Psychopathies are the hereditarily transmitted anomalies; mainly of the human instinctive substratum. They represent deficiencies of this natural phylogenetic endowment, but are of a diverse nature. We know of a number of distinct kinds of these anomalies which differ both in nature as well as in hereditary transmission. Therefore, it should be understood from the outset that they are biologically different entities.
The most active in terms of ponerogenesis is what the suppressed scientists referred to as "essential psychopathy." Nowadays this type is described by many researchers though they often use varying nomenclature.
This anomaly is best known due to its often dramatic involvement in life tragedies involving women. Colin Wilson discusses what he calls the "Right Man", which might in other uses also be called the "Dominant Male" or the "Alpha Male", though here we are concerned with extremes in behavior, not just ordinary dominance or leadership characteristics. This description, though using different terminology, gives a good picture of the type of essential psychopath. Most often the essential psychopath is a domestic household tyrant terrorizing his family, but they can be found in all fields human endeavor. They are recognized early as childhood bullies and torturers of helpless creatures.
Wilson's discussion is based on the work of A.E. Van Vogt who is the author of a number of psychological studies. Van Vogt's concept of the 'Right Man' or 'violent man' is important here for its descriptive power of the pathology in question; not necessarily for its interpretation. Wilson writes:
"In 1954, Van Vogt began work on a war novel called The Violent Man, which was set in a Chinese prison camp. The commandant of the camp is one of those savagely authoritarian figures who would instantly, and without hesitation, order the execution of anyone who challenges his authority. Van Vogt was creating the type from observation of men like Hitler and Stalin. And, as he thought about the murderous behavior of the commandant, he found himself wondering: 'What could motivate a man like that?' Why is it that some men believe that anyone who contradicts them is either dishonest or downright wicked? Do they really believe, in their heart of hearts, that they are gods who are incapable of being fallible? If so are, are they in some sense insane, like a man who thinks he is Julius Caesar?"
"Looking around for examples, it struck Van Vogt that male authoritarian behavior is far too commonplace to be regarded as insanity. [...] [For example,] marriage seems to bring out the 'authoritarian' personality in many males, according to Van Vogt's observation." [...]
"... 'the violent man' or the 'Right Man' [...] is a man driven by a manic need for self-esteem -- to feel he is a 'somebody'. He is obsessed by the question of 'losing face', so will never, under any circumstances, admit that he might be in the wrong." [...]
"Equally interesting is the wild, insane jealousy. Most of us are subject to jealousy, since the notion that someone we care about prefers someone else is an assault on our amour propre. But the Right Man, whose self-esteem is like a constantly festering sore spot, flies into a frenzy at the thought, and becomes capable of murder." [...]
"He feels he [is] justified in exploding, like an angry god. [...] he feels he is inflicting just punishment."[...]
"... the one thing that becomes obvious in all cases of Right Men is that their attacks are not somehow inevitable'; some of their worst misdemeanours are carefully planned and calculated, and determinedly carried out. The Right Man does these things because he thinks they will help him to achieve his own way, which is what interests him."
"And this in turn makes it plain that the Right Man problem is a problem of highly dominant people. Dominance is a subject of enormous interest to biologists and zoologists because the percentage of dominant animals -- or human beings -- seems to be amazingly constant. [...] biological studies have confirmed [... that ...] for some odd reason, precisely five per cent -- one in twenty -- of any animal group are dominant -- have leadership qualities." [...]
"The 'average' member of the dominant five per cent sees no reason why he should not be rich and famous too. He experiences anger and frustration at his lack of 'primacy', and is willing to consider unorthodox methods of elbowing his way to the fore. This clearly explains a great deal about the rising levels of crime and violence in our society." [...]
"We can also see how large numbers of these dominant individuals develop into 'Right Men'. In every school with five hundred pupils there are about twenty-five dominant ones struggling for primacy. Some of these have natural advantages: they are good athletes, good scholars, good debaters. (And there are, of course plenty of non-dominant pupils who are gifted enough to carry away some of the prizes.) Inevitably, a percentage of the dominant pupils have no particular talent or gift; some may be downright stupid. How is such a person to satisfy his urge to primacy? He will, inevitably, choose to express his dominance in any ways that are possible." [Colin Wilson's A Criminal History Of Mankind (1984).]
Now, Van Vogt's and Wilson's analysis misses the core of the problem - essential psychopathy - but he has described the type in its external manifestation and has touched on the genetic issues if only tangentially.
In my own researches it became apparent that a profound investigation of this type was necessary when it appeared that it played a chief inspirational role in the macro-social pathology still called "Communism." The frequency of its appearance varies from country to county. My estimation for Poland, my home, is approximately 6 per thousand.
The instinctive substratum of such individuals lacks natural syntonic responses. It is as though there are gaps in the natural endowment, or "missing strings" on the instrument. As a result,
such individuals are unable to understand subtle human emotions and even what could be considered moral common sense. They are egoists as well as pathological egotists, trying to force other people to feel and think as they demand.
As a result of my long experience observing this phenomenon and attempts to track it to its source, I share the conviction with other researchers that this anomaly is
inherited via the X chromosome. If the mother is normal on both her chromosomes, the son is genotypically free. In some cases, this is essential information so that the punishments for the "sins of the fathers" are not visited upon the sons. The daughters are then the carriers and they sometimes - more often than not, but not always - demonstrate some pathological characteristics. The question as to why not all of them exhibit pathology is a question that needs to be investigated.
The schizoidal psychopath appears in both sexes and is similar both in presentation and frequency. This suggests that the anomaly is transmitted autosomally. Its average frequency is somewhat higher than essential psychopathy but varies considerably between racial or ethnic groups. Appearing in its highest frequency among Jews, and due to the exceptional tenacity and persistent nature that characterizes this pathology, it marks their whole civilization and world view and activity.
The instinctive substratum of the schiozoidal psychopath operates as a whole as upon shifting sand. They lack a natural sense of psychological realities. They have very efficient intellects, but it dangles over dimmed feelings of human nature. Nevertheless, the intellectual aspect persistently strives and endeavors to generate great doctrines and amoral strategies that are cunningly conceived so as to act suggestively upon na�ve individuals whose intellects are not so well developed. The schizoids and their doctrines have played the initial role in creating the great macro-social tragedies of our times.
In family relations, the schizoidal psychopath engenders dispirited and depressive states in their partners. The less intellectually developed types seem to be easy tools for more clever intriguers. When their mistakes in judgment or association result in serious troubles, they easily fall into a reactive state closely resembling schizophrenia.
Asthenic psychopathy can be noted to be the most numerically significant classification. There are doubts as to whether all the symptomatically similar cases are sufficiently similar nomologically speaking. It seems that some of the asthenic types have certainly played a role in the genesis of evil, but others seem to be easier able to adjust to the demands of normal social life.
The skirtoidia appears similarly in both sexes. These people are emotionally dynamic, coarse, lacking understanding of subtle issues of morality. The males make very good soldiers, but when their energy is not channeled in such ways, they become overly egotistical, weaker versions of the above-mentioned "right man." They abuse their wives and children, but are sufficiently concerned with their own well-being to not cross the line of the law.
The old psychiatrists of Eastern Europe also included in their taxonomy "debilism" or "salon debils" . This is a qualitative anomaly understood as hereditary and somewhat similar to schizoidia. Such individuals were generally decent, but marked by flat, coaxing talkativeness and an inability to understand any sort of serious matter.
I have listed above the most often described types of psychopathies with which I am familiar. Various hybrids of these anomalies, and more rare anomalies known or unknown or insufficiently described, comprise the pool lurking within societies. Such a pool exists in all countries of the world, (but its composition varies) consisting of from 4% to 9% of the total population.
Detailed knowledge on the nature of all of these anomalies, particularly on their biological properties, is basic to any prospect of realization of practical action in all fields that might help to shield humanity from the actions of such social pathogens. In my own case, the possibilities of one person, working in the most inconvenient and impossible conditions, were quite small; now I can only appeal to other researchers to promote work in this important field for the sake of the survival of humanity.
