Psychopaths, Con Men & Human Nature

Pop culture has warped the reality of nearly all social conditions & behaviors. In particular, we tend to either glorify or simplify those that deviate from "normal" human nature.

Psychopaths: The Unburdened Mind

“I don’t think I feel things the same way you do.”
The man sits at the table in the well-fitted attire of success—charming, witty, and instantly likeable. He is a confident, animated speaker, but he seems to be struggling with this particular point. His name is Frank, and he is a psychopath.

In the public imagination, a "psychopath" is a violent serial killer or an over-the-top movie villain, as one sometimes might suspect Frank to be. He is highly impulsive and has a callous disregard for the well-being of others that can be disquieting. But he is just as likely to be a next-door neighbor, a doctor, or an actor on TV—essentially no different from anyone else who holds these roles, except that Frank lacks the nagging little voice which so profoundly influences most of our lives. Frank has no conscience. And as much as we would like to think that people like him are a rare aberration, safely locked away, the truth is that they are more common than most would ever guess.
(via DamnInteresting.com)

Con Men: How To Cheat At Everything

It's an amazing paradox--a con man has incredible emotional insight, but without the burden of compassion. He must take an intense interest in other people, complete strangers, and work to understand them, yet remain detached and uninvested. That the plan is to cheat these people and ultimately confirm many of their fears cannot be of concern.

Con men tend to be excellent conversationalists. "Many men kissed the Blarney Stone," Mr Lovell likes to say, "a con man has swallowed it." A con man puts a victim at ease by telling a story that reveals his own rather similar anxieties, thereby forging a "mutual understanding" of sorts.

"Now you can prey on their emotions and do evil--because con men are evil, undeniably so," Mr Lovell says. He smirks, admitting pride in past cons.

Just then we are interrupted by our waiter. Mr Lovell notes his British accent, immediately parroting it. The waiter, it turns out, is from north-west London, and the conversation turns to a lively discussion of Watford football. Once the waiter is out of sight, Mr Lovell explains: "You must have an encyclopaedic knowledge of odd bits of trivia and use these facts to win people over."

The reality is not so dramatic, in fact it's quite simple: these people merely combine the desire to please with the ability to manipulate. Perhaps we dramatize these characters because it'd be unpleasant to recognize these frightfully common traits at the table next to us. Or, to some degree, in ourselves.

Back at lunch, our waiter returns with a complimentary round of drinks and free desserts, beaming.
(via MoreIntelligentLife.com)

Daydream Believer

Jonah Lehrer on how creativity benefits from a wandering mind.

"If your mind didn't wander, then you'd be largely shackled to whatever you are doing right now," says Jonathan Schooler, a psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "But instead you can engage in mental time travel and other kinds of simulation. During a daydream, your thoughts are really unbounded."

It is this ability to tune out the present moment and contemplate the make-believe that separates the human mind from every other. "Daydreaming builds on this fundamental capacity people have for being able to project themselves into imaginary situations, like the future," Malia Mason, a neuroscientist at Columbia, says. "Without that skill, we'd be pretty limited creatures."

Our persuasion of children to stop daydreaming and focus might actually be detrimental to their development and society as a whole.

After monitoring the daily schedule of the children for several months, Belton came to the conclusion that their lack of imagination was, at least in part, caused by the absence of "empty time," or periods without any activity or sensory stimulation. She noticed that as soon as these children got even a little bit bored, they simply turned on the television: the moving images kept their minds occupied. "It was a very automatic reaction," she says. "Television was what they did when they didn't know what else to do."

The article continues on to define types of daydreaming and the implications on autism, schizophrenia, and the aging brain.

Early on in my career, right before a pressing deadline, I was caught by my boss surfing the net with a glazed expression. I was flustered, but she smiled and said,

"Thinking is not a linear process."

Thought of the Day

I'm sure you've heard it before: "Quarter Life Crisis". It seems to have become more and more common, as the phrase "Mid-life Crisis" has seemingly found a reprieve from social discussions.

While both are real problems that can cripple the affected, I find myself much less sympathetic to the QLC (as Wikipedia calls it). Why?

"Snap out of it!"

You can say that to the twenty-something regretting their college major, hating their mundane desk-monkey status and boo-hooing their last break-up ("Really, this time, this was the one!"). In fact, i often do. But see, I'd would not and could not say it to the balding 50 year-old with a dead-end job, an ungrateful child and a wife whose vocabulary has whittled down to the essentials for nagging criticism. He wants a fire-red two-seater convertible? Go for it, because frankly, he should be in crisis, his life sucks and he's stuck.

In contrast, sufferers of QLC have their whole lives ahead of them. Regardless of how badly things are going, they have an invaluable luxury in their hands: Time. And with that, Hope.

QLC's anxieties & frustrations should be a catalyst for change, and in that sense: Empowering. You're 27. You work for an imbecile who takes credit for your reports? Switch jobs. You feel bored in your field? Go back to school. You're still fixated on your last "love"? Stop moping and get on with it while you still have your looks. No matter how critical you are while taking inventory of what you have and don't have, here are the facts: You don't have a mortgage. You don't have a family to support. You do have your health. So, snap out of it!

Alright, now i'm off to poison myself with malt beverages while bemoaning my poor choice of university, my sexist pig of a boss, and the hopelessness of true love in Manhattan.

10 Smartest TV Shows

..according to MENSA. Here's the list with comments by MENSA chairman Jim Werdell.

1. "M*A*S*H" – It had smart repartee and was so much more than a comedy.
2. "Cosmos" (with Carl Sagan) – Sagan was able to communicate something extremely complicated to the layman and do it well, and that’s unusual for a scientist at his level.
3. "CSI" — The way they use science to solve their programs is intriguing to viewers.
4. "House" – Again, it’s high level type of show; it’s the personality that makes it a winner, plus it deals with science.
5. "West Wing" – You had to pay attention to stay up with it. The repartee was fast and furious and you needed a fairly high level intelligence to keep up with it.
6. "Boston Legal" – It’s primarily because of the characters. The story lines are okay, but the characters are incredible and the writers give them great dialogue.
7. "All in the Family" – The show dealt with social issues before its time and was on the forefront of trying to show people’s feelings, beliefs and the complexities of personality, in both a serious and comedic way.
8. "Frasier" – The repartee was sensational; the main characters were very good. Even though they portrayed people who were likely of high intelligence, they also showed their weaknesses.
9. "Mad About You" – It’s a personal favorite, I loved the characters and the back and forth. It was very smart.
10. "Jeopardy" – It’s about the only game show that really tries to test people’s intelligence. There’s very little luck involved, and there are few game shows like that. I don’t watch it all that much honestly, but from what I’ve seen it tests more than knowledge, it tests intelligence too

.

I'm pleased to find "Boston Legal" on the list, it's grossly under-rated in my opinion. Here's a clip:

The New Yorker- Full Edition

For the first time (or by mistake), the entire issue of the latest New Yorker is available online. Usually they leave more than a handful of articles off so's to encourage you to shell out the bucks at the newstand.

The New Yorker, September 8, 2008 edition.
I highly recommend the profile of Alec Baldwin by Ian Parker, titled "Why Me?"
My favorite 30-Rock clip below, which does justice to the genius of Alec Baldwin.