Summary of some key points for those who prefer to skip the audio (forewarning: long)

Barbara the psychopath?

Barbara in the US is a listener to CrowdScience and contacted the programme makers with a startling question:

"I want to know if I am a psychopath. I suspect I may be".

Why does she think that?

- Lack of empathy and distance towards people.

- She feels much less emotion than people around her. Is not moved by much.

- If she doesn't see friends for weeks, months or even years, it doesn't bother her in the least.

- And yet, Barbara has spent most of her life surrounded by people as a nurse - an occupation associated with empathy, compassion and looking after people.

- She's never talked about this with her family. She feels she has to 'play' a role of being just like them.

- She talks about a 'glass wall' between herself and her family she has successfully maintained.

- She empathises less than other people. As a nurse, she does not cry at a patient's bedside, or at patient funerals. She prefers working nights to avoid emotional parents visiting patients in the hospital during the day.

- People think of nursing as a nurturing role but Barbara says you need to be cool under pressure. She also thinks in some ways it's a perfect job for a psychopath because it gives you detachment and clarity to situations often filled with emotion.

Does this all make Barbara a psychopath?

The rest of the programme tries to unpack what that loaded word psychopath means.

Colloquially we think of psychopaths as monsters or committing crimes. However, people can be clinically diagnosed as psychopathic without showing criminal tendencies.

Psychopath traits - what are they?

Be cunning or manipulative, pathologic lying, being grandiose, glib or superficial charm, lack of remorse or guilt, being callous, lack of empathy, failure to accept responsibility, poor behaviour control...and many more.

Do psychopaths commit more crimes?

Among violent offenders, yes, psychopaths are over-represented. However, being diagnosed a psychopath doesn't mean you will become an offender.

Research

Lack of empathy is a major area of research. How do psychopaths process other people's emotions and feelings? Does the lack of empathy lead to criminality? (No definite answers yet - it's complicated!).

Psychopaths who are 'pro-social'

- Some research shows that psychopaths can develop empathy or are able to switch empathy on and off selectively. Some of these psychopaths describe themselves as 'pro-social'.

- One of those 'pro-social' psychopaths is Professor James Fallon of the University of Californa School of Medicine. He has been clinically diagnosed as a psychopath and is interviewed in the programme.

There's much more in the programme, but it's a fascinating discussion.

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Aside: A lack of empathy does not mean being a psychopath. But I wonder if lack of empathy is over-represented among developers? It's a controversial thought, and feel free to shoot it down. But consider this: examples of lack of empathy abound in this profession.

- Beginners or newcomers are often labelled clueless or told to RTFM (Read The Fucking Manual) - the manual that doesn't exist or is so poorly written as to be useless.

- So many UIs (visual and non-visual) and interactions are badly designed by developers who show no empathy toward users struggling to complete tasks. If you can't use the software, you're considered a clueless and annoying 'newbie'. (How dare you suggest I 'dumb down' the interface to accommodate your cluelessness). Even that word 'newbie' carries negative connotations.

- Examples of abrasive behaviour in developer circles are too numerous to list.

So yes, my anecdotal experience is that lack of empathy towards other developers and users runs through this profession.

Feel free to disagree :-)