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Serial Killers/Sociopaths/Psychopaths

kuranes

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Yeah. I used to correspond with a guy who was formerly Manson's prison psychiatrist, and also Edmund Kemper's.
 

Anja

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I have been interested in them for a long time. Started with Samenow and a lot of biographies. Now feel pretty saturated with their predictability.

Interesting to bump into this today as I had a conversation with someone about Manson yesterday. I have trouble with the idea that he was "pure evil." Or that he had unusual powers over others. Heck, he was just a street corner psychologist who, much in his own, I believe accurate, perception had the bad luck to be the scapegoat for a generation of wayward hippies.

In fact, after a generous reading regarding psychopaths I find many of them to be pretty pathetic creatures.
 

cherchair

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Serial Killers/Sociopaths/psychopaths

Anyone else find them fascinating? Interesting?

I'm not, but my partner is. IRL she's the executive director of a statewide civil rights organization and is a dogged champion of the underdog, especially those in the disability community. Sometimes I think if certain judges, lobbyists and legislators start disappearing...:D
 

kuranes

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In fact, after a generous reading regarding psychopaths I find many of them to be pretty pathetic creatures.
There aren't many Hannibal Lectors captured in real life, that's for sure.

Some are more interesting than others. In some cases it is their personal characteristics that are interesting ( assuming they can ever get their side of the story out ) and sometimes it is more the quirky details about how they got caught, or their own strategies and second-guessing that were more compelling. In some cases I learn about foreign cultures by reading about their life, such as the case of Charles Sobhraj.
 

Amargith

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Yup, I find them very fascinating..much like an errupting volcano, so I prefer not to come too close ;)
 

Wild horses

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acutally no.... because I don't let myself be... I don't like contemplating dark things for too long as it drives me a little crazy but I'm sure if I really got into it then I would be
 

The Ü™

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:yes:

Albert Fish was among my favorites.

And I also have fond memories of my Chikatilo avatar.
 

Haphazard

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In fact, after a generous reading regarding psychopaths I find many of them to be pretty pathetic creatures.

This is why I have little interest in them. At least, the real ones.
 

The Ü™

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How so? Other than the fact that they kill others?
 

Anja

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'mornin', Uber!

I agree with you that Fish and Chikatilo certainly are standouts among the many. Two other favorites are those hillbilly booger-eatin' morons Otis Toole and Henry Lee Lucas. Too good to be true. Cartoons!

If you're asking why I find many psychopaths pathetic it's because they seem to me to be enslaved by the characteristics of their personalities in a much more rigid manner than the average Joe. Suffering from the delusion of freedom but chained by their consuming impulses.

How many of them exist among the population of the US is questionable but guesstimates are, a probably modest, five hundred.

Since a true psychopath tends to escalate his behavior with each "success" and because the behavior has, (thus far) been so far outside the scope of accepted human behavior, most seem doomed to escalate themselves into self-destruction or imprisonment. And sadder yet, never seeming to achieve satiation. The best the best of them can manage is mention in a psychiatric handbook.

But how gnawing that endless hole in the soul must feel to the person who has it. Tortured individuals.

A frenzy of malice expressed in narcisscistic satisfaction which consumes its very host. The inevitable sordid ending of the ones we know makes them figures of personal tragedy for me.

"Evil" is a greedy master which devours all it reigns over. My take.

But, oh, the ride must be glorious madness while it lasts and therein lies the fascination. For me it has become a story with the inevitable similar ending, the sole interest dwelling in the detail.
 

nolla

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I remember reading in a science magazine that the amount of psychopaths is something like 5% of the population. Are you people only talking about the ones who KILLKILLKILL? I am not interested in those. But, my friend and I have this theory that the kind of people that are running things in the companies are very close to what psychopaths are. It is logical really, because when they are high enough in the company, the people turn into numbers on some statistic diagram. It is very useful to have a psychopath up there. He doesn't need to consider the human consequences of his decisions.
 

Anja

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Thanks for the clarification, nolla. Yes, When I cited the five-hundred I was talking about the serial killers.

And that's my thought on pyschopathology as well. They walk among us. Heck, they lead us!

They're the only ones of us who can stand the pressure of their chosen roles! Ahem. President Carter aside, of course. ;)

Then that leads to thoughts of degree. Socio- versus psycho-.

Are all psychopaths by definition murderers? Don't know. They certainly are capable of acts which cause destruction, both personal and societal.

So here's a puzzle to me:

What about Jefferey Dahmer? Did he really have a "normal" childhood? I keep searching for clues to the family secret.
 

The Ü™

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Why does everyone assume that serial killers are raised in dysfunctional homes? Surely, it must be possible that some people just aren't afraid to use their latent killer instinct.
 

digesthisickness

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Why does everyone assume that serial killers are raised in dysfunctional homes? Surely, it must be possible that some people just aren't afraid to use their latent killer instinct.

while i too think it's limiting to think childhood would be the reason for killing, i also think it's limiting to think that it's 'fear' that keeps everyone else from killing.
 

lowtech redneck

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while i too think it's limiting to think childhood would be the reason for killing, i also think it's limiting to think that it's 'fear' that keeps everyone else from killing.

Yeah, some of us just hate the thought of cleaning up the mess, afterwords.
 

Totenkindly

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Yeah. I used to correspond with a guy who was formerly Manson's prison psychiatrist, and also Edmund Kemper's.

Really?
What was he like?
And what sort of temperament could help a guy deal day-in and day-out with this sort of person?

I always thought Kemper was fascinating, since he was so darn smart and had so much self-awareness, compared to some psychopaths. Funny that he turned himself in once he had killed his mother, realizing that was really all he had wanted to do the whole time.

(Of course, that sort of introspective capability and intelligence makes him sort of frightening too. Aside from him being 6'6".)
 

prplchknz

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while i too think it's limiting to think childhood would be the reason for killing, i also think it's limiting to think that it's 'fear' that keeps everyone else from killing.

Fear is why I don't kill. Seriously if I could get away with it I might kill some people I know.
 
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