Which begs the question, How is violence and Psychopathy linked? It's an interesting question, and one where the answer is more ambiguous than perhaps we'd wish. As I mentioned in my last post, there is a wide spectrum of psychopathic personalities. The most studied is the low IQ, Criminal Psychopath, and that's where Antisocial Personality Disorder falls on the chart, in the middle is your everyday sociopath who wields varying but balanced combinations of criminal tendencies and superior intellect, which usually makes him perfect for the wonderfully cutthroat world of business and other such endeavors. Finally, on the far end of the spectrum, opposite ASPD, is the Psychopath, highly intelligent, silently narcissistic, clever and self-aware. The high functioning Psychopath is fully capable of equally 'heinous' crimes as the ASPD'er, but they are more known for premeditated, tricky crimes that if found out, generally fill the media with fascinating fodder for weeks, if not decades.
The thing people don't realize however, is that as much as Neurotypicals differ, so do we. To say all Psychopaths are violent murderers would be foolish, but to say none were would of course be even more so. It's almost like a rockstar who people picture being this amazing freak all the time, until they one day meet them and find they're just as boring and mundane as everyone else, though of course some of them truly do live the lifestyle. Hence their very short, very interesting lives.
Motiveless murder is fascinating on its own. Killing someone in rage is understandable even to the emotional. But purely for some unknown pleasure, that's what truly terrifies people. To think that no matter how nice and good and pleasant they are to people, their life can still end in a horrifyingly violent and bloody way. But what is the difference between a psychopath prone to serial murder/sexual assault, and psychopaths who-aren't? My only hypothesis is Sadism, pure and simple.
"I wish I could stop but I could not. I had no other thrill or happiness. "
-Dennis Nilsen
9 comments:
I do not pretend to be the New York Times. All that is contained herein is purely and inarguably, my thoughts, speculation and whatever else I see fit to discuss.
Your thoughts are poetic, but not bounded by a literalness I was hoping to myself reach, but failed. It's motiveless because a serial killer kills for that definitionless pleasure it gives them. A motive is considered a conceivable (if illogical) reasoning for a murder besides "it filled a need." A motive is "my wife cheated on me with my brother so I killed her" or "Everyone at the school harassed me so I took my daddys shotgun and blew them away."
Perhaps your definition of sadism and mine differ drastically. Perhaps my post lacked articulation (plausible) or perhaps we simply disagree.
Sadism is a literal word I used meaning they get actual enjoyment from the killing. They like to kill and that's why they killed. Maybe I'm wrong, serial killers DON'T like to kill. But then again, now I'm just being pissy.
I think your point here is skewed, in fact, I'm not really sure you know what it is. I spent a lot of time in jail for the murder of a stranger. I'm not sure I'd call myself a sadist but I guess that's what I am. I don't know the difference between what you were getting at and what the guy before me was but your post seems to imply that in reality the motivation is out of boredom. I did it because I was curious what the inside of a human looked liked in comparison to the various cats, dogs and whatever else I used to play with. It wasn't a driving need but I'm not sure it was purely 'sadism' either. Who knows, maybe I should pick up hunting. No jail time for doin that.
My time in the Can was unexciting. Unlike half the morons in there, I truly had no intention of not getting back out. My roomie though, poor kid, really didn't have the mindset of a criminal. We had lots of fun together. I remember one day though, getting out of hand. I caught him sendin a kite with shit I didnt appreciate being spread, apparently he thought someone else was scarier than me so thought it ok to piss on what the fuck I told him not to do. Someone else took control. I hardly even remember what happened but I know that night I had him up against the wall, practically twisting his balls off, and when he begged me to stop I did. I handed him a shiv, told him to take off his fuckin jump and start cutting or I'd start cutting for im.
I guess he could've screamed but what good would that do when I'd tell anyone in reach he's a kiddie fucker? Safety in prison is relative.
The gaurds did find out tho, they put him on suicide watch, they had no clue I made im do it.
After lookin it up, im sure I'm a sadist. I enjoy inflicting pain on people, but not in an overly conscious way if that makes sense. The way you worded your post Notable made it seem like you speak from experience. Is that what it is for you, a driving 'need'?
Yeah, it isn't much premeditation on my part until that part of me picks a victim. Once the opportunity is there, it is so hard to say no. If it is bad enough, no isn't even an afterthought.
I assumed it was an unspoken agreement that explicit description of any actual crime is not a very clever thing to do. Notable knows that Cadaver, which is no doubt why he was vague in the first place.
I can only write from my own experience. I specifically stated all psychopaths are different before I went into my own theorizing on the manner. For me it is exactly as I described it. I am a sadist, and that is a defining fact. It is a powerful motivation in my life because few things can incite a physical reaction in me like satisfying that particular need. You can call it whatever you like- that's your prerogative.
Not everyone is born with bloodlust. I've had it since I was a child. My point was, for a psychopath, what else could be a motivation for killing a stranger than enjoyment? TNP said it was a need, a release of tension. I call that tension, bloodlust or sadism. Although not in mixed company.
I apologize for deleting most of my comments, but the two of you saw them already, thankfully. Even vague, I think they were more telling than I'd like them to be. I hope you can understand.
Bloodlust is one thing. I know that VERY well, both when incited, or looking for an excuse, but the other type of hunger, that's a different creature to me. A very different creature. It's a creature that doesn't settle for anything less than blood being spilled.
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