Can all psychopaths' become murders?

I had a thought in grade school. If one of a hundred people are psychopaths’ and they each kill one hundred people then the human race would become extinct. Except if they killed eachother instead than the statistics would be favorable.

@RedDeerGuy1 Doesn’t really answer my question but I assume some of them take jobs that some people wouldn’t take. Like executioner, or possibly prosecutor who secretly loves framing people and looking like a hero. Would be great if they just killed each other. Like a game to see who is more skilled than the other. Think they had a show like that. Highlander.

@Pandora Most mentally ill people are more likely to be victims of violence rather than the perpetrators of violence. Any human can become a murderer. I would think that with a psychopath diagnosis that it doesn’t guarantee that they would become a murderer. They would be far from it.

I guess that they would be attracted to professions that allow them to become jerks. Hopefully they would be screened out of jobs in a position of authority over marginalized populations.

From what I understand, someone who is a sociopath lacks the ability to empathize with others, and lacks the ability to fear (the ability to anticipate and dread future negative outcomes). Neither of those things means the person will be necessarily violent.

Not trying to pick an argument, but almost anyone “can become” a murderer depending on circumstances. The potential to commit violence isn’t restricted to people with clinical mental disorders.

No. Too many possibilities.

@JLoon @RedDeerGuy1 This is true. But my question isn’t about a person with normal thinking processes.
Psychopaths often believe they can get away with things and are excellent manipulators. They too can get upset and angry. They aren’t devoid of all feeling. When a non mentally ill person gets angry they process their anger, through grief, shock, crying, verbally, or even withdrawal or denial or try to turn things around in a positive manner. Yes, some may kill but the odds are that most of the time they will find a harmless outlet. Psychopaths can still get angry and but I imagine have a harder time reigning in their anger. Not saying they are incapable of doing it or we would have 32 million running around killing all the time. But they are also are 25 percent of people in jail.

@Pandora Ok then I don’t know. I can relate only from D&D. That neutral evil exists just for personal gain. Or to watch the world burn. I’m not sure that the specific severe type of algnment/mental illness exists, that you mentioned? Only different sides.

One groups hero is another groups villan. Even if your group is one member or 350 million people. We just get to pick our groups. Mental illness can be one’s personality or as something tangible.

@Pandora – Not all murderers are psychopaths and not all psychopaths are murderers. You seem to be asking “What makes the difference, and does the difference matter?”

But you may have already grasped at least half the answer – by wondering whether degrees psychopathic aggression are the result of external influences, or instead the are product of mental pathology itself. Almost by definition, psychopaths and others with severe deviant disorders do not process or react to life experiences in a normal way. And the persistence of their distorted thought patterns even after intensive therapies suggests they never can. There’s no reliable “cure”, only negative reinforcement aimed at curbing the most dangerous behavior.

Yes anyone could become a murderer.

@KRD Yes that has been already established but it isn’t what I’m asking. Read the rest of the comments.

Not a well-defined question. The answer would vary by definitions and by degree. Non-psychopaths can become murderers too. Do you mean someone who gets convicted or murder, or a serial killer?

Most psychopaths are not murderers. They’re individuals and the psychopathic things they do and how they think, vary.

I’ve read your comments but I am not clear what else you might be really asking?

@Zaku – No. NO!!

She means my comments. MINE!!!

Do I need to end you like all the rest?? It’s easy, really. Even fun. Just one less person who doesn’t pay attention.

And there’s nothing better than knowing I’m guided by a higher power.

@Zaku & @JLoon After seeing that people were misunderstanding what I was asking, I wanted to change my question, but Fluther isn’t like Facebook where you can go back and give more details. So in my exchanges, I feel like I gave a clear view of what I was asking.
@JLoon I don’t know if you are being facetious. My question is about psychopaths. Not about the whole human race.
I asked this question because I read the story about the NYC train killer. It made me think that he was probably a psychopath which lead me to read about them and then I wondered about what possibly triggers some to murder and not others. Of course, it could be a psychotic episode. Now that I know there is a difference but still, I’m just curious. Telling me over and over again that anyone and everyone is possible of murder isn’t an answer.

It’s like me asking how do you grow elephant ears and I tell you like you do any other plant. Sun, water, and dirt. It is a big Duh, but a tropic-loving plant has different needs than a pine tree. Yes, they share the basics but if you are growing elephant ears in Alaska outdoors, it won’t last long.

I’m wondering if there are different levels of their mental illness that allows some to control their behavior or can society can make it worse for some.
It’s really okay if people don’t know but gets annoying when they repeatedly say that everone is capable of murder even after I said I know that. I’m not trying to understand why people kill. But rather what drives psychopaths.

@Pandora – Me? Facetious??

I think I do understand, and what I said in my second answer is as clear as I can be with my own opinion – What triggers psychopaths to commit extreme violence has less to do with external factors than the twisted forces working inside their own heads.

In a way I share your fascination. But given that we’re talking about roughly 1% of the population, I think there’s a limit to how much any insight from abnormal psychology can apply to understanding the rest of humanity.

I think this 11-minute NPR interview could be really interesting to you. Don’t read about it ahead of time. There’s a surprise twist.

“I’m wondering if there are different levels of their mental illness that allows some to control their behavior or can society can make it worse for some.”
– Yes and yes.
– On the other hand, psychopaths might actually be somewhat harder to influence by society, because one of the main things about them is they don’t care about other people much at all, except possibly to get something they want. If killing someone isn’t a step on the path they see to what they want, then like most psychopaths, they probably won’t kill anyone.

“what drives psychopaths”
– It varies for each psychopath. Just because they don’t care much about morality or others’ well-being doesn’t mean they don’t also have their own interests. In fact, I think they may tend to (by some measure) have more (or at least, from some perspective, differently) varied interests than people constrained by morality and other social constraints.

@JLoon Yes, though I think sociopaths are on the same “spectrum”, and there are quite a few of those, especially if you include borderline cases.

@longgone Oh, that was interesting. Though now I have more questions. Now I wonder if that gene is that can make some aggressive may be a throwback to cavemen? If perhaps it was necessary for man’s survival.
Also good to know that high serotonin levels during pregnancy can help make things worse. Luckily I was very stressed when pregnant with my son and luckily no murderers in our family tree on either side.

@Pandora Glad you liked it. I think it’s fascinating, too. The serotonin thing is especially strange.

@longgone Yet it makes sense. When you take a drug for a long time, it can become ineffective. so I can see why serotonin or drugs that act like serotonin may be ineffective. Or also explain how they can remain calm as well during times that other people senses of fear or panic would rise. I’m sure you’ve heard or even said sometimes the following. “Too tired to care.” Well it doesn’t always mean physically tired. Some things you just feel blase towards. And it may point to their indifference to things or people.

The nurture part does also answer some of my questions.