I came across an interesting list recently. It's of the ten professions which apparently attract most sociopaths. The list comes from Kevin Dutton. I haven't checked out how he derived his list. He has an interesting take on the phenomenon of sociopathy, one which I do not necessarily go along with. In brief, he grants them a useful and valuable role in human society. As they possess fewer behavioural inhibitions than most people, they will readily do stuff that others will feel reluctant to do. "Need something done? Ask a sociopath." Hmmm. Needs to be treated with care.
But with these provisos in place, I present his list of sociopath-friendly professions:
1. CEO
2. Lawyers
3. Media
4. Salesperson
5. Surgeon
6. Journalist
7. Police
8. Clergy
9. Chef
10. Civil Servant
The distinguishing mark of a sociopath (or psychopath, the words appear interchangeable, with sociopath the generally preferred one these days) is absence of moral conscience. They have no empathy, no fellow-feeling. A sociopath can cheat, lie, deceive, exploit, steal, harm their way through life without qualms, without conflict. Remorse and regret are not a part of their emotional vocabulary. They will cry at a funeral, not because they feel sadness, but because that is what you are supposed to do at funerals. Provided they can get away with it, they will do so without inhibition.
Call me naïve, but some of the professions on the list are precisely those which seem to call for people with a sense of ethics; who feel for justice, truth, honesty, decency, fair play. Who possess a moral conscience. Lawyers and the police, for example: justice, honesty, an eye and a heart for the good. The media and journalism, tasked by society with providing truthful impartial information, in order for citizens to understand the world and come to balanced intelligent judgements themselves. The clergy, in whose hands is entrusted the spiritual welfare of the community. The civil service, whose job is precisely that, to serve the civil, the society.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Dig just a little deeper, and lo and behold! These professions don't carry out such functions very much at all. The law and its enforcing professions are not there primarily to dispense fairness and justice. They are there to maintain a system; one which, by the by, tends to promote attitudes that characterise those of sociopathic disposition. The media and journalism have become tools for promulgating particular socio-political programmes and agenda. Impartiality does not feature in the majority of modern media. It's been an overwhelmingly successful hijack, and one which far too many people still refuse to acknowledge.
Similarly, the civil service. Many members of this profession are not civil servants, but self-servants. Any current efforts by the UK government to drain the swamp will face stiff opposition from the self-service. As for the clergy, well...….. And even surgeons. Call me a sensitive wimp, but I'd prefer my brain transplant not be undertaken by a morality-free psychopath.
Of course, the majority of members of any profession fall short of being out-and-out sociopaths. I have read research which suggests that around 1% of the total population can be thus diagnosed, which rises to around 3% in the 'guilty professions'. But it is worth taking seriously, I submit, the tendency of professions such as media and the law to attract those of ethically-flaccid mentality. It gives a certain attitudinal slant on things, and helps to explain much.
Part Two
I have had during the course of my life a number of friends who have put forward the proposition that 'the problem is capitalism.' Much of the bad stuff in the world is due to capitalism. Take out that system and the planet will be a better place to live. I also know of people who say the same about socialism and communism. Evil resides in these systems; remove them, and life will be happier and more harmonious.
The same charge has been brought against various religious systems, particularly the monotheisms of Christianity and Islam.
In my view, all of these 'the problem is......' propositions are well wide of the mark. They are made by people with something of a moral conscience, looking for the root of immorality in the world of humans. Their well-intentioned naivety has failed to absorb the reality that much of the mayhem is caused by people who possess little, if any, moral conscience.
A sociopath on a greed or power trip will have no allegiance to anything like a social or political system, or a religious tradition. No allegiance whatever. It matters not a jot what the -ism or -ology proclaims: if it does the trick, that's all that matters. To a sociopath, this preoccupation with finding the right system is probably very sweet, very cute, very irrelevant. The mind of a sociopath has transcended such petty concerns. If it works, use it...
From the Bolshevik Revolution to the hippie movement, all manner of collective ideology or entity has been taken up and used for its own ends by the psychopathic element which is one part of moulding human history. In our times, it's notions associated with the modern fractured and fractious left that particularly bear the flag for sociopathic advancement. Globalism, 'diversity and multiculturalism', politically correct -isms and -phobias, climate emergency; these are at the forefront of advancing sociopathic agendas today. Global-tending organisations such as the UN and EU work overtime to further the cause. It is our duty as citizens on this planet to scratch beneath the surface, read between the lines, and not be duped. It's the least we can do.
Images: Yamantaka, one of the Dharmapalas, protectors of truth and the moral order
One view of the psychopath
Just a random pic
