷血精神病吗？》（译者注：译名摘自纽约时报中文版），它讲述了一个名叫迈克尔的小男孩儿，家人对他忧心忡忡 -- 因为他被诊断出患有数种疾病，最终佛罗里达国际大学的研究员丹·沃斯布施认为他可能是一名冷血精神病的患者，沃斯布施博士一直致力于“冷漠无情型儿童”的研究。他对这一类儿童进行了仔细的检查，期望能从中发现治疗或者康复的方法。你之前提到过，你不相信人们可以从根本上获得改变。那又是什么促使你从事这项研究的呢？
在70年代，当时我只是一个博士后研究生，年轻的教授，我开始跟一些精神病专家和神经学家共事，他们告诉我，他们能够辨别出一名疑似精神病患者，哪怕他们只有2岁或3岁。我问他们为什么不把这些告诉他们的家长呢？他们说：“我决不能把这些告诉任何人。首先，你无法确认。其次，这会毁了孩子们的一生。再则，媒体和他们全家会舞刀弄枪的打上门来的。”所以当两年前沃斯布施博士宣布这一结论时，就好比是“天哪，他竟然说出来了。”这是所有这一领域的精神病专家以及神经学家普遍的共识 -- 除非他们是儿童心理学专家，并且了解这个孩子生活的全部轨迹。才有可能在非常非常早期 -- 当然是在9岁以前，得到确认。但是在当时要如何不去触碰这个禁忌才是最艰难的一关。
我更倾向于 -- 虽然我从事的是增长因子、可塑性、记忆系统和学习系统的研究，但我认为成年以后，或青春期以后的整体思想的可塑性，是被过度的夸大了。没人知道这种变化是不是永久性的，同时也不能将它看作只是暂时性的。这就像是莫扎特效应（译者注：是指“莫扎特的音乐可以作为胎教音乐，可以提高孩子智商”，这是上个世纪九十年代初美国科学家的研究结论，商家即群起炒作，但其实这样笼统的论断是会误导人的） -- 当然，也确实有研究称利用声音的刺激和电流刺激能增强大脑的可塑性，但是一年或两年的时间里你跟这个人去聊聊。真的有任何改变吗？整个山寨产业由对着孕妇们的腹部演奏莫扎特所组成。那才是可塑性思想失控的表现。我认为人是可以被改变的，如果他们将自己的一生都专注于一件事情上，并且要把他们生活里其他的部分全都停止，但那是没有人能做到的。你有行为可塑性，或许还能通过平行大脑回路来改变行为，但是这种情形出现的几率实在是太少了。
因此，我对大脑的可塑性仍然持怀疑态度。我正在试着将我的一生只专注于一件事情上 -- 那就是为我亲近的人去做一个好人 -- 但这不过是我自己跟自己玩的一种游戏罢了，因为我真的不相信它能实现，而且这是一个挑战。
在某些方面，你的赌注是不同的，因为你没有暴力行为 -- 但不会感到担忧吗？相对于你自己的生活，你尝试去改变的这些东西或许会对你跟朋友、家人、同事之间的关系带来积极的影响。但对于其他可能存在暴力行为的人来说，他们或许会伤害到他人。
一个“亲社会型的”精神病患者，或者没有展现暴力行为的边缘人，会不会转向为一个真正的、犯罪暴力分子目前还尚不清楚。就我而言，我认为我是受到了很好的保护，因为我成长自一个上层中产阶级家庭，我家里的所有男性和女性为我的受教育环境提供了非常多的支持。因此遗传基因与环境可能在很长一段时间里进行了大量的融合。但是假如我失去了家庭或是工作又会发生什么呢？我又会在那之后变成什么样呢？那才是考验。
对那些有基础生物学特征的人来说 -- 也就是指遗传基因、脑纹和原本就存在精神创伤的人 -- 首先，如果他们受到虐待就会愤世嫉俗，而且带有报复感：我才不管这个世界会怎样，因为我只想加倍报复它。但是一个真正的、原发性的精神病患者则不需要这类情绪去驱使他们的行为。他们是那一类完全不需要生气的暴力分子；他们犯下暴行的动机是因为同人类、以及单一个体之间一些必要关联的缺失。
有些人拥有金钱、性、摇滚，以及一切他们想要拥有的东西，但仍然可能是个精神病患者 -- 他们可能仅仅是去操纵他人，或利用他人，但不会杀人。他们或许会伤害他人，但不会以暴力的方式。大部分人在意的是暴力行为 -- 那才是重点。人们可能会说：“天哪，这太糟了，我的投资顾问居然是个精神病。” -- 但是犯罪和谋杀之间的本质区别正是那些我们都感到厌恶，我们都感到恐惧的东西。只是不知道是否存在一些最终将其触发的因素。
虽然不存在绝对的“修复”，但你曾提及“出生后”的重要性（译者注：fourth trimester是指出生后） -- 也就是婴儿出生后的数月里，母子/母女亲密关系的形成才是关键。那么还有哪些是能让你看出某人可能面临风险的真正的关键时期，还有可能会对遗传基因与环境的融合起着至关重要作用的因素，或者至少能确认究竟发生了什么？
在人类的成长过程中有一些至关重要的时期。对表观基因组来说，受孕的那一刻就是第一个这样的时期。此时遗传基因非常容易受到甲基化作用的影响，因此，假如受恶劣的环境影响：母体处于压力之下；服用药物、酒精等等之类。第二个最敏感的时期就是刚出生的时候，当然，以此类推也就还有第三和第四个时期。之后，敏感性曲线就会呈缓慢的下降趋势。
头两年的生活是非常重要的，如果你将它们同所谓的复杂适应性行为的出现重叠在一起。当孩子们一出生，他们本身就会有一些自然遗传基因规划。比如说：一个孩子会对某人表现出某种恐惧 -- 之后对陌生人有同样的反应 -- 然后转变成对人们的接受 -- 这就是在社会互动中复杂适应性行为在起着作用。 虽然大笑、微笑和发出嘘声都属于复杂适应性行为，但它们会自动出现。你完全不需要去教他们这些东西。
有一种观点认为在头三年里，会接连产生350种非常初级的复杂适应性行为，但假如这个过程被应激物以某种形式中断了，它将对特定行为的出现或即将出现造成影响。它可能会在一年半、3个月或者12个月时发生。之后，环境的影响力才真正的开始降低。到你开始进入青春期为止，它都处于被锁定的状态。而进入了青春期之后，你的额叶系统会发生一些转变。
在进入青春期之前，你大脑的许多部分 -- 你的额叶及其连接物 -- 与眶皮层、杏仁核、还有控制情绪调节的大脑下半区都有关系。它也是人们原始道德感的来源，当它们学会了游戏的章程和规则，就形成了道德观念。在那之前，大体上一个正常的孩子是完全活在本我（译者注：佛洛依德用语，指潜意识的最深层次）的世界里 -- 吃、喝、展现部分性特征 -- 但是他们同样又极端遵循道德观念。因此，这是两种在最初的几年里相互博弈的东西。
 
接下来，在青春期的末期会出现一个转变。一部分人可能会在17, 18, 19或者20岁时发生。你大脑的上半区，也就是额叶和它的连接物开始发育成熟。这是一个至关重要的时期，因为那通常是精神分裂、某些形式的抑郁症，以及那些严重精神疾病的显露期。对于人格障碍类的疾病来说，完全不清楚它究竟什么时候会出现，因为它目前还有待研究。人们会说：“对此我们无能为力，它无法改变，而且几乎就没有治疗的方法。”然而，像抑郁症、躁郁症、精神分裂、焦虑症这些疾病，又是可以得到一些治疗的。可以服用药物或是让大脑得到刺激的一些东西，还有谈话疗法，这样大型制药公司和整个行业才能得以发展下去。
由此你可以看出人格障碍疾病是在青春期左右出现的，但是对一些可能是原发性精神病患者的儿童来说 -- 换句话说，他们本身就带有全部的这类基因，而且他们的大脑在孕晚期时就已经定型了 -- 这一类的患者才会在非常早期的时候显现出疾病的特征，大概2到3岁左右。那就是为什么我们必须去练就更多双火眼金睛的原因 -- 因为这对社会非常重要。
一个原发性精神病患者并不一定是危险的，但是假如我们在一个孩子身上发现了一些迹象，我们就可以告诉他们的父母去观察某些特定的行为。一旦这类行为出现，我们就要进行仔细的讨论以保护这个家庭和孩子的隐私，以及如何让这个孩子同护理师和训练有素的专业人士相互配合。到那时，我们会说：要确保这个孩子在学校不被欺负；要让他们远离街头暴力，等等等等。
许多孩子，应该说大部分的孩子，都被人欺负过，而且可能都有愤怒的情绪，但是这并不会引起人格障碍疾病。但是仍有20%非常敏感的孩子最终在青春期时触发了人格障碍。假如我们早点发现就可以去帮助这些孩子，确保他们不会受到虐待或是遗弃 -- 但是你必须很早就要发现这些迹象，要做到这一点非常重要。我讲这些并不是为了说教，而是希望大家真正去重视。
好的，下面让我们来稍微聊点带有说教意味的东西。你在那本书的开头就对研究精神病患者的意义发表了一些浮夸之词，即使是出于对个人隐私的考虑，你说这些观念从教育到世界和平都会对其产生重大影响？你具体指的是什么呢？
我是指，举例来说吧，假如你（译者注：这里的你应该指的是一个国家）必须打仗，而且有时候可能不得不打仗 -- 我指的并不是那种好战之国发动的不义之战或者煽动纠纷的战争，但如果你真的要开战，还要征集雇佣兵的话 -- 你千万别把18岁的孩子送上战场，因为他们的智力尚未成熟。他们不知道该如何纯粹的从理智上去判断他们的情绪和激素水平究竟会发生什么。但当你20,或25岁时问题就完全不同了，因为头脑里观念会成形的多一点。当发生事情的时候，我们的情绪不会轻易的失控。而且还有其他因素，单从社会学方面讲，其中一点像是士兵们创伤的恢复就很重要，而我们又无法从战争里很快的脱身，那么不妨用一种能将伤害降到最低的方法参与其中。
在诉讼方面，你曾经以研究人员的身份参与过法庭案件的审理 -- 不是去判定有罪或是无罪，而是做量刑建议。你觉得在我们对这一领域尚未完全了解的背景下去判定嫌疑人有罪或是无罪，这之间是否存在一个道德界限？
我们研究的确实还不够充分。你不能仅凭遗传基因或基因成像 -- 即使我是它坚定的拥护者 -- 去辨别某人究竟是罪犯还是精神病患者。假如你将所有的信息汇总在一起，确实能解释许多行为及其因果关系，还有童年的受虐经历 -- 但是我们确实了解的还不够。
因此，每当我接到案件时，首先我不会收钱 -- 这不代表我是个活雷锋。只是因为怕我自己存有偏见。我不接受任何形式的报酬，也不想知道当事人是谁。我们所有人都会在内心自动编织出一个情节或是故事，我自己跟其他人一样都有这个毛病。我会告诉被告律师、公诉方或者其他人只用把脑部的扫描成像提供给我就行，也许还有能让我迅速解脱的正常的扫描成像，之后我会仔细观察它们，再根据其某些领域机能的缺失或者过剩来讨论这个人可能存在哪些性格特征。
我的惯用语是：“噢，这个人可能有语言障碍”或者“这个人可能会比较冲动。”当所有分析汇总到一起之后，我们就可以看出他们的性格特征，以及会做出的一些行为。
我们在怎样为孩子提供帮助的方面已经谈到了很多，但要是他们的父母亲其中一方有类似精神病患者的特征怎么办呢？举例来说，你会用什么样的方式来和你自己的孩子培养感情呢？
在我的孩子们处于敏感期时，我们一起度过了一段美妙的时光。每次说到这个，我那三个大点的孩子们都说，他们认为我是一个常常陪伴在他们左右，总是跟他们保持互动的温暖的父亲，而且他们无法理解为什么我会说自己曾冷漠的对待过他们。我跟我妻子结婚时都是21岁。我大概在19或20岁时，很多东西开始变得不一样了，等到孩子们长大一点可以更多的照顾自己时，尤其是在我20多岁的时候，真的发生了变化，开始显露出许多精神病的特征 -- 尽管是早期，但我确实出现了一些症状。我的实际行为并没有越来越糟直到后来，我想应该是我妻子的坚定让一切变得协调。
有些人有精神病或者几乎就是个精神病患者，他们四处闯祸，被关进大牢，才18岁就得在监狱里了却残生。这太可怕了，因为他们太不幸了，他们在最后一瞬间没有足够的自控力来悬崖勒马。所以，判断某人具有这类性格特征的界限在哪里，难道就凭他们容易冲动来下结论？到底是什么促使一些人踏上了成为律师或者一般意义上的成功之路，而另一些人却被终身监禁？我想我们终将会有一些参数以供参考，但它并一定适用于每一个人。
频道：生活标签：
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EvergreenHomeland 2014-04-03 19:03
好长啊
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lilychaung 2014-04-03 19:10
EvergreenHomeland
好长啊
@EvergreenHomeland 不过很有利于我们了解自己，以及理解那些看起来似乎有着怪异举动的人们。
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nicogu 2014-04-04 08:55
没看完，不过基因决定论、物理决定论是个老问题，比如耶鲁公开课里谈到基因在多大程度上决定人生时，就举到一个例子，说一个教授写道，传宗接代是人类基因遗传的需求，但他就是愿意把时间花在著书授课、帮助同事和学生以及绕圈慢跑上，而不想要孩子，如果他的基因不愿意，它们可以去跳湖。同样地，听说好多严重反社会人格的人被发现有前额叶损伤，但反过来，前额叶损伤并不百分之百意味会实际导致严重反社会行为，如同大西洋这文的作者所说，童年和青年期如果生活在正常环境中，也许就不会出问题。
就我个人的观察来说，在日常生活中与其说是“有怪异举动的人”有问题，不如说是那些硬要说人有怪异举动的人们常常有严重的心理问题，这些人把自己的圈子认可的举动全部划为正常，把稍微与他们不同的想法都划为不正常——在这个意义上，像这些动不动就企图说人不正常的人，真的应该被大脑扫描一下，看看是不是大脑结构有问题，或者是不是曾经受过什么刺激，导致缺乏同理心，偏执狂妄，没有包容精神，强求统一——信不信由你，身居高位的人、教育人士、执法人士当中，肯定都能找到这样怪异的人。
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lilychaung 2014-04-04 09:36
nicogu
没看完，不过基因决定论、物理决定论是个老问题，比如耶鲁公开课里谈到基因在多大程度上决定人生时，就举到一个例子，说一个教授写道，传宗接...
@nicogu 深有同感。人们往往会用自己的价值观及道德标准去评判他人的行为，然后将凡是不符合自己理解范围内的都划在“行为怪异”一列，或者去抨击或者去嘲笑。我想一方面是不是因为，每个人从内心深处最在意的只有自己，觉得只有自己是对的，自然而然就会拿自己的标准去衡量别人；另一方面，希望对别人进行控制，强求统一是不是也代表着一种希望得到认可，希望以此获得存在感的心理需要？
每一个人每一种行为背后一定都有其心理动机，如果心理学能够更普及一点，让大家能多了解一点人自身以及社会，然后以此出发是不是就能对那些所谓的“行为怪异”的人更多一点理解和包容？
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nicogu 2014-04-04 09:56
lilychaung
@nicogu 深有同感。人们往往会用自己的价值观及道德标准去评判他人的行为，然后将凡是不符合自己理解范围内的都划在“行为怪异”一列，或者去抨击...
@lilychaung 我觉得一部分强求统一的人是在意自己，但另一部分是错误地假借“集体”这棵大树，以集体的错误观念强求服从——你可以看看bully这种现象，bully一般都是多人联合成群、欺负较为弱小的个体。如果是单个个体或小集团以强权向多数强推自己的信条，那个叫dictatorship。你在学校里能看到bully现象，但dictatorship相对就少，因为以多压少、以群欺单总是更容易，呵呵。.
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nicogu 2014-04-04 10:04
lilychaung
@nicogu 深有同感。人们往往会用自己的价值观及道德标准去评判他人的行为，然后将凡是不符合自己理解范围内的都划在“行为怪异”一列，或者去抨击...
@lilychaung 以及，“Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath“译为“人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者”是错的，这里的as不作“如同”解，而是作“作为”解，所以应该是“一个非暴力精神变态者的人生”，其实如果根据文章的内容，还不如说是“一个非暴力的精神变态大脑结构携带者的人生”。
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lilychaung 2014-04-04 11:07
nicogu
@lilychaung 以及，“Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath“译为“人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者”是错的，这里的as不作“如同”解，而是作“作为”解，所以应该...
@nicogu 原本确实是应该译为“一个非暴力精神病患者的人生”，但我个人非常喜欢“人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者”的这个说法，因为觉得人生不仅有那么多有趣的经历、各式各样的奇葩，还有各种不可言说不可名状的情绪交织在一起，就像是朱德庸的漫画《我们都有病》里面描绘的那样，结果偏执情结发作选了后者。：）
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EvergreenHomeland 2014-04-04 11:57
帮你看一段，挑点毛病。
1. 题目：“Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath”：Psychopath（psychopathy or sociopathy）的意思更接近中文的“冷血”，这里有个英文解释-http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-psychopath-means/。链接里的文章正好可以检查一下译文中的术语。
2. In 2005, James Fallon's life started to resemble the plot of a well-honed joke or big-screen thriller:【2005年，詹姆斯·法隆的生活开始变得有如一个精心设计的笑话亦或是宽屏幕惊悚片的情节一般：】。供参考，【2005年，詹姆斯·法隆的生活中上演了“一个精心设计的笑话”，或是“一出宽屏幕惊悚片”。
3. A neuroscientist is working in his laboratory one day when he thinks he has stumbled upon a big mistake【有一天，一名神经科学家正在自己的实验室里工作，偶然发现自己可能犯下大错。】。供参考，【一天，一位神经科学家正在实验室工作，突然他感到，自己在不经意之间犯了个大错误。】
4. He is researching Alzheimer's and using his healthy family members' brain scans as a control, while simultaneously reviewing the fMRIs of murderous psychopaths for a side project【当时他正在着手老年痴呆症（Alzheimer's-阿尔茨海默症）的研究，并用他自己健康的家庭成员的大脑核磁共振来进行比对，与此同时进行着的还有另一个编外项目，是对精神病杀人犯的大脑做的核磁共振成像进行审查。】。供参考，【他在研究老年痴呆症，并把自己家庭中健康成员的大脑扫描成像作为了研究控制组；在此期间，他还在为另一项目检查着冷血罪犯们的核磁共振成像。】
5. It appears, though, that one of the killers' scans has been shuffled into the wrong batch.【就在此时，似乎有一张杀人犯的扫描件被弄混进了拿来比对的正常人群的那组里。】。供参考，【（在查看家庭成员的核磁共振成像时，）看上去，似乎某一个罪犯的核磁共振成像被混到了错误的分组（控制组）】
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jiantou 2014-04-04 12:41
lilychaung
@nicogu 原本确实是应该译为“一个非暴力精神病患者的人生”，但我个人非常喜欢“人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者”的这个说法，因为觉得人生不仅有...
@lilychaung
这样处理未免太随意了吧？谁的人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者？还是你认为所有人的人生都如同一个非暴力精神病患者？
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lillian_real 2014-04-04 14:31
lilychaung
@nicogu 原本确实是应该译为“一个非暴力精神病患者的人生”，但我个人非常喜欢“人生如同一个非暴力精神病患者”的这个说法，因为觉得人生不仅有...
@lilychaung 我觉得这个标题翻译已经到了曲解原意使读者困惑的程度了。这篇文章以叙述论说为主，内容不明显具有比喻性的意思，私以为直译概括全文意思的原标题比较清晰明白。
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lilychaung 2014-04-04 16:30
EvergreenHomeland
帮你看一段，挑点毛病。 1. 题目：“Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath”：Psychopath（psychopathy or sociopathy）的意思更接近中文的“冷血”，这里有个英文解释-http:...
@EvergreenHomeland 多谢指点：）
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lilychaung 2014-04-04 16:31
lillian_real
@lilychaung 我觉得这个标题翻译已经到了曲解原意使读者困惑的程度了。这篇文章以叙述论说为主，内容不明显具有比喻性的意思，私以为直译概括全文...
@lillian_real 如果从这个方面来看确实应该更严谨一点，等下就去改掉。多谢！
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EvergreenHomeland 2014-04-04 17:09
第三条说明，一开始理解有误，应该是：他以为赶上了一个技术人员的大错误。
3. A neuroscientist is working in his laboratory one day when he thinks he has stumbled upon a big mistake【有一天，一名神经科学家正在自己的实验室里工作，偶然发现自己可能犯下大错。】。供参考，【一天，一位神经科学家正在实验室工作，突然他觉得，自己不经意赶上（碰上）了个大错误。】
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
《心理变态测试——疯狂工业之旅》
作者：乔恩·龙森
出版社：骑马斗牛士出版社
              （Picador）
定价：16.99英镑
页数：293
最近一段时间，国内外肢解食人魔的新闻频频出现，甚至引发了恐慌。从概率上讲，你很可能遇见过类似的“冷血型精神病患者”，因为这样的人占总人口的0.5%～1%。至今难以解释的是，很少有女性患有这种精神疾病，因此排除妇女和儿童后，男性中这类人的比例还要更高。就拿美国来说，不算被关在精神病院和监狱里的人，还有25万冷血残酷的精神疾病患者自由地生活着，中国的数量要更多。
如何鉴定一个冷血精神病患者呢？警方一般通过一些典型犯罪模式来鉴定：1.把人囚禁在地下室；2.使用邮政系统邮寄过尸体残肢；3.获得过“杀手”、“开膛手”之类的绰号。但实际上，这类精神病患者不是这么容易就能辨认出来的。
正因为这样，关于精神病测试的写作才让英国人乔恩·龙森成为广受欢迎的畅销书作家。龙森的主要作品有《他们：与极端主义者的冒险》，《瞪死一只羊》（本书有中译版，讲述美国军方网罗了一群拥有特殊能力的特工，他们会隐身术、穿墙术、飘浮术、千里眼……）。这些书的特点就是关注各种奇闻异事和对细节的描述独具匠心。他的新著《心理变态测试——疯狂工业之旅（THE PSYCHOPATH TESTA Journey Through the Madness Industry）》也是如此。在书中，龙森不但质疑了对精神病的定义，对现存的测试方法也持保留
态度。
这本书的开头像小说一样迷人：一家学术机构邀请龙森帮忙找出是谁送来了一张满是隐秘线索的匿名信，这张字条上写着：祝你好运！龙森想搞清楚什么样的人会做这样的恶作剧，就此踏上了寻找精神病的旅程。在探寻的过程中，龙森遇到了一个精神病院里的病人，这人声称自己为了不进监狱故意在精神病测试中得了高分，所以他坚持认为自己是正常人，只是装出了种种疯狂的举动。此人到底是精神病标准化测试系统的受益人，还是一个编织故事的精神病患者？
为了了解这两者间的区别，龙森转而向最有影响的精神病学专家请教，让他们传授诊断和辨别精神病患者的技巧。这一领域的顶级专家无疑是罗伯特·黑尔，他是黑尔精神病态症状清单的创立者。这份测试包括了诸如病理性谎言、易于厌烦的倾向性和性滥交的行为和特征等20种标准，每种都以0、1或2计分。最高分是40分，如果被测试者得分超过30分，就会被诊断患有“反社会人格障碍”中危害最严重的一种，俗称“精神变态”，可能从此就会被关进特殊机构，与世隔绝。
龙森在跟黑尔学习了一个周末后，把这套测试用于企业的高管、政治家、战争罪犯，甚至他自己身上。在纽约，龙森与杀人如麻的海地战争罪犯见面，和酷爱解雇手下的美国商界大佬谈话，龙森给这两个人打的分都很高。测试结果并没有让精神病认定变得一清二楚，龙森发现黑尔精神病态症状清单是一套很模棱两可的工具。而且他钻得越深发现水越浑，龙森开始怀疑，精神病学已经脱离了正常的轨道。黑尔精神病态症状清单和美国精神病协会最新第四版的《精神障碍诊断手册》，都是很危险的工具。
事实是，每个人在某些方面都会显示出精神变态。人们的平均得分在4分左右，但是在十几岁和二十几岁的年轻人中有很多人得分很高，并非高到被诊断为冷血精神病患者的程度，但也有严重的冷血精神病患者倾向。这些人一般是蛮横霸道的老板、流浪汉以及那些总是敲诈朋友和恋人的不负责任的人。
在精神病领域，正常和疾病之间的界限从来没有如此模糊，而龙森行走在两者的边缘。本书最重要教诲是，精神变态只有程度之分，没有性质之别。除了反社会的危险人物必须被制止，我们还得学会如何与自己、他人的异常心理和行为共处。■
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儿童会得冷血精神病吗？
心理健康JENNIFER KAHN2014年01月06日
9岁的迈克尔和他的妈妈安妮，迈克尔时常大发脾气，有时则拒人于千里之外。
9岁的迈克尔和他的妈妈安妮，迈克尔时常大发脾气，有时则拒人于千里之外。
Elinor Carucci/Redux, for The New York Times
去年夏天的一天，安妮(Anne)和丈夫米格尔(Miguel)送他们9岁的儿子迈克尔(Michael)去佛罗里达一所小学，不过家里人宁愿将这儿说成是“夏令营”，这是他第一天上课。多年来，安妮和米格尔一直觉得很难搞懂家里的这位大儿子，他是个长相俊美的男孩，颧骨高高的，双眼分得有点开，长着一头浅棕色的卷发，他时常大发脾气，有时则拒人于千里之外。迈克尔的这八星期课程事实上是精心设计的心理学研究——与其说是夏令营，不如说是破釜沉舟之举。
据妈妈说，迈克尔的问题大概是在3岁左右开始出现的，当时他的弟弟艾伦(Allan)刚出生没多久。她说，当时迈克尔的表现主要是“像淘气包那样”，但他的行为很快就升级为发脾气，当中会大声喊叫、嚎啕大哭，而且根本安抚不了他。这跟普通幼儿的表现可不像。“他的举止并不像是‘我累了’或‘我难过’，这才是正常小孩的样子，”安妮回忆说：“他的表现真的不太寻常，而且每天都要闹好几个钟头，不管我们做都没用。”几年来，每当父母要迈克尔穿上鞋子，或者要求他完成其他常规任务，比如将自己的玩具从客厅里拿回来，都会招致他的尖叫。“让他去哪儿，让他呆在哪儿——任何事情都会惹他发毛，”米格尔说。在他的幼儿期已经过去很久时，他的脾气仍然不改。8岁时，如果安妮或米格尔想让他做好上学的准备，他就会勃然大怒，用拳头砸墙，拿脚把门踢出一个个小洞。假如没人看住他，他会用剪刀剪烂自己的裤子，或把自己的头发一根根拔下来。他也会反复将马桶座垫往下砸来发泄怒火，直到把马桶垫砸坏为止。
安妮和米格尔第一次带迈克尔去看心理治疗师时，对方诊断他患的是“长子综合症”：他之所以发火，是因为憎恶家中新出生的弟弟。他的父母承认，迈克尔确实对家里新出生的宝宝怀有深深的敌意，但兄弟间的竞争似乎还不足以解释他持续的极端行为。
到了5岁时，迈克尔有了别的小孩没有的新本事，前一秒钟他还在怒气冲天，后一秒钟就能变得彬彬有礼，或者悉心施展魅力——安妮形容说，这种情况让她极其不安。“你永远不知道，什么时候他能表现出适当的情绪，”她说。她回忆起了与儿子的一次争论，当时为了做家庭作业的事情，迈克尔又是尖叫又是抽泣，而她想要跟他好好讲道理。“我说：“‘迈克尔，你记得我们昨天做的头脑风暴吗？你只要回想一下当时的想法，然后将它们写成句子，你的作业就完成了！’而他还是在一个劲号叫，于是我说，‘迈克尔，我们已经完成头脑风暴了，所以今天真的没必要还来这一出。’他一下子停止尖叫，转身面对我，用成年人的声音平平板板地对我说，‘嗯，那么，你当时对这个问题考虑得还不够彻底，是不是？’”
安妮和米格尔住在迈阿密以南的一个港口小镇，在这里，孩子们可以在维护得很好的死胡同里骑自行车。（为保护受访人隐私，本文只使用了他们的名或中间名。）我采访他们的这天早上，天气阴沉炽热。在宽敞的客厅里，安妮坐在沙发上喝着零度可乐，而两个小儿子，分别是6岁的艾伦和2岁的杰克(Jake)在地毯上玩耍。她说，目前为止，这两个男孩子都没有出现像迈克尔那样的问题。
去年迈克尔画的一幅画。
去年迈克尔画的一幅画。
Elinor Carucci/Redux, for The New York Times
“我们家里的书架上摆满了这类书——《忤逆的孩子》(The Defiant Child)、《暴脾气的小孩》 (The Explosive Child)，”她告诉我。“这些书提供了各种不同的策略，我们轮番试过来，有些好像能管用几天，可随后一切又恢复原样。”安妮以前是小学老师，持有儿童心理学学位，她承认自己虽然受过科班训练，但还是感觉心灰意冷。“我们觉得自己好像总也看不到应有的成果，问题出自我们吗？出自他？双方都有问题？我们试过那么多医生，使用过那么多手段。可到现在没有一个人能告诉我们，‘问题出在这里，你们应该这样去做。’”
37岁的安妮健谈爽直。她最近刚刚开始经营餐车生意，采访的这一天，她的打扮跟佛罗里达做这行的生意人毫无二致：头戴蓝牙耳机，手持iPhone，穿着牛仔短裤和荧光绿色的背心，上面绣着她公司的名称。米格尔则要更内敛些。他过去是商业飞行员，现在做房地产中介，他常常在家人中居间调停，带着在暴风雨中稳稳降落飞机的镇定来化解各种紧张时刻。
“一开始时，我以为是我们的问题，”两个小儿子大喊大叫玩着一辆玩具车时，米格尔说：“但正常的逻辑解释不了迈克尔。你按书本上说的来做事情，而他仍然是怪怪的。老是在公众场合应付他，我们真是累坏了，所以现成我们实际上已经完全脱离了社交生活。”
在过去这六年来，迈克尔的父母带他去看了八个不同的心理治疗师，得到的诊断五花八门。“这么多人跟我们说了这么多截然不同的东西，”安妮说：“噢，他得的是注意力缺失症(A.D.D.)——噢，不是的。他得的是抑郁症——也可能不是。打开一本《精神疾病诊断标准》(DSM)，随便往一种疾病名称上一指，很有可能你会发现他符合其中的几条特征。他符合强迫症的一些症状。他符合感觉统合异常症(sensory-integration disorder)的一些症状。可没人知道在治疗时，他身上占统治地位的症状是什么。这真是太让人郁闷了。”
迈克尔（图左）和父母及两个弟弟，分别是2岁的杰克和6岁的亚伦。
迈克尔（图左）和父母及两个弟弟，分别是2岁的杰克和6岁的亚伦。
Elinor Carucci/Redux, for The New York Times
去年春天，治疗迈克尔的心理医生介绍他的父母去咨询佛罗里达国际大学(Florida International University)的研究员丹·沃斯布施(Dan Waschbusch)。经过了一系列测试，安妮和米格尔得到了另一种可能的诊断：他们的儿子迈克尔也许是冷血精神病(psychopath)患者。
过去10年来，沃斯布施一直在研究“冷酷无情”的儿童——他们明显表现出在情感、悔恨或共情方面的缺失——而且人们认为这类孩子成年后，更易成为冷血精神病者。为了评估迈克尔的情况，沃斯布施使用了一系列精神学测试与教师-家人评判量表的组合，当中包括了冷酷无情特质目录(Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits)、儿童冷血精神病量表(Child Psychopathy Scale)和反社会筛查量表(Antisocial Process Screening Device)的修正版本——这些工具设计用意都是为了测量未成年人的冷血和掠夺性行为，而它与成年人的冷血精神病有着紧密的联系。（“反社会”和“冷血精神病”这两个术语实质上是等同的。）一位研究助理跟迈克尔的父母及老师们进行了面谈，了解他在家里和学校的表现。在把他的所有测试和报告都制表后发现，迈克尔在冷酷无情行为方面，距离正常范围有两个标准差，这意味着他的程度达到颇为严重的水平。
目前在儿童冷血精神病方面并没有标准化的测试，不过越来越多的心理学家相信冷血精神病和自闭症一样，是一种独特的神经系统症状——最早可能儿童5岁时得以确认。在确诊方面最核心的是冷酷无情特质，现在大部分研究人员认为可以通过它将“新手冷血精神病者”跟出现常规品行障碍的孩子区别开来，后者也容易冲动，难以约束，并且表现出敌意或暴力的行为。根据一些研究，在出现严重行为问题——比如迈克尔表现的侵略性反抗行为——的儿童中，有约三分之一的孩子在冷酷无情特质测试中，结果也有异于正常范围。（在成年人的诊断标准中，其中一个要求是出现自恋和冲动行为，不过它对于儿童很难适用，因为儿童天生就即自恋又冲动。）
在一些儿童身上，冷酷无情特质以十分明显的方式表现出来。新奥尔良大学(University of New Orleans)的心理学家保罗·弗里克(Paul Frick)对儿童冷血精神病的风险因素这个课题已经研究了二十载，他描述说，曾经有个小孩在一星期的时间里，一点点把他们家的猫尾巴割下来。他的父母起初根本没觉察到，这个男孩因此对自己实施的分期截肢术十分自豪。“当我们谈起此事时，他的态度十分直接，”弗里克回忆说：“他说，‘我想成为科学家，我当时是在做试验。我想看看这只猫的反应。’”
在另一个著名的案例中，一个名叫杰弗瑞·贝利(Jeffery Bailey)的九岁男孩将一名幼童推入佛罗里达一家汽车旅馆游泳池的深水区。当孩子拼命扑腾，最终沉入池底时，贝利拖来一把椅子在一边观看。事后受到警察讯问时，贝利解释说他很想知道别人溺死时是什么样子的。在被羁押时，他看起来对自己面临监禁这件事并不担心，但对成为关注的焦点非常得意。
可是对很多孩子来说，他们释放的信号要更为微妙。弗里克指出，冷酷无情的儿童往往极其喜欢操纵别人。他们也常常撒谎——所有小孩都会为了逃避惩罚而说谎，可这类儿童则是因为任何原因、或完全不为任何缘由而去说谎。“大部分小孩，如果你抓到他们在吃饭前偷吃了一块饼干，他们会一脸做错事的表情，”弗里克说：“他们想吃饼干，但他们也觉得这样做不对。就算患有严重多动症的孩子也不例外：也许他们的冲动自制力很差，但如果他们意识到妈妈会发火，还是会觉得自己做了错事。”而冷酷无情的儿童则毫无悔意。“他们不在乎别人是否对自己发火，”弗里克说：“他们不在乎是否伤害了别人的感情。”跟成年冷血精神病人一样，他们貌似也缺乏人性，弗里克有这样的观察结论：“如果他们能不诉诸残忍的方式就得到他们想要的东西，这样固然会轻松点；但说到底，他们会使用成效最好的方式。”
在心理学家中间，儿童可能拥有冷血精神病倾向这种说法依然存有争议。天普大学(Temple University)的心理学家劳伦斯·斯坦伯格(Laurence Steinberg)一直认为，冷血精神病和其他类型的人格障碍一样，几乎难以在儿童身上得到确诊，甚至在青少年那里同样如此——这既是因为他们的大脑尚在发育，也是因为在这个年龄段，正常的行为也可能被解读为精神变态行为。另一些学者则担心，就算能做出确诊，给一个孩子打下冷血精神病患者的标签，带来的社会代价未免过大。（从历史上来说，这种精神失常疾病一直被认为是无法根治的。）德州农工大学(Texas A&M University)临床心理学家约翰·埃登斯(John Edens)一直力阻人们不要斥资研究如何鉴别患冷血精神病风险的儿童。“这跟自闭症不一样，确诊的孩子和他们的父母能够获得外界支持，"埃登斯说：“就算能确诊，这仍然是个毁灭性的诊断结果。没人会同情一个冷血精神病人的妈妈。”
新南威尔士大学(University of New South Wales)心理学家马克·戴德斯(Mark Dadds)研究的是儿童出现的反社会行为，他承认“没人能在给一个5岁孩子打上冷血精神病的标签后仍然安之若素”。但他说，忽视这些特质则可能带来更严重的后果。“研究表明，在儿童身上出现并能得以鉴别的这种气质，有时候十分强烈。”近期的多项研究发现，在冷血精神病清单(Psychopathy Checklist)未成年人版本中得分较高的青少年儿童，其大脑呈现出显著的解剖学差异——这意味着这种特质有可能是先天性的。另一项研究追踪了3000名儿童在25年间的心理发育情况，发现早在儿童3岁时就可以发现冷血精神病的病征。一群为数不多但队伍在不断扩大的心理学家，包括戴德斯和沃斯布施认为，及早正视这个问题，或许能为这些孩子改变人生方向带来转机。研究人员希望，冷酷无情的儿童或许仍拥有少量由大脑特定部位控制的共情能力，而这种能力也许是能得以增强的。
成功治疗这类人群将带来惊人的收益。有人预计冷血精神病人占到了总人口的1%，而在监狱里的犯人中则占约15-25%，其中有相当高比例的人犯有暴力罪行和谋杀。近期神经科学家肯特·基尔(Kent Kiehl)预测，冷血精神病人每年给美国带来的损失高达4600亿美元——为抑郁症所致的损失额10倍——部分原因在于冷血精神病人往往会反复被捕。（不诉诸暴力的冷血精神病人带来的社会损失也许更大。《穿西装的蛇》[Snakes in Suits]合著者罗伯特·赫尔[Robert Hare]描述了某些金融家和商人患冷血精神病的证据；他怀疑伯尼·麦道夫[Bernie Madoff]就属于此类人。）将诊断与决定论区分开来的，也恰恰是病人有可能改善的潜力：也因此，人们应当对冷血精神病儿童给予治疗，而不是把他们一关了事。“修女们往往说，‘趁早领入门，他们终将洗心革面，’”戴德斯说：“你应当希望此言不虚。要不然，我们将要面对什么样的人？一群恶魔。”
我第一次见到迈克尔时，他看起来有点害羞，但表现得非常乖巧。当弟弟艾伦头顶着一个塑料袋，像戴着降落伞那样在屋子里跑来跑去时，迈克尔则是淡定地走进屋里，然后爬到客厅的沙发时，将脸埋到靠垫里。“你能过来问声好吗？”安妮问他。他瞅了我一眼，雀跃地站起来说，“当然能啦！”然后跑过去拥抱她。因为在厨房里弹球，他受到了父母的斥责，就像任何一个9岁的小孩一样翻了个白眼，然后温顺地走出了厨房。几分钟后，他回到屋子里，当弟弟杰克在坐骑式的滑轮车里上上下下弹跳着，他也跟着在杰克面前嬉笑着跳起来。滑轮车一下子翻倒了，迈克尔夸张地倒吸了一口气，跑到弟弟身边。“杰克，你还好吗？”他眼睛睁得大大的，一脸关切地问。在诚恳地抚摸着小弟弟的头发时，他向我抛来了一个胜利的微笑。
这番兄弟之情的展示就算让人感觉有点用力过猛，不过，我还很难看出他的行为有根本性的偏差。但迈克尔的行为逐渐开始转变。在来到楼上，在家里的电脑上看《神奇宝贝》(Pokémon)视频时，迈克尔转身对着我，清楚地说：“你能看出来的吧，我不是真的喜欢艾伦。”我问他，他说的是不是真的，他说：“是的，是真的，”而后语气平板地补充说：“我讨厌他。”
他低头看了一会儿，注意到我放在桌上的数码录音笔。“你在录音吗？”他问。我说，我是在录音。他盯着我看了看，然后回过身来继续看视频。在另一间屋子突然传出一阵响声，引得我伸头探望时，迈克尔趁机一把夺过录音笔，按下了删除键。（沃斯布施事后强调说，这类经过筹划的报复性举动在9岁孩子的身上极为罕见，通常这个年龄的小孩只会立刻去要录音笔，或者单纯地为此哭哭啼啼发顿脾气。）
你会很容易想要审视安妮和米格尔两人的举动，寻找他们不能胜任父母的迹象，好找到迈克尔异常举动的源头。但如果真能发现什么，我只能说，这家人看起来实在是太普通了。那天下午，我观察着安妮管教两个小儿子，感觉她直截了当、没有半点废话。当艾伦在客厅里跑前跑后，接着往沙发靠垫上撞时，她直接发号施令：“艾伦！不许这样。”（他确实停了下来。）当杰克和亚伦为了一件玩具闹了起来时，她压抑着火气耐心为两个孩子解决分歧——大部分家长对这种口吻都非常熟悉：“亚伦，你先让他玩五分钟嘛，接下来就轮到你玩了。”在说到养育子女的策略时，她显得有点不开心——她更青睐没有规矩不成方圆的理念；而米格尔脾气更宽厚些——他静静地聆听，而后承认自己放任的态度也许“乐观了点儿。”
看来确实如此。随着暮色渐浓，迈克尔的行为也越发粗暴起来。有一会儿，当迈克尔在楼下时，杰克笨拙地爬到了电脑椅上，不小心打开了迈克尔暂停的《神奇宝贝》视频。亚伦笑了起来，连米格尔也带着一脸宠溺笑了起来。然而，开心是短暂的。听到迈克尔上楼的脚步声，米格尔叹了声“呃噢！”，然后赶紧将杰克从椅子上拽下来。
他的速度还不够快。看到视频在继续播放，迈克尔带着哭腔尖叫起来，然后扫视了一圈，想要找到是谁动了电脑手脚。他的目光停留在亚伦身上。他抄起一把木头椅子，举过头顶，好像打算行凶，但停了几秒，给了米格尔将椅子夺下来的机会。迈克尔哭叫着冲进洗手间，开始反复砸马桶座垫。在被爸爸拖出来，勒令去床上时，他可怜巴巴地抽泣着。“爸爸！爸爸！你为什么要这样对我？”当爸爸将他拖进房间时，他一路哀求着：“不要啊，爸爸！我对你比对妈妈要亲多了！”接下来这一个小时里，迈克尔又是哭又是叫，而米格尔在尽力安抚他。走到房间外面的走廊，米格尔对我道歉，然后补充说，这是个“特别糟糕的晚上。”
“你现在看到的是过去的那个迈克尔，”他继续讲下去：“他可以一整天都像这样。又踢又打，摔马桶座垫。”但他也指出，亚伦在故意激怒迈克尔，有那么一会儿，他奚落哥哥在哭。“他喜欢冷不丁戳他一下子，”米格尔说。
迈克尔在卧室里哭叫着：“他知道后果会怎样，所以我不明白他为什么还要这样去干。我会叫他好看的。”
米格尔说：“不，你不会的。”
迈克尔：“我就要来找你算账了，艾伦。”
一小时后，在孩子们终于入睡后，米格尔和我在厨房餐桌旁坐了下来。他说，他本人在长大成人的过程中，同样也是个难伺候的小孩——不过不像迈克尔的问题这样严重。“很多家长都不想让我接近他们的孩子，因为他们觉得我是个疯子，”他一边说着，一边闭上眼睛陷入回忆中。“我不听大人的话，总是惹是生非。我的成绩糟透了。在我走上街头时，我会听到人家用西班牙语说：‘Ay！Viene el loco！’——‘瞧，那个疯子走过来了。’”
据米格尔说，他的这种反社会行为一直持续到他青春期末期，在某个他所说的“成年”时刻戛然而止。我问他，是什么引发了他的转变，他的表情有点犹豫。“你学会了将怒火按捺下来，”最后他这样说：“就这样发生了。你学会了由外而内地控制自己。”
如果说，米格尔的成长轨迹或许给迈克尔带来了些许希望，那么，安妮对这种说法心存怀疑。她提起了那天傍晚时分迈克尔给她的热情拥抱，摇了摇说：“10分钟里拥抱了我两次？”她说：“他两个星期都不会抱我一次！”她怀疑迈克尔当时是在设法操纵我，所使用的是跟操纵心理治疗师同样的伎俩：在治疗的那一个小时里表现得安分守己，好让他们误以为他的情况有所好转。“米格尔愿意相信迈克尔会成长、成熟，”她说：“我真不想要这样说，但我认为他操纵人的手腕越来越熟稔了。”她停了一会儿，继续说：“他很清楚自己能如何达成目标。”
一天早上，我跟沃斯布施在他的夏季治疗计划碰面，这是个小型的小学，位于佛罗里达国际大学西北角。沃斯布施在对冷血精神病产生兴趣前，研究领域是多动症，在过去这八年暑期，他参与运营了一个夏令营式的治疗项目，针对的是患严重多动症的儿童。去年，他第一次增设了针对冷酷无情儿童的独立项目，孩子们年纪在8到11岁之间。迈克尔就在第一批转介到他这里来的孩子之列。
沃斯布施的研究，是首批针对冷酷无情儿童治疗展开的研究之一。现在研究者已经知道，成年冷血精神病者对奖励的反应远比对惩戒更好；而沃斯布施希望通过试验发现这条规律在儿童中是否同样成立。但研究的过程很有挑战性。患多动症的小孩会制造混乱、很难管教，而冷酷无情的儿童则表现出蓄意伤害的能力——他们会尖叫、掀翻桌子、在教室里来回跑——沃思布施形容此情此景“简直没治了”。
“上体育课时，会有孩子想要翻过篱笆，跑去隔壁的操场上，还有些小孩，每天必须要被多次暂时限制自由活动，才能安分点儿，”在我们走向学校操场时，沃斯布施跟我谈起来，“这些孩子真让我们没辙。”沃斯布施的银灰色头发剃的短短的，态度热情却略有点心不在焉，给人的印象是令人意外的欢快——不过，他也保持着警惕。在领我沿着学校的主走廊前行时，每经过一间教室，他都会警觉地朝里面张望下，似乎是在确认里面不会有孩子突然冲出来。这项研究为每两个孩子配了一名辅导员，不过沃斯布施说，这些孩子很快就明白能够通过突然发动集体起义来推翻现有秩序。一个孩子在关键时刻喊出暗号，暗示其他所有孩子同时逃跑，大家便能一呼百应。
“我想得最多的，便是这群孩子表现出的操纵能力，”他摇着头，一脸不可思议的表情，继续说：“他们跟多动症的孩子还不一样，多动症的小孩只会做出冲动行为。他们跟品行障碍的孩子也不一样，他们的态度是：‘去你的，让你的游戏见鬼去吧！不管你跟我说什么，我都要反着来。’冷酷无情的孩子有能力十分慎重地遵守规则，但他们会拿规则为自己所用。”
一路聊着，沃斯布施带我走到了学校的室外篮球场上，一场规则严密的抛接球比赛正在进行中。刚开始时，比赛看起来堪称正常。孩子们围成一圈站着，想要把球抛过站在圆心的孩子头顶，传到另一个孩子那里，而辅导员在不断给予他们反馈——表扬参与者的专注和体育精神，同时仔细记录任何不当行为。一个剃着平头、身材结实的男孩子传出一球，结果对方没能接住，他阴郁地瞄了接球的孩子一眼。“那种愤怒——你在正常孩子那里几乎是看不到的，”沃斯布施说：“这些孩子很容易生气，接着做出过头的反应。他们还特别会记仇。假如当中有个孩子压过他一头，拿了一分”——记仇的孩子——“他将怒火中烧，为此生对方好几天的气。”
在迈克尔身上，我也观察到了同样的强烈而专注的愤怒。一天晚上，在他看着《神奇宝贝》视频时，亚伦坐到了他旁边的椅子上，手拿的陀螺战士玩具发射盘的绳子刮到了迈克尔的嘴边。迈克尔一脸愠怒地看着他，接着镇定地回过身来继续看电脑。30秒过去了。突然，迈克尔转过来，带着一股子邪火将绳子抢了过来，然后将发射盘扔到房子另一头。
可是在夏令营中，迈克尔表现得与其说是暴力，不如说是孤僻。他穿着红色短裤，戴蓝色棒球帽，在抛接球比赛中玩得很好，但在接下来的集体评分环节中显得很厌烦。当辅导员一一打分时，他躺在球场上，捻着从T恤上拽出来的一根线头。
夏令营此时已进入到第七周，大部分孩子依旧没有显示出好转的迹象。其中一些孩子，包括迈克尔在内，事实上情况更坏了；有一个孩子还咬了好几个辅导员。沃斯布施注意到，在项目刚开始时，迈克尔的表现相对算是好的：他有时候会从座位上跳起来，或是是教室里东奔西跑，但几乎不需要像对班上最野的那几个小孩那样强行把他按住。可在此之后，他的表现却开始螺旋恶化——沃斯布施认为，部分原因在于迈克尔想要给项目中的另一个孩子留下印象，那是个小女孩，我在此称她为L。（为保护她的隐私，在本文中我们只使用她的名字首字母。）
L是个可爱而又反复无常的女孩，她很快就找到了将男孩子们玩弄于股掌之上的办法。“女孩子通常会有些操纵男生的小门道，”当孩子们排着队鱼贯而入时，沃斯布施说：“而她操纵人们的手段之多、心思之细——简直是空前的。”沃斯布施举了个例子，她曾将一些小玩具偷偷带进了营地，哪个孩子能按她的要求做坏事，就能得到一个玩具作为奖励。这种手段看来对迈克尔格外有用，有好几次他在被辅导员拖出去反省时，都大叫着她的名字。
据沃斯布施说，像L做出的精心安排的行为，可以将所谓“热血”的品行障碍与像冷血精神病这类“冷血”人格障碍区分开来。在我们跟着孩子们走进学校时，他进一步说：“热血的孩子行动十分冒失。有一种理论认为，他们的威胁探测系统异常活跃，因此可以迅速感知到愤怒和恐惧的情绪。”相比之下，冷血的、冷酷无情的儿童，虽然也能做出冲动行为，但他们的不良言行往往都是刻意为之。“他们不是那种没法端端正正坐好的小孩，他们在被激怒时也许会充满敌意，但同时有能力表现得十分淡定。他们的态度是：‘我倒要看看能怎么利用眼下的形势，至于谁会因此倒霉，我可就管不着了。’”
研究人员已经将冷血行为与皮质醇水平较低和杏仁核的功能低于正常水准联系在一起，脑内的杏仁核负责处理恐惧和其他令人嫌恶的社会情绪，比如羞愧。沃斯布施指出，幼儿在行事时，其中一个动机就是尽力避免产生这类让自己不悦的情绪。“通常，如果一个2岁大的小孩推了他的小妹妹一把，妹妹哇哇大哭起来，父母会责怪他，而产生的反应将令这个孩子感到很不舒服，”沃斯布施进一步说：“不适的感觉会让他避免再犯类似的错。而冷酷无情的儿童的区别在于，他们不会因此感到不舒服。所以在面对惩戒，或做出伤害别人的举动时，他们不会产生同样的反感情绪。”
沃斯布施援引了此前的一个研究，这项研究调查了3岁儿童对令人不舒服的外界刺激的敏感度，并在20年后追踪了这群受访者的犯罪记录。研究人员对3岁儿童播放了简单的音律，然后突然播放了一段简短但十分让人不快的白噪音。尽管所有孩子慢慢都掌握了预期白噪音到来的能力，但大部分未来成为罪犯的孩子在噪音前奏播放时，并未流露出其他孩子通常出现的厌恶征兆，比如身体紧张或冒汗等。
为了验证相比普通孩子，冷酷无情的儿童对奖惩的反应并不那么积极的想法，沃斯布施设计了一个体系，孩子们如果举止良好就可以得分，惹是生非则要扣分，接着他对得分进行修正，纳入奖励（得到分数）或惩罚（扣除分数）出现较大增幅的一周表现。在每周末，孩子们可以根据他们所得的分数来挑选奖品。每天，沃斯布施和辅导员们记录下每个孩子的表现——违规的次数和严重程度，优良表现次数——然后将结果录入一张极其复杂的表格中。沃斯布施承认，由于只有十几个孩子参加了项目，他们所做出的观察更像是一系列的个案研究，而很难谈得上是一项有稳健统计量的测试。不过，他仍希望数据能为研究人员治疗冷酷无情儿童提供一个可能的起跑点。
“对于这些孩子的运作机制，我们实在是太不了解了，”跟着歪歪扭扭的队伍走进室内时，沃斯布施这样说道。他也指出，直至今日，冷酷无情儿童在治疗后表现可能有所好转的想法也基本未得到证实。“这是一块神秘的领域，”他承认说：“人们担心贴上标签，可如果我们能识别出这类孩子，起码我们有机会帮助他们。”他顿了一下，又说：“假如我们错失了这个机会，恐怕很难再找到下一个了。”
结束探访后的那天上午，沃斯布施邀请我观看在课堂上拍摄的项目活动录影带。观看录像的屋子里挤满了备用椅子，一台小电视机搁在移动架子上。佛罗里达国际大学心理系主任威廉·佩勒姆(William Pelham)过来跟我们打招呼。“丹将会阻止下一个泰德·邦迪（Ted Bundy，连续杀人犯——译注），”他欢欣鼓舞地说。
沃斯布施专注地看着电视屏幕。镜头从教室里摇过来，只见迈克尔不安地推着他的课桌，接着又坐在椅子上一个劲往后仰，一副烦躁不安的样子。“迈克尔，你没有专心听讲啊，”一位辅导员温和地警告他。“好吧，”迈克尔怒气冲冲地回答。在他边上，一个戴着眼镜、身材瘦削的男孩子反复将铅笔扔到地上，在辅导员警告他后，他就假装低头去咬自己的胳膊。
午饭后，课堂秩序急转直下。在上课时，L用橡皮砸另一个女孩，结果却砸中了一个瘦小的黑发男孩，后者立刻将椅子飞速往后推，砸上了后面坐着的学生课桌。看到L追着这个男孩满屋子乱跑，沃斯布施否认了她只是情绪失控的说法。“这是计划好了的，”他阴郁地说：“她很清楚自己在做什么。”当辅导员要求L坐好时，她坐回到座位上，安静地画了两分钟画，因此赢得了10分奖励分。“看看这里，这就是区别，”沃斯布施指着电视屏幕说：“假如这是冲动之举，她已经站起来，又在教室里跑开了。”
沃斯布施表示，治疗这类出现严重问题的孩子，其中一大挑战就是寻找到其行为失当的根源。他说，这一点对于冷酷无情的儿童尤其适用，因为他们的行为——混杂着冲动、攻击、操控和蔑视——常常与其他失调症出现重叠。“像迈克尔这样的孩子往往后一分钟跟前一分钟的表现截然不同，”沃斯布施说：“所以，我们能说他们出现的冲动行为属于多动症，其余部分则属于冷酷无情特征吗？要么可以说，他的情绪波动多变，这属于双相失调？假如一个孩子老是不能专心，这能说明他表现出对抗行为：之所以不专心，是因为他不想这么去做吗？还是说他有抑郁症状，不专心是因为无法集中精力去做这件事情？”
沃斯布施希望，除了能完善针对冷酷无情儿童的测试标准，还可以对某些冷酷无情的儿童成年后麻烦缠身，另一些则没有的原因，得出更好的认识。对成年冷血精神病人的脑部磁共振成像表明，这些人群出现了显著的解剖学差异：他们的亚属皮层较小，旁边缘系统部分（大脑的这个部位跟共情和社会价值观有关，同时可在道德抉择中发挥作用）的脑密度较正常缩小了5-10%。据美国心理健康研究中心(National Institute of Mental Health)的认知神经系统科学家詹姆斯·布莱尔(James Blair)说，大脑中有两个区域，分别是眶额前额皮质和尾状核，对加强积极成果和劝阻负面成果至关重要。布莱尔介绍说，在冷酷无情的儿童身上，这两个区域间的连接也许出现了缺陷，不能像正常的大脑那样识别出负面的反馈。
研究者认为，这些差别最大的可能是来自于遗传。一项研究计算出冷酷无情特质的遗传可能性达到80%。普度大学(Purdue University)的心理学家唐纳德·里南(Donald Lynam)已经就“新手冷血精神病”研究了20年，他说，成年冷血精神病的特点是不同寻常地将机智与冷酷融合在一起，而以上的解剖学差异也许最终为一个冷血精神病人的诞生盖棺定论。在电话中里南这样对我说：“问题不在于‘为什么有些人会干坏事？’而在于，‘为什么没有更多的人干坏事？’答案在于，我们中的大部分人会面对某些阻力。比方说，我们担心伤害到别人，因为我们有同理心。又比如我们担心会让其他人不喜欢自己。还比方说，我们担心自己会被抓住。一旦你开始抛弃这些阻碍，我觉得，你就成为冷血精神病人了。”
里南还指出，尽管冷血精神病的遗传倾向十分高，但焦虑症和抑郁症的遗传易感性也同样很高，但现在已经证明，治疗能对这些病起到效果。沃斯布施同样这种说法：“在我看来，这些孩子需要强化干预，好回到正常水平——也就是说，其他治疗手段最终能对他们起效。但如果相信冷血精神病无药可救，因为它是遗传的”——他摇摇头说——“这种想法是不准确的。说冷血精神病是惯犯中最不知悔改的那一类人，这是在把这种病钉在耻辱柱上。我担心如果将这些孩子称为‘冷血精神病前期’，人们会得出这样的结论：这是一种无法改变的特质，对这种人毫无办法可言。我不相信这种说法。生理学并非宿命。”
 在20世纪70年代，精神病学研究者李·罗宾斯(Lee Robins)对出现行为问题的儿童进行了一系列研究，并一直随访到他们成年。这些研究揭示了两点。其一，几乎所有成年冷血精神病人在儿时，都出现了严重反社会行为。其二，近50%在反社会特质量表中得分较高的儿童，成年后并未成为冷血精神病人。换句话说，早期的反社会特质得分在预测儿童最终是否将成为暴徒方面，是必要而非唯一的因素。
两者间的缺口令研究者看到了希望。如果说冷血精神病的遗传易感性是一大风险因素，那么从逻辑上说，这些风险可能将得到环境因素的缓冲——这跟饮食可降低患心脏病的遗传风险是一个道理。跟许多心理学家一样，弗里克和里南也认为，冷血精神病虽然因为“难治”而著称，但或许言过其实了，原因在于此前的治疗手段并无理论支撑。现在，研究者会精心将在儿童身上观察到的冷血无情特质和已经发育成熟的成年冷血精神病区分开来，因为后者跟大多数精神障碍一样，都是症状持续越久就越不好治疗。
不过弗里克也承认，现在并不能确切了解什么是最佳的干预手段。“在总结出有效治疗手段之前，你先得花几十年用于基础研究，了解这些孩子究竟是怎么回事，他们对什么会有所反应，”他说：“这就是我们现在在做的事情——但总得过些时日才能真正看到效果。”
研究人员还要面对其他挑战。里南说，由于冷血精神病的遗传性很高，一个出现淡漠或冷酷症状的孩子，其父母也很有可能有同样的表现。同时，因为父母未必能悉心关爱出现冷酷行为的子女，这些孩子往往可能会受到更多处罚，得到更少呵护，因此发展出他所称的“自我应验的预言”。
“到了一定的阶段，父母也许就不再尝试下去了，”里南说：“我们进行的大量训练，正是要让这些孩子的家长重新关注子女，因为他们感觉自己已经穷尽一切手段，可从未看到一点点成效。”
安妮告诉我，她自己对此感同身受。“作为一个妈妈，这样说也许听来很骇人，但事实就是，我在筑起一面墙。就像身在军中，每天都在面对炮火那样。你必须要让自己强硬起来，这样才好面对那样的怒火与恨意。”
我问安妮，她是否会担心迈克尔的行为对两个弟弟产生不好的心理影响——尤其是亚伦，因为他看起来很崇拜迈克尔——对于这个想法，她貌似有些吃惊。接着她告诉我，就在此前那个星期，亚伦“离家出走”，去了离家有一英里多路的朋友家。“我们当然担心得不得了，”她立刻补充说：“不过，亚伦对那条路非常熟。”
安妮是位严母，她说她对迈克尔管理特别严，她担心稍稍松一点，他就会如脱缰野马。她提到，有一集《犯罪心理》(Criminal Minds)看得她胆战心惊。在这集电视剧中，一对夫妇的小儿子被他的哥哥杀害。“在电视里，这位哥哥看起来毫无悔意，他只是说，‘他这是活该，谁叫他弄坏了我的飞机啊。’看到这里时，我想，‘噢，我的上帝，这样的剧情千万不要在我的人生中上演。’”她干笑一下，然后摇摇头说：“我常常说，迈克尔长大后要么成为诺贝尔奖得主，要么成为连环杀手。”
我告诉她，其他家长听她这样说恐怕会大惊失色，她叹口气，沉默了几秒钟，最后她说：“对这些家长，我只能说，在没有经历我的处境前别妄下结论。因为我付出了代价。在养育迈克尔的过程中，我并没有收获多少欢乐与幸福。”
尽管有可能改善冷酷无情儿童的行为，但现在并不清楚，这样的改善是否足以抵销他们神经功能方面的固有缺陷——就比如缺乏共情。在一项高频引用试验中，一个已经将暴力罪犯的屡犯率降低了一半的监狱治疗小组，通过提高冷血精神病人模仿悔意与自我反省的能力，增加了他们的“成功”犯案机会。一篇近期发表的相关研究报告发现，用利他林治疗反社会儿童可能有危险，因为这种药物可抑制他们的冲动行为，结果有可能令他们做出更为残忍的计划，采取更隐密的报复手段。
在另一项试验中，研究者马克·戴德斯发现随着冷酷无情的儿童发育成熟，他们渐渐获取了假装关心他人情绪的能力。“我们在论文中称此为‘学习见人说人话，’”戴德斯说：“他们并没有感情上的共情，但拥有认知共情；他们能说出别人的感觉，只是根本就不在乎，对此也没有感受力。”安妮曾担心迈克尔已经通过假装表现出某些特定情绪来取得奖励分，以此来操纵他的心理治疗师，她这种猜想的准确程度恐怕超出了她本人的认识。
不过，大部分研究冷酷无情儿童的科学家仍然持乐观态度，相信正确的治疗不仅可改变儿童的行为，还可以向他们传授某种美德，而这不仅仅能成为烟雾弹。“假如一个人连处理感情的硬件都不具备，你就没有法子教会他了，”唐纳德·里南说：“这有点像糖尿病：你永远不可能治愈这种疾病。但如果在你看来，成功的标准就是让这群孩子不诉讼暴力，最终不会锒铛入狱，那么，我认为治疗将会有用。”
弗里克想要再前进一步。他说，假如能够及早展开治疗，在治疗中教授从识别情绪（冷酷无情的儿童通常难以识别恐惧等情绪）到最基本的伦理道德在内的各种事情，或许大脑能得以重新连线，这样一来，就连冷酷无情的儿童也有望培养出更好的共情能力。现在尚未有人对冷酷无情的儿童测试过这些治疗，但弗里克指出，一项早期研究已经发现，如果父母能长期给予冷酷无情的儿童以温暖慈爱的培育，他们似乎可以变得不再那么淡漠——哪怕对于起初抗拒亲密接触的孩子来说也同样有效。
今年1月，沃斯布施关于奖惩策略的分析并未出现数据持续性——这有可能是因为研究小组规模太小了。今年夏天，他计划要在项目中，将原有的一个小组扩大为四个：每个小组还会分为冷酷无情儿童和品行失调儿童这两类。沃斯布施希望，通过比较这两类儿童，他将有可能对他们的治疗反应做出比较。
对迈克尔来说，现在很难说项目是否对他起到了帮助。在夏令营的最后那个星期，他咬了一个辅导员的胳膊，而此前他从未这样做过。米格尔说，在家里时，迈克尔虽然仍然不听说，但表现得更滑头了。“他不是老那么尖叫了，”他告诉我：“他现在随心所欲做事情，事后再说谎。”
米格尔说，他仍然希望迈克尔在发育时，能走一条和自己类似的道路。“有时候，当迈克尔做了什么事情时，我非常了解他那样做的原因，”说着，他耸了耸肩：“因为小时候我也那样做过。”与此同时，他在尽量为迈克尔提供建议。“我想要告诉他：这世上不仅只有你一个人，别人对于自己想做什么事情，也都有自己的想法。不管你喜不喜欢，都需要与人为善。”
詹妮弗·卡恩(Jennifer Kahn)是加州大学伯克利分校的新闻学研究生院教师。这是她为本刊写作的第一篇文章。
本文最初发表于2012年5月13日。
翻译：学清
~~~~~~~~~~~~
科学家发现精神病患者拥有不同寻常的大脑
精神病患者拥有与正常人不同的大脑，他们的大脑内因缺少对理解他人情感极为重要的灰质而变得冷血。
精神病患者拥有与正常人不同的大脑，他们的大脑内因缺少对理解他人情感极为重要的灰质而变得冷血。
挪威杀手安德斯•贝林•布雷维克在法庭上辩称他不是精神病患者。
挪威杀手安德斯•贝林•布雷维克在法庭上辩称他不是精神病患者。
　　【搜狐科学消息】据国外媒体报道，英国科学家发现了恐怖的天生“冷血杀手”：精神病患者拥有与正常人不同的大脑，他们的大脑内因缺少对理解他人情感极为重要的灰质而变得冷血。
　　精神病患者的特点是没有“感同身受”的能力，许多暴力罪犯都患有精神病，让他们显得冷酷无情，现在看来，这可能是由大脑结构性异常造成。英国伦敦国王学院（King's College London) 精神病研究所的研究人员通过对精神病患者的大脑进行扫描后发现，精神病患者大脑中延髓前额叶皮层的大脑灰质明显少于正常人。
　　这项新发现可能意味着当前的“行为治疗”对精神病根本就无济于事。精神病患者大脑的差异甚至不同于其他暴力罪犯，比如反社会人格障碍（anti-social personality disorders）。领导此项研究的奈杰尔•布莱克伍德(Nigel Blackwood)说：“能够使用大脑扫描识别和诊断这种暴力罪犯的亚群对于治疗具有重要的意义。我们把没有精神病的人描述为‘头脑发热（hot-headed）’，把精神变态者称为‘冷血（cold-hearted）’。”“冷血”精神病患者有暴力倾向，频繁出现攻击行为。虽然认知和行为治疗可能会对反社会人格障碍的人有用，但同样的方法对有脑损伤的精神病患者却不奏效。”
　　伦敦大学学院（University College London）心理学和语言科学部门的教授埃斯•维丁（Essi Viding）没有参与布莱克伍德的研究，他说：“这项研究提供了强有力的证据，表明我们应该区分精神病患者与非精神病人，而不是把他们混为一谈，采用相同的治疗方法。”
　　此项研究结果对司法系统也有重要的影响。去年7月，挪威奥斯陆市中心爆炸案和于特岛枪击案凶手安德斯•贝林•布雷维克(Anders Behring Breivik)屠杀妇女儿童的暴行，引起人们对暴力犯罪分子的头脑内部特别感兴趣。法庭指定的精神康复综合小组审查了布雷维克的精神健康状况，得出结论，不是因为心理问题，而是头脑本身的问题。
　　布莱克伍德的团队使用核磁共振成像（MRI）扫描仪对44位英国成年男性暴力罪犯的大脑进行扫描，他们曾被诊断为患有反社会人格障碍症。他们犯下的罪行包括谋杀、强奸罪、企图谋杀和严重伤害他人身体。44名被扫描的男性罪犯中，17名被诊断为反社会人格障碍加精神病，另外27名没有精神病。研究人员还对22名健康的非罪犯的大脑进行了扫描。结果表明，相比非精神病的罪犯与非罪犯，精神病患者大脑中延髓前额叶皮层与颞极两部分的灰白质比较少。研究人员说，这两部分对于理解其他人的感情和意图至关重要。当人们考虑道德行为时，这些大脑区域就会被激活。这些区域不正常可能导致一个人缺乏同情心，自我控制力弱，情绪不稳定等反应。
　　没有参与这项研究的英国爱丁堡大学的法医精神病学教授林赛•汤姆森（Lindsay Thomson）说：“布莱克伍德的研究结果进一步表明，精神病是一种独特的神经发育的大脑功能紊乱。我们目前对精神病患者的治疗处在一个误区里面，如果精神病是天生的，那么就该用其它的办法去弥补。”（尚力）
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人性之谜：冷血精神病
来源：IT经理世界（2014年1月第2期）字号：小中大(快捷键：←) (快捷键：→)
刘燕/编译
　　没人愿意给一个5岁孩子打上冷血精神病的标签，但忽视这些特质也可能带来更严重的后果。
　　在20世纪70年代，精神病学研究者李·罗宾斯对出现行为问题的儿童进行了一系列研究，研究表明：几乎所有成年冷血精神病人在儿时都出现了严重反社会行为，近50%在反社会特质量表中得分较高的儿童，成年后并未成为冷血精神病人。换句话说，早期的反社会特质得分在预测儿童最终是否将成为暴徒方面，是必要而非唯一的因素。
　　冷血精神病
　　过去10年来，佛罗里达国际大学研究员丹·沃斯布施一直在研究“冷酷无情”(psychopath)的儿童——他们明显表现出在情感、悔恨或共情方面的缺失——而且人们认为这类孩子成年后，更易成为冷血精神病者。沃斯布施通过一系列精神学测试与教师一家人评判量表的组合，来评估有该类疾病倾向的儿童，而它与成年人的冷血精神病有着紧密的联系。
　　新奥尔良大学的心理学家保罗·弗里克对儿童冷血精神病的风险因素这个课题已经研究了20年，他描述说，曾经有个小孩在一周的时间里，一点点把他家的猫尾巴割下来。他的父母起初根本没觉察到，这个男孩因此对自己实施的分期截肢术十分自豪。弗里克回忆说：“他说，‘我想成为科学家，我当时是在做试验，我想看看这只猫的反应。’”
　　而对于大多数孩子来说，他们释放的信号要更为微妙，不易察觉。弗里克指出，冷酷无情的儿童往往极其喜欢操纵别人。他们也常常撒谎——所有小孩都会为了逃避惩罚而说谎，而“冷酷”儿童则毫无悔意。“他们不在乎别人是否对自己发火。”弗里克说，“不在乎是否伤害了别人的感情。”弗里克有这样的观察结论：“如果他们能不诉诸残忍的方式就得到他们想要的东西，这样固然会轻松点。但说到底，他们会使用成效最好的方式。”
　　确诊的争议
　　在心理学家中间，儿童可能拥有冷血精神病倾向这种说法依然存有争议。天普大学的心理学家劳伦斯·斯坦伯格一直认为，冷血精神病和其他类型的人格障碍一样，几乎难以在儿童身上得到确诊，甚至在青少年那里同样如此——这既是因为他们的大脑尚在发育，也是因为在这个年龄段，正常的行为也可能被解读为精神变态行为。
　　一些学者则担心，就算能做出确诊，给一个孩子打下冷血精神病患者的标签，带来的社会代价未免过大。因为从历史上来说，这种精神失常疾病一直被认为是无法根治的。由于这种精神疾病与自闭症不同，确诊的孩子及其父母几乎无法获得外界的支持与同情，因此，不少心理学家也极力阻止人们不要斥资研究如何鉴别患冷血精神病风险的儿童。
　　但忽视这些特质也可能带来更严重的后果。近期的多项研究发现，在冷血精神病清单未成年人版本中得分较高的青少年儿童，其大脑呈现出显著的解剖学差异——这意味着这种特质有可能是先天性的。
　　对成年冷血精神病人的脑部磁共振成像表明，他们的亚属皮层较小，旁边缘系统部分的脑密度较正常缩小了5%～10%，大脑这个部位跟共情和社会价值观有关，同时可在道德抉择中发挥作用。而一项研究计算出冷酷无情特质的遗传可能性达到80%。
　　但另一方面，焦虑症和抑郁症的遗传易感性也同样很高，现在已经证明治疗能对这些病起到效果。不过，研究者们并不能确定最佳的干预手段是什么，在这之前，得先花几十年用于基础研究，了解这些孩子的具体表现以及在什么环境下会有所反应，其中一大挑战就是寻找到其行为失当的根源，冷酷无情的儿童的行为——混杂着冲动、攻击、操控和蔑视——常常与其他失调症出现重叠。
　　一项研究追踪了3000名儿童在25年间的心理发育情况，发现早在儿童3岁时就可以发现冷血精神病的病征。一群对病症进行研究的心理学家认为，及早正视这个问题，或许能为这些孩子改变人生方向带来转机。一项早期研究已经发现，如果父母能长期给予冷酷无情的儿童以温暖慈爱的培育，他们似乎可以变得不再那么淡漠。
　　(译自《纽约时报》)