Psychopaths and Sociopaths

Just the other day I was told that I have no feelings, my reaction to that was to immediately laugh it off, should have made a dark joke to increase the validity of the claim. Anyways that got me thinking how many of us hide their true feelings. At least it gave me a good topic to write about sociopaths, psychopaths, fake friendships and favors.

What do sociopaths and psychopaths share?

They lack empathy, they have a hard time maintaining meaningful relations and they lie in order to get what they want.

But is this all there is to it?

If so, how many of us have psychopathic tendencies?

Psychopaths are more likely to create an environment for themselves through lies and deceit. Meanwhile sociopaths are more likely to have given up on empathy due to abuse or trauma in childhood. Psychopathy unlike sociopathy has largely genetically basis. Furthermore psychopaths are more likely to become killers due to empathic displacement with their victims. They do not feel remorse and usually torture animals as kids. Lastly they lack a moral compass. Or at least that is what media tells us about psychopaths, in reality there are few signs that somebody is psychopathic and it is generally agreed that it appears in people who have less gray matter in certain areas of the brain. The part of the brain that is used in social interactions, also named the ‘social brain’. Remember psychopaths can be both intelligent and unintelligent but as it is an anomaly of the brain one can assume that it is not the only part of the brain that has issues.

Do you see yourself as a cold, remorseless and calculated killer while maintaining a perfectly balanced second life?

I myself have problems sometimes empathizing with others but would be very unlikely to harm any kind of living being. Furthermore I can understand human reason and logic behind their decisions but have a hard time taking emotions into account. I can understand through logic how an emotion alters their decision making processes and can give meaningful advice but mostly as an objective 3rd party. Perhaps we all have become a little sociopathic due to society. There is not much need to maintain meaningful relations with work colleagues or neighbors. One can occupy his time or distract himself with so many other things. Another problem in our society is that we sadly enjoy hearing about psychopaths and their stories because they blend so well into society.

Did you know that Psychopaths are more likely to actively seek interest into what differentiates normal humans from psychopaths?

It is my opinion that this happens for them in order to blend better in the society. They can perfectly mimic gestures that show feeling without actually experiencing the respective feeling. As previously discussed humans many times enjoy seeing the bravery of soldiers that go to war. Sadly we also seem to enjoy a good story about how a serial killer almost got away with murdering many tens of humans and almost did not get caught. This is our fault, when somebody is killed we are more focused on the killer than the victim. Two good examples would be Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper. We even find nicknames for these murderers.

We can only hope that we become interested in these cases in order to see punishment being applied to these individuals. Sadly, I do not think this is the case. More likely we look at movies and series about serial killers in order to satisfy a grim curiosity, but there should be a strong concern about the effect and the ideas these men can spread for all types of generations. We tend to forget the victims but not their killers and this is a tragedy of society. Furthermore, some can take inspiration from these sick men and become killers themselves. Pedro López is the second serial killer with the highest proven victim count of 110 victims. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_number_of_victims "During his incarceration, he claimed that he was brutally gang-raped in prison and that he hunted down his rapists and killed them all while still incarcerated. López said that after his jail term, he started murdering young girls in Peru." He is currently free, alive and aged 70. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_L%C3%B3pez_(serial_killer)  Luis Garavito shares the most possible victims with over 300 equal with Pedro López. He was found guilty for 138 victims. " Garavito(La Bestia) targeted boys between the ages of 6 to 16 who were either homeless, peasants, or orphaned". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Garavito I'm still wondering how it is that Pedro López was not given a life sentence in jail for the crimes he committed. The tragedies of the impacted parents by these 2 children serial killers are unimaginable. I personally did not want to look further into the lives of these men to find any kind of justification for these murders as they are unjustifiable. Another topic I wanted to write about was fake friendships, if I were to be cynical, I would categorize all friendships as fake friendships, it is rare where 2 individuals stand to not gain anything by having a relation with one another and still continue to be friends. So, all friendships are interest based. Neither families nor friendships are perfect, but we try and seek the company of individuals that resemble us, people we have something in common with. A true friend would be an individual that appreciates the company itself that one can offer. How could one gain anything by just mere company, well it would be hard to say, more probably the exchange of information is what makes or breaks a relation. It may be gossip, jokes or information to train your mind. Of course common activities would be the next step in a friendship, hanging out, going to eat something, playing video games together, your pick really. The more years spent together, the more one should trust one another. After a few years of friendship you could even confide in these people. Seeking advice could be done earlier, although theoretically some things are better to remain in the family. I should note it is not uncommon to find broken families. In that case a friend is closer to you than certain members of your family. I feel that all of this was not even worth mentioning, the point I was trying to make, is that there are stages of evolution in friendships, and it requires effort from both parties involved. When I actually think about fake friendships, I think of one way streets and information given that a "friend" may misuse to either gain an advantage or to harm you. This of course is more likely to happen in a workplace. There is a saying telling you to separate work from family and I would add from friends, however nowadays we spend so much time at work that it would be in everyone's best interest to create as good of a relation as possible with your workmates, make them your friends, the effort goes into deepening such a relation to the level is not only about work anymore all the time. For me a friendship should be based on mutual loyalty and a relationship based on fidelity. Without these pillars it stands to break faster or later. Lastly, there are the mutually beneficial relations based on favor for favor, although many times you will find individuals that will not offer their help even if you helped them. The same goes for money, a personal rule I made for myself is not to ever lend money expecting it to be returned. At least you stand the benefit of finding out if an individual is trustworthy or not.

But hey, what do I know?

Maybe all there is to friendship is having a good time, cheers to that.

Movie recommendation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBqmKSAHc6w  

Vices, Self-esteem and Depression

Vices, Low Self-esteem, Depression and Auto destruction will the subjects of this article.

Are you vice free(straightedge)?

I personally am not. Let's see what would qualify as a Vice as per Wikipedia "Vice is a practice, behavior, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, or degrading in the associated society." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice When I say vice however I mean addiction. There are multiple types of addictions, some of these include smoking, doping, using drugs, drinking alcohol, video games, sex and others. The most common vices are alcohol addiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption_per_capita and smoking addiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_cigarette_consumption_per_capita. These numbers may not be accurate, let's face it, we do not like being categorized as a person who has vices, therefore making us less likely to admit that we are. Furthermore, these 2 addictions are some of the biggest killers of mankind.

What do all these vices have in common?

They help an individual cope with the hardships of life and provide small releases of serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin gives the effect of happiness for an individual while dopamine is released by the brain based on a rewarding and autosuggestion basis. The other 2 most addictive substances for the brain are endorphins released when an individual is inflicted with pain and Oxytocin which is the substance secreted when an individual loves another, a love hormone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurochemical https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurohormone Furthermore cigarettes contain nicotine which is highly addictive, I, myself am a smoker for a bit over a year now. Alcohol offers a state of numbness and can affect memory. Drugs usually include substances that also reward the brain with said serotonin and because of the amount it rewards the brain with, they can become highly addictive. Marijuana the most common and even legalized drug in many states can impact your brain negatively especially if taken in adolescence. Other drugs include cocaine and speed, which give a rush to the user. Other more popular hallucinogenic drugs include acid and mushrooms. Lastly, one of the most powerful drugs is considered DMT which a substance the brain secretes during the dying moments of an individual. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N,N-Dimethyltryptamine Many people debate if not the substance itself creates powerful outer body experiences when having a near death experience. Steroid doping is also an addiction which provides the person with a rush when straining muscles, the pain produced by straining the muscles helps release endorphins. Video games reward the player with Dopamine when performing tasks successfully inside the game, these games can also include mobile games. Currently it's one of the most common addictions for kids. These releases of Dopamine are not only affected by video games, but also by social media. Other generations had a harder time procuring dopamine releases and it is said that person to person relations were the ones to stimulate the dopamine levels for our brains. There should be no surprise for anybody that younger generations are more prone to depression when the society we live in rewards the brain with the substances it needs to provide happiness but makes it easier to do it without having to interact with others face to face. This has created the side effect of having one of the most depressed generations in history(the millennials). Depression is often combined with a low sense of self-esteem. The individual doesn't see himself as useful or meaningful. Many times this low sense of self-esteem is also caused by external factors, like bullying or comparisons with other. We tend to post only our successes on social media, this leads to a toxic environment for the less successful people. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Demystifying_Depression/Quantifying_Depression

How to exit depression?

Firstly you should attempt to improve your sense of self-esteem, and then make meaningful relations with your friends and family. An occupation could also help generate interest in a certain domain and could help you find your passion. Passionate people although sometimes a bit centered a bit too much on their work have found their meaning in life. But what do I know, I am still struggling with my own fight against depression. Sometimes you just have to force yourself to do things or try things you otherwise would not. That is also the way this blog started, as an escape from reality while still discussing subjects of reality. My own take on depression is that sadly medication does not treat it, it only makes it less of a burden to carry around. You are still the one that needs to make small meaningful steps for yourself. A fitting saying says the following: "It is better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all." This should be the way many people take when trying to escape depression. Each and every one of us have the duty to get better, we live in prosperity, survival is easier than ever, however we cannot take joy in this due to factors outside our power of influence. Perhaps it is better to sometimes tackle the subject head on with your friends. There are many depressed but there are even more depressed people that are not diagnosed and feel the same things you do. You just need to find someone to listen to you in your hard times. A true friend. Who knows if he maybe had the same struggle and has surpassed his depression, maybe he could give you some better tips than I or even a doctor can give. As for the low self-esteem, I want to note that it is hard to get self-esteem on command. Perfection is something we strive for but never reach. With that in mind, perhaps something you haven't heard in a long while is that you do matter and you are important. Even if video games can cause addiction, I must also state that they provide great opportunities for companionship, at least multiplayer games. Why not take your time and befriend somebody from the other side of the globe, who knows it might reveal to you that we are not so different one from another. Lastly, I would like to mention that all these vices are undertaken by individuals who have not developed a proper coping mechanism to the problems and hardships of life. Such individuals may be very aware of the negative effects these addictions bring with themselves but due to carelessness or hate for oneself they develop a self-destructive coping mechanism. There are many drugs out there, including heroin, one of the most addictive drugs that can ruin one's life. I would like to influence you to not take drugs as a way of escaping reality and hardships. They will bring you to an even worse state compared to the one you began with. A good coping mechanism that a friend told me about was to note down everything I am grateful about during my day to day life. These can be from the most basic of things: For example that I am alive to me having food on my plate today. Start slowly to see the full side of the glass even if all you can see is a few drops, you can slowly at your pace fill up that glass of water, but this can only be done with a positive attitude. For a few days now I haven't had any inspiration to write, one of the few activities that make me cope with life and I am grateful that I was able to write this article and maybe help a few people in a similar situation with mine. Furthermore if you would like to contact me, to make a friend, I am not sure that I am the right person to do it, but I can give it a try.

The Fermi Paradox and the Great Filter

The Fermi Paradox, The Great Filter and the End of Humanity as we know it will be the topics of this article.

Are we alone in the universe?

There is a big likelihood if we live in reality that in one of the many other solar systems in other galaxies host intelligent life(aliens). I personally do not think we are alone in the universe.

How is it then that we have not yet encountered an extraterrestrial species?

There are a few answers to that question. We were not discovered by them because of the great size of the universe, this is a rather simple theory and pretty straight forward. As time passes the universe speeds up making exploration outside one’s galaxy more and more inconvenient. Let us assume that they are also more technologically advanced than us. If that were the case there would be 2 more  theories to be noted. Firstly, they made contact very early in our evolution before our recorded history. This would imply that they had no interest in contacting or interacting with a species as primitive as us. Secondly, they believe we are not worthy to interact with them, a sense of supremacy that came as a result of the technological advancements they reached. Another theory says they are not as technological advanced as us. Life started slowly from unicellular microorganisms, therefore there is a big likelihood that intelligent life is rare and we are one of the very few species that managed to evolve while other species never had the opportunity to evolve or were driven extinct by cosmic events. As for conspiracy theories, they made contact to us and their remains are stored in Area 51. This would prove to be very bad news for us as we do not know if they evolved to be vindictive and are preparing an attack on humanity. It could also be the case that they anticipated the steps we will take in the future and know that we might drive ourselves extinct so there is no reason for an attack or any kind of interaction. Lastly we have a few more theories. We could be the result of a probe sent by aliens to propagate life in the universe, this would make aliens our creators. This could go either way, they did not want to be alone in the universe, or they wanted another planet to be suitable for hosting their species or perhaps it was just an experiment to see how life would develop under other circumstances. Another theory is that technology overtook their species, if this were the case their planet might still host a form of technologically advanced civilization, which happily for us did not decide to further explore the universe. Worst case scenario they did not find us yet but are searching for us. A future where all the nature is overtook by artificial creations could prove catastrophic. Aliens in sci-fi movies are many times depicted as dangerous, our own culture makes it inevitable for too much of a hostile environment to arise if aliens are ever discovered. Aliens are also seen as a threat to the whole human species and are one of the few reasons why even nations leave their conflicts aside to face an even greater threat, the possible extinction caused by an alien attack.

Let us talk about the Great Filter, first we should define it. This would be the great filter of life itself. All species would have different hurdles in their evolution, these may have already been in the past, might be in the present or will come in the future. Examples of great filters in the past include lack of evolution of microorganisms, extinction by meteorite and nuclear war, the last one still being a hurdle in the present and in the future. Other scenarios that should be regarded in the present are overpopulation and global warming. As for the future we should worry about biochemical warfare, humanity being overtaken by technology or inclusion of humans in the singularity.

Would you still like to meet an extraterrestrial civilization?

I know for sure I would, even if it would become a dangerous encounter and perhaps the end of all we know. One of my favorite series as a kid was Stargate Atlantis. Perhaps that is the reason why I look with great interest in this subject, although it is sad that we have less and less so called proof of aliens as technology evolved. Our phone cameras are strong enough to take pictures of any so called Unidentified Flying Objects(UFO's) thus making conspiracy theorists and humans in general less likely to try and falsify the proof of alien existence. Lastly we talked a bit about Alien extinction and about human extinction by Artificial General Intelligence(AGI) in another article so I would like to propose some other dystopian futures for mankind without any particular order to them. World War 3 could be a possible event to cause human extinction, although nowadays the war is held in cyberspace and in other less developed countries as proxy wars of the most powerful nations on earth. "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Albert Einstein. Waste of resources could also kill us in the long run, especially with the increase of population from generation to generation. Global warmth could kill the nature around us and make more extreme differences between temperature highs and lows and nature phenomena. Solar eruptions or solar flares could also prove fatal. Uncontrolled nanotechnology that could eat up all resources at its disposal to multiply itself may also be a risk. Creation of a mini black whole during experiments could also wipe us all. In the best case scenario as did all prophesied ends of the world end without human extinction so will the current theories about human extinction prove to be false. Sadly, not much research has been done to proactively protect ourselves from these potential future events. This is best encapsulated in Nick's Bostrom statement in 2001 "There is more scholarly work on the life-habits of the dung fly than on existential risks." Another solution is colonizing other planets in order to avoid a full human extinction. Progress towards that is most commonly known to be done by SpaceX and NASA. A strong global economic crisis could also bring out a civil war and chaos in the streets or even more warfare between nations. Cyber warfare could also cause the extinction of the human race, the electricity grids may collapse, the banking system may collapse, you would be stuck with a meaningless piece of plastic instead of a card connected to your bank account, which may be empty at this point. Liquidity wouldn't help too much either, there would be a battle for nourishment. I hope this article helped you better understand how sensitive our way of life currently is. Personally I fear that these above mentioned extinction methods are approaching faster and faster and we do not put enough work in preventing any of them.

Which scenario scares you the most?

For me it is waking up one day in a world where money lost its value and the masses start revolting against themselves and the government causing civil war.

Here are some videos that inspired me while making this article:

The Fermi Paradox https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNhhvQGsMEc; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fQkVqno-uI

The Great Filter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjtOGPJ0URM

Movie recommendation:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYUd7AOw_lk