Reply #57: I have experienced people like this. I consider it to be the results of mental illness.

[meldroc]

Specifically, I'm talking about your classic psychopath. People like this are wired wrong - the part of the brain that empathizes with others, and causes one to feel bad when they see others suffering around them is broken. About 4% of the population is like this. Remember that school bully back in junior high? He's most likely a psychopath. Most shrinks would suggest that people like this usually end up in jail. No. That's just the guys who have other comorbid illnesses, such as ADHD, OCD, or bipolar disorder, or were just plain stupid enough to get caught. You'll see many of these guys in every day life. They frequently get ambitious, so you'll see them as managers, or authority figures such as police officers. Yes, you'll see them in corporate boardrooms, and in the halls of power in the DC Beltway.

No conscience whatsoever, so they're not constrained like normal human beings that strive to stop harm to others. These guys revel in it.

Remember, 4% of the population is like this.