A colleague today told a about a recent work trip where he was in Austin, Texas. He likes to run and as the days were long (with other colleagues of mine), he would jog after dinner, in the evening. But, after a couple days, he heard that where he was running along the river, is also the hunting ground for a potential serial killer, the Rainey Street killer, who may be responsible for a dozen or so deaths in the area over the last couple years.
The estimate from the FBI is that at any given time, there are over 20 active serial killers in the United States, and possibly far more. Which if you think about it, is pretty incredible really, until you do the math.
The estimate is that between 1-4 percent of people are psychopathic. This doesn't mean that they are evil people, it is just that they have some of the tendencies of a psychopath. However, if we use the lower limit of 1 percent for ease of calculation, the numbers are pretty interesting.
8 billion people on earth = 80,000,000 psychos.
That sounds like a lot, but at the same time, most of these aren't necessarily violent, at least not in the traditional sense of the word where they are killing people with their bare hands. However, psychopaths make for good politicians and business leaders, so they might be killing people via proxy. But, that is something I might get to later. But, if we assume that 1 percent (likely closer 10 percent) of the psychos are indeed violent, we would have 0.001% of the population.
80 million psychos = 800,000 violent psychos.
800 thousand sounds like a lot of violent people, but spread between 8 billion people, they probably just mostly blend into the news and of course, some of them are in prison already. For example in the US, there are currently about 1.2 million people in prison, which is 0.03 of the population. Perhaps 30% of the prison population are psychos? I have no idea.
But, what is interesting is to be considered genius enough to get into Mensa, it requires an IQ of about 130. This translates to 2% of the population. It is likely that psychopathy, like intelligence, is a trait from birth, but it could be affected by environmental conditions. Regardless, what this means is that about 2 percent of the psychos are also considered genius, with IQs above 130.
800,000 violent psychos = 16,000 genius, violent psychos.
That is on a global level of course, but it is a pretty bloody high number to think about. And then, what kinds of violence do they perpetrate? They likely aren't all going around in the middle of the night hunting their prey, but they could be in militaries, militias, drug cartels, organized crime and the like. They can use their genius psychopathy to earn a living, and not get caught.
But, what this means for the US with a population of about 350 million people, is that right now on the lower limits, there are 3.5 million psychos, 35,000 violent psychos, and 7,000 genius, violent psychos. And, if one percent of the genius-level violent psychos are indeed serial killers, that would mean that there are about 70 in the US right now, which is pretty close to the estimate by the FBI.
And, I would like to point out, that this is being pretty conservative with the numbers, because it is likely that there are more percentage-wise than the numbers I have used here. And, remember that genius level is on a scale, so that can mean that some percentage of that 7,000 are very, very smart.
But, it is also good to remember that while 2 percent of the violent psychos are geniuses, the other 98 percent are not. This means that they are mostly just normal people in the midrange, and very stupid in the low range - but still violent psychos.
I wonder, while the prospect of being hunted and killed by a serial killer is scary for most of us, especially since they make such good characters in films and books, is it the other 98 percent that we really should be worrying about? The ones that are indiscriminately violent, the ones that lose their temper in the moment and reach for the nearest weapon, no matter who is around to see?
The other question is, that while psychopaths might be part of us by nature, are we also creating psychopathic tendencies through nurture? Is our culture encouraging the development of psychopaths and sociopaths, or the mimicking of their behaviors?
This is a list of "psychopathic traits" taken from a search:
Lack of Empathy: Psychopaths have difficulty understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
Callousness: They show little concern for the well-being of others and may even take pleasure in causing harm.
Detachment: Psychopaths often appear emotionally flat, lacking in emotional response or depth.
Manipulativeness: They may use charm, lies, or coercion to achieve their goals.
Self-absorption: Psychopaths tend to be overly focused on their own needs, desires, and interests.
Entitlement: They may believe they are above the law and deserving of special treatment.
Conceit: Psychopaths often have an inflated sense of their own abilities and importance.
Impulsivity: They may act on sudden urges without considering the consequences.
Premeditated Offenses: Psychopaths are more likely to plan and execute deliberate, calculating crimes.
Lack of Remorse: They show little to no guilt or regret for their actions, even when harming others.
Constant Lying: Psychopaths may engage in habitual deception to achieve their goals or maintain a false image.
Sensation-Seeking: They may be drawn to risky or thrill-seeking behaviors.
Scroll through social medias, influencers and generation-Z in general, and how many can you tick off on your bingo card? A lot of the social media incentives tend to bring out a lot of these behaviors.
We might call it a social feed, but for some of us, it might be more a menu.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
It is very scary to think that social media and media in general is helping create these behaviors in others. However, now that you mention it, I can see how it is apparant in many nowadays.
A lot of places seem to have got pretty "stabby" lately. It is in the news all the time.
It is 24 hours of "stab, stab" around the world. Instead of the zombie apocolypse I guess we will all die from the pyschopath purge.
In this day and age I'm actually surprised that we still have serial killers. With all the video cameras outside of homes and establishments, it will be difficult not to get caught. I would think that those genius psychos aren't going to do any killing. If they are then they're not really geniuses are they.
With all those cameras around cities, it is incredible that they can't catch anyone in cases like random stabbings.
Genius doesn't mean good. :)
Oh yeah, but they would be smart enough to know that there are better ways to go about it than being a serial killer.
Maybe they are that smart that they are bored with other ways :)
Well, that tears it. I will most likely have trouble sleeping with all those serial killers running around genius or not lol. Probably one under my kitchen sink right now! Damn, thanks alot LOL
Honestly, as much as I like modern ways of communication, I do think it brings out all sorts of bad behavior. We're on a train that ain't stopping.
Under the kitchen sink is where the smartest of them hide.
But yeah, the behaviors we are encouraging and incentivizing, aren't the ones that lead to a healthy society.
Very interesting. I am definitely a psycho for sure!
I am not, but I definitely have some traits :)
Serial killer big deal?😄 For some years anywhere in my country, almost everyday one kills another, even something little might trigger the action. People have lost their understanding and patience towards each other.
Yep. Normal people are the real eager, because normally, normal people are dicks.
interesting timing of this post. Just yesterday I was thinking about buying Monster manga. 9 books about a genius serial killer. I already own in my opinion the best fantasy books Berserk so I would like to have the pinnacle of thriller as well. Right now Monster books are especially tempting because they are on a discount. Also I fear that it might go out of print again. Still for now I resisted the urge to buy. I am a bit spoiled by Berserk manga because it has both a magnificent story and unbelievable art. Monster has great story but visually it is not as good as Berserk( almost nothing is as good). Also I may need that money to buy Hive if the price will drop much more...
I don't know much about manga, but supposedly, the trick to writing a genius character, is to write it backwards. Start with the kill, and then build all the tricks to get there after.
I’ve heard about the so-called 'Rainy Street Killer.' The police claim that the 12 deaths in the area over the past two years aren’t suspicious. I’m not sure about that myself, but having lived in Austin, I know that many intoxicated people wander from Rainey Street down to the Lady Bird Lake area. It wouldn’t surprise me if some of these incidents are simply people falling into the water while drunk.
But it isn't as exciting or scary to think it drunk people making huge mistakes.
Psychopathic traits do seem to be on the rise, or at least we’re more aware of them now because so many people share everything on social media.
Drunk deaths aren't as scary for sure. Here, people sometimes freeze to death because they fall asleep drunk outside.
But... how to prove it! ;D
Yes, we are more aware for sure, but also I believe they are increasing. Even if psychos aren't, many people have at least one or two of the behaviors.
Agreed. Social media, I think, causes a lot of those traits.
You mentioned that psychopaths will be good for politicians and you posted some of their traits here that they lack empathy
Don’t you feel politicians should be full of empathy🤔🤔
Good as politicians in the governments we currently have. Same for business. Both are unhealthy currently.
I don't think empathy is as useful as people think it is though. Compassion is far better.
Interesting topic and does make you think what is out there in a weird kind of way. Thankfully living in a country riddled with crime you are on another level when it comes to being vigilant whereas most people are not and I suppose would be considered easy prey. On our holiday travels recently I noticed that I was always aware of every detail around me and would give every one a once over and this is a habit I have picked up.