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Old 03-14-2006, 09:06 PM   #11
Victus
Obsessed Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,260
Alot of psychological disorders are becoming more prevalent as the world 'shrinks'. Some believe this is because of an actual change in the population, others the sinple fact that we are becoming better at detecting them (I would propose that the truth lies somewhere in between the two).

One that I find the most interesting is psychopathy (most interesting disorder I've ever seen). Several researchers have deemed psychopaths to be 'interspecies predators'. It's like their built for playing the social game like a fiddle. They have deficiencies in their amigdyla (spelled so so wrong) which can cause a sense of fearlessness. Furthermore they have deficits in their prefrontal cortexes, which has been linked to pathological lying, conning, manipulative behaviors and the like. Also, where intelligence usually inhibits criminal behaviors, in psychopaths it actually seems to make them 'better' criminals.

Some researchers in psychopathy believe that it is a fairly recent evolutionary development (heredity research pending) which allows a limited number of 'wolves' to exist inside of a herd of 'sheep'.

Anyone else have opinions on this interesting disorder?

PS: Too lazy to cite my sources.. they're on the table next to me

"When science was in its infancy, religion tried to strangle it in its cradle." - Robert G. Ingersoll
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