Psychopaths exist on a continuum. The high functioning ones are less psychopathic than the extreme ones. Intelligence also plays a role.
One characteristic of psychopaths is the inability to learn from punishments. Interestingly, it has been found that they do respond to rewards. It is possible, to some degree, to modify the behavior and habits of a psychopath by the use of carrot if not stick.
Psychopaths are seriously harmful to their fellow human beings and society at large. They present a thorny ethical dilemma as from a utilitarian point of view, it would be prudent to abort all fetuses that are future psychopaths if it could be reliably detected at that stage. On the other hand, all manner of nasty scenarios would be opened up if that were a strong recommendation let alone mandatory.
"It is possible, to some degree, to modify the behavior and habits of a psychopath by the use of carrot if not stick."
It seems logical that they would respond to rewards, however once the rewards stop or they work out a mechanism to gather greater rewards, they will opt for that mechanism. If this mechanism causes harm to others they will be indifferent, or even pleased, as they reserve their greatest derision for their victims.
All research about psychopathy, that I have inspected, concluded psychopathy is incurable. Therefore efforts to cure or mend their ways is a waste of time. If you find yourself close to one, you should escape as quick as possible. This is difficult if they are family members, spouses or work colleagues.
This post by tarazkp, highlights the necessity of game theory within cryptocurrency, to punish inevitable bad behavior. The current haejin flag war is no better example of this. It also highlights to people who think that there is good in everyone, that they are incorrect, such foolish thinking will make you easy prey to a psychopathic predator.
Remember most psychopaths are non-violent. But they will damage you mentally and spiritually. The best thing you can do is avoid them, if possible. Definitely don't try to fix them. They can't be fixed. Nor listen to them if they tell you they will change. They can't change.
I'm talking about modifying the behavior of children with early signs of antisocial personality disorder (the modern name for psychopathy). That diagnosis is not even given to minors. The environment has an effect on how children with those traits (except maybe for the high end) turn out.
I think many people with a great deal of skill exhibit sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies so aborting might be a bit harsh.
However, I think in the future there are going to be various alternatives such as shipping and recalibration for certain factor but again, there will be ethical considerations raised. takes all kinds to make this world and dealing with some kinds make the rest stronger in various ways too.
I do not believe that a psychopath behavior can be changed with reward . It may cause a change in a decision but not the root problem . You cannot teach empathy . There are evil people in this world and they will never change . I am referring to true psychopath not them that could / might fit into the mold somewhere . There are people with psychopathic tendencies , They are not psychopaths , manipulative bastards , but not psychopaths
I agree with the response by rob.roache .
We here in American probably have between 80 - 120 active psychopaths right now . The number of psychopaths in our society is somewhere around 1 % of our population , That's a lot of people .
I don't know if I put this in the right place (chain)
What to do with true psychopaths is an interesting question. Sea-steading is a concept that billionaires such as Peter Thiel, are considering as a way to escape government interference and ensure personal security. Such man-made self-sustaining islands could be constructed and true psychopaths might be banished to these islands to live out their days where they won't be a danger to the general public.
Separation from people seems the only way to ensure true psychopaths might be prevented from damaging their surrounding humans. I would only suggest this for psychopaths at the high end of the spectrum. Serial rapists and pedophiles could also be quarantined on these islands due to their inability to change and their danger to people who surround them.
I don't want to sound cruel but there is only two things that can be done . One is to remove them completely as you suggested and the second is to send them to God and let him figure it out . I prefer the later
Yeah, send them back to their maker for him to figure out what went wrong. lol
Psychopaths drive people to suicides and cause severe suffering to many in their lives and commit a disproportionate number of horrific crimes. I do not agree with the takes-all-kinds argument and seriously question the humanity of psychopaths. Roughly speaking, the human mind can be thought of consisting of a primitive or "lizard" layer of base needs including sexual lust and power, a human level consisting of empathy and the ability to form genuine social bonds, and an intellectual level responsible for abstract thought. A psychopath is one who only has the lowest and the highest levels of the three. In my opinion, they are intra-species predators and parasites best eradicated or cured if possible. But I do realize the practical and ethical problems in any attempt at doing so however well thought-out.
The actual estimate is around 4% of the population (spectrum remember) and most who do exhibit tendencies are not violent nor are they so manipulative. Some are highly driven though and do tend to do well in business and politics....
I think 1/25 is setting the bar quite low. A regular asshole is not a psychopath.
Yeah, I think this is the issue as to where to draw the line though. If you include regular assholes, it might be 3/10 :D
:D