Reply #24: I thought as I typed it

[H2O Man]

that someonewould comment on that. It doesn't imply intelligence; a psychopath is no more likely to be intelligent than the general population is. It means that they try to pretend they feel the emotions. Let me quote a subject from page 33 of the book, who was serving time for kidnapping, rape, and extortion:

"Do I care about other people? That's a tough one. But, yeah, I guess I really do ... but I don't let my feelings get in the way. I mean, I'm as warm and caring as the next guy, but let's face it, everybody is trying to screw you .... You've got to look out for yourself, park your feelings. Say you need something, or someone messes with you .... maybe tries to rip you off ... you take care of it... do whatever needs to be done .... Do I feel bad if I have hurt someone? Yeah, sometimes. But mostly it's like .... uh .... (laughs) .... how did you feel the last time you squashed a bug?"

Now, remember this answer was in response to the simple question "Do you care about others?" If we count the self-references (in his manner of speaking, both "I" and "you" refer to himself), there are 18 times in ten sentences, versus 6 references to others (including "a bug").

So he intellectually attempted to indicate he knows what it means to care about others. But he exposed himself of being incapable of doing so.