Rich people and psychopaths?

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Business Insider March 17

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'Rich people and psychopaths tend to have 7 distinct traits in common'

MORGAN QUINN, GOBANKINGRATES

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'There's an unsettling correlation between psychopathy, a personality disorder characterized by a lack of conscience, and those who find personal wealth and success.'

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'The incidence of psychopathy among CEOs, for instance, is four times higher than the general population, reports journalist Jon Ronson in his book "The Psychopath Test." "Basically, when you get them talking, [psychopaths] are different than human beings," Ronson told Forbes. "They lack things that make you human: empathy, remorse, loving kindness." In studying psychopaths, researchers Paul Babiak and Robert Hare found that the high-stakes, high-profits corporate environment attracts these dysfunctional personalities. Psychopaths often share the same goals as many others: money, power, material goods, and influence. But as Babiak and Hare report in their co-authored book "Snakes in Suits," the difference between a typical corporate worker and a psychopath is that the latter views any means, even the harmful, cruel or illegal, as justified if they help achieve the end.'

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'Here are some of the most common psychopathic traits exhibited by the rich.'

'1. Lack of empathy

Psychopaths are incapable of empathy — understanding the feelings and experiences of others and responding appropriately. A lack of empathy was also linked to those who are rich and powerful in a 2008 study by social psychologists from the University of Amsterdam and UC Berkeley, reports The New York Times.'

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2. Egotism

Nobel economics prize winner and psychologist Daniel Kahneman tracked the achievements of 25 wealth advisers over eight years and found that their success was a total illusion, reports The Guardian.'

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'3. Superficial charm

Do senior leaders rise to the top because their judgment, vision, and management skills are superior to anyone else in the company — or do they get there by manipulating others, through charm, deceit, or a sense of entitlement? A study published by Psychology, Crime and Law tested the psychological traits of 39 senior managers and chief executives from leading British businesses and compared these results to those of convicted criminals. The business executives tested similarly to the convicts for certain indicators of psychopathy.'

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'4. Lack of remorse

Psychopaths are usually very charming and charismatic, but show little remorse when their actions harm others. A psychopath often blames others for the things he does, or the negative outcomes of his behavior. Ronson told Forbes that in America's capitalistic society, psychopathic traits and ruthless, cold behavior actually become positives. Among higher-scoring psychopaths, there was even a joy in manipulating others, actions for which a typical person would feel remorse or guilt.'

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'5. Selfishness

It makes sense that the rich can afford to be more generous and would thus be more likely to give than those who are less well-off, but a recent study shows that the reality is the opposite. An experiment by Paul Piff and a Berkeley research team suggested it's the poor, not the wealthy, who are more inclined to charitable giving, reports The Economist.'

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'6. Unethical behavior

Upper class people are more likely to behave unethically than lower class people, according to a series of studies from the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Data from the study suggested this unethical behavior was supported by a more favorable attitude toward greed. The series of studies showed that upper class participants were more likely than poorer participants to: Break the law while driving Exhibit unethical decision-making Take valued goods from others Lie during a negotiation Cheat to increase their chances of winning Endorse unethical behavior at work'

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'7. Prone to boredom

Psychopaths love to live life in the fast lane. Living on the edge gives them the sense of danger and excitement they crave, reports Psychology Today. Many psychopaths commit crimes or hurt others just for the thrill of it. Anything mundane, boring, or repetitive doesn't excite them and they will quickly lose interest.' 

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Very interesting and educational read from Business Insider.

My friend Chucky has mentioned previous related studies to me in regard to the connection.

In contrast, I would reason and deduce that not all persons that are rich or wealthy should be connected to those persons that are psychopaths or sociopaths.

I state this without scientific data but can reason that overall throughout human history many rich and wealthy persons and entities have done good for humanity, demonstrating likely not to be psychopaths or sociopaths.

On the other hand, in my recent post on my other blog 'Dr. Russell Norman Murray' entitled:

One Percent Owning More Wealth Than The Other Ninety-Nine Percent? I stated:

'I do agree with the concept of a 'living wage' or 'working person's wage. That being a wage within an economy by where a person can survive. I have significant difficulty with corporations ethically placing fiduciary responsibility to shareholders above a living wage for employees.

Just because persons will work at a certain wage level, as in market value does not mean it is a living wage, but rather economics and other factors may pressure persons to accept the seemingly best deal possible and corporations should not use the economic argument that if someone will work at a certain wage then it is ethically acceptable, even if legal. There needs to be other ethical and moral issues considered. Corporations should put persons and their welfare, including a living wage for all employees above fiduciary responsibility to shareholders.'

I as a Christian Theologian and Philosopher do seriously ponder on the spiritual and mental state of wealthy business leaders that run large corporations and companies, that ethically have little or no difficulty knowing that some of their employees or contracted employees are not earning a working person's wage while they as the rich and wealthy live abundantly.

Nothing is done is rectify this situation.

I am not stating that small businesses should be expected, necessarily, to pay a working person's wage; for example if one would hire the neighbourhood adolescent to mow the lawn.

I am also not advocating for a socialistic government style control of wages.

Scripture, although not calling the rich and wealthy psychopaths or sociopaths, certainly acknowledges, at least in general, the spiritual problem with being rich and seeking to be rich and how this works with interaction with the non-rich.

A key is not a government fix within capitalism, primarily, but a spiritual, ethical and moral change of business owners to take greater care and concern for workers.

Matthew 19:24-26

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

24 Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

1 Timothy 6:10

New American Standard Bible (NASB) 10 For the love of money is a root of all [a]sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 

Footnotes: 1 Timothy 6:10 Lit the evils

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

James 5:1-6

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of [a]Sabaoth. 5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have [b]fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and [c]put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.

Footnotes: James 5:4 I.e. Hosts James 5:5 Lit nourished James 5:6 Or murdered

New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Wealth is not inherently wrong, but its misuse is...

Philosophical & Theological Reflections On Satirical Images: Internet Explorer

South Africa, Facebook-Travel+Leisure

Telegraph March 17

New York Daily News: It has been reported that Eddie Hall has broken the dead lift world record. Congratulations.
Notice there is no six pack look to this man. This world-class athlete would not be the 'Hollywood hunk' on the beach would he? As I have at least alluded to online previously there is a difference between the bodybuilder build and the weightlifter build and this gentleman is a weightlifter. This gentleman likely has as over-abundance of stomach muscle which most assuredly would make him obese according to questionable medical Body Mass Index (BMI) standards and also according to Western societal 'beach' standards. For myself, I am still scaling down with sleep apnea treatments but I am physically a scaled down version of a weightlifter in appearance, and my Medical Doctor agrees with this basic assessment.  I am reminded of what a Pastor once stated back in the 1990s paraphrased: 'Make the best with what you have (physically)'. I reason this is wise spiritual and intellectual advice rather than judging self by modern Western standards and trying to achieve those.

Meaningful Beauty: I see the related television ads every late night after work. Sorry, I can clearly see the age difference. She looks her age is both photos. She appears to look after herself, granted, but I am not convinced by the 'French Doctor' hype.

Facebook: And what does Mr. T have at his house? 

Microsoft announces it is phasing out Internet Explorer which will be replaced by a new browser, but in reality did not IE phase itself out of much of the browser market over the last several years by being too slow and difficult to use? I certainly found this the case especially in comparison with Google Chrome and in the context of blogging with Blogger blogs. Internet Explorer became extremely slow and difficult to even attempt to use in a blogging context. But to be fair, Safari and especially Mozilla Firefox, in my case, were even more difficult browsers to attempt to use and so IE is still my back-up browser.

Shopia Amir-Google+:Very interesting design, but not good for sleepers with any various self-control issues...

Google+: Austria versus Australia for some of those from a certain country that gets these two nations confused...

Google/Facebook-Cited from the telegraph.co.uk, Sophie Curtis, March 17: 'Google has filed a patent application with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a wrist-worn device that could destroy cancer cells in the blood. The patent application, which has the name "Nanoparticle Phoresis", describes a wearable device that "can automatically modify or destroy one or more targets in the blood that have an adverse health effect". These targets could include enzymes, hormones, proteins, cells or other molecules that, when present in the blood, may affect a medical condition or the health of the person wearing the device. The wearable device is able to modify or destroy the cells by transmitting energy into the blood vessels. The transmitted energy could be a radio frequency pulse, a time-varying magnetic field, an acoustic pulse, an infrared or visible light signal. This energy brings about a physical or chemical change in the targets, with the aim of reducing or eliminating adverse health effects'. End Citations. I am hopeful for any cancer research for the benefit of human kind. But, I suppose a cancer cure patent could have trillions of potential benefits for the patent holder as well...

World University Rankings 2015

Thames River, Oxford

Business Insider March 11

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'Harvard University has the best reputation in the world, according to a new ranking from Times Higher Education (THE).

The US dominated the list, with 43 universities in the top 100, including eight in the top 10.

THE reports that 10,507 scholars participated in the 2015 invitation-only Academic Reputation Survey. According to THE, world reputation rankings "are based on the number of times an institution is cited by respondents as being the best in their field."'

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The rated top ten

'Harvard University

University of Cambridge (United Kingdom)

University of Oxford (United Kingdom)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stanford University

University of California at Berkeley

Princeton University

Yale University

California Institute of Technology

Columbia University'

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The overall reputation of an educational institutional is important, but in my view for the individual student his/her academic needs and requirements takes priority over the reputation of a University.

At the course work academic level, which institution best suits the academic requirements for the student and in my case, formerly working on British research theses only degrees, which program and advisor (s) would work best within an academic program.

I considered attending Cambridge, but their representative required me to complete a Graduate Records Exam, which would have taken months of study, and was outside of my academic subject areas, before beginning Doctoral research.

In contrast, the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, at Lampeter, although a much smaller University, required MPhil and PhD theses, which was much more beneficial to me in the academic process.

It therefore, in my opinion, was more reasonable to work with Wales, which I signed with eventually after a brief time at Manchester,

Wales also at the time was highly ranked in specific areas of learning relevant to my academic career such as in the Complete University Guide published in association with The Independent newspaper; the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter was ranked 13th in the UK.

In December 2008, the Research Institute for Theology & Religious Studies was rated 9th in the UK for its research strength by Research Fortnight magazine in its RAE 2008 Analysis Power Rankings.' 'Then in February (2009),

The Guardian newspaper placed the Department in first position in the UK for the number of postgraduate distance learning students.

While looking for academic employment I have asked for feedback from academic institutions and what I have been told is that teaching subjects are a priority and having those fit within an institution, therefore, in my case those would be the problem of evil, theodicy, free will, determinism, the nature of God.

Being as I earned my Doctorate within the United Kingdom academic system, which would be the same system as 'Oxbridge' my subjects of expertise would be significantly more important than where I earned my Doctorate.

This employment philosophy is likely similar for others within academy in the Western world.

Mutual Respect

Interesting from Business Insider...

Telegraph March 8

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'A female television presenter brought an interview with an extremist cleric to an abrupt end after he told her to "shut up" and said that he did not respect her. 

Rima Karaki, an anchor on Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed TV, was interviewing the London-based Islamist Hani Al-Seba'i when the argument started.'

''Al-Seba'i was being asked about reports that some Christians are joining Islamic State fighters, when he went off on a tangent and started talking about the history of Christian involvement in the Middle East.

"Dr Al-Seba'i, let's focus on the present," Karaki suggested, adding that time for the discussion was limited.'

"Listen, don’t cut me off. I will answer as I please … what kind of behaviour is this?" Dr Al-Seba'i asked.

When Karaki reiterated the time constraints, Al-Seba'i lost his temper and told her to: "Shut up, so I can talk."'

'"It’s beneath me to be interviewed by you, you are a woman who ..." he continued, before his microphone was cut off.

"Either there is mutual respect, or the conversation is over," Karaki said, as she terminated the interview.'

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A lack of respect for females and women is documented at times by the Western media as coming from the Islamic world which is very male-dominated.

Therefore this story is not surprising in an Islamic cultural context.

It should be noted that the full context of the dialogue of the interview is not provided.

From a Christian, Biblical worldview females and women should be respected and views females and woman as equal in ontological (existence) value and importance and this includes within conversation and dialogue. 

This would be based on the Biblical concept of male and female made in the image and likeness of God the Creator (Genesis 1: 26-27) and the respect and love required which can also be seen in Biblical commandments in both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.

All persons should be respected within conversation and dialogue.

In regard to equality of male and female, Christianity and reasonable secular ethics have ethical, moral and philosophical agreement.

Robot Orchestra?

BBC News March 4

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'Retired engineer Seth Goldstein has created a "kinetic sculpture" that can replicate digital music files and play them on a violin. The machine uses software to analyse the digital files and generate numbers to control the electronics and power the machine's motors - enabling the violin to produce the same notes as were originally played.'

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As I noted on Facebook, I view this robotic classical music as artistically superior, to a lot of music; by this I mean a lot of the popular music that has been released in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries which lacks significant creativity, artistic merit, and to a lessor extent in importance, complexity.

To me the robot or robotic classical music still sounds genuinely classical, even as not human, and that is still more creative and artistic than much pop music...

My bias is that although I do not dislike all popular or pop music, I generally like music that is not mainstream, is more creative, more artistic and more complex.

My iTunes therefore mainly features progressive and art rock, jazz rock (fusion) and classical.

On a related note...the other week at D and A's, the Princess wanted to prove to D, that she was a classically trained singer and that D was wrong and that she could sing higher than the a-ha vocalist that was after all a male, on the highest note in the classic song 'Take On Me'.

She proved D wrong, and just about shattered the glasses in the kitchen and my eardrums...

Facebook

441,883 Views

BBC News

This robot can play the violin http://bbc.in/1DTTVsl

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  Russ Murray robot orchestra...

  5 hrs · Like
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  Donald Derrick Still not as good as a human - thank God. I would like to wait another 20 years or so before we are *entirely* replaced by robots  

  4 hrs · Unlike · 1
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  Russ Murray Still better than a lot of music though...

  3 hrs · Like
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  Donald Derrick Yes. But the violin does that for free 

  2 hrs · Like
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London, trekearth

Ugly Stories

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Telegraph March 3

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'Di Maria was allegedly sold by Real Madrid for being “too ugly” by Darren Richman'

Telegraph

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Why was he moved on? Well, according to Barcelona’s assistant Director of Football, Carles Rexach, the reason is an unusual one: Florentino Perez looks at the world market and wants a team of Galacticos for everyone to admire. Do you understand what I mean? Ronaldo is the flagship of the club. Perez is selling an international brand. Vicente del Bosque and Di Maria are too ugly for Real Madrid. They are different from Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez.

Yep, apparently the Argentina international was sold because he’s not handsome enough. Or so says one man who works for their bitter rivals.'

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The trillion dollar satirical question is therefore...

Have I not received work as a Theology or Philosophy professor as of yet because I am not a 'pretty boy' like Ronaldo?

I had rhinoplasty surgery after being bottled in the face in central Manchester back in 2001, in regard to my sleep apnea treatment, but perhaps it just was not enough...
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Daily Mail March 2

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'Infatuated US teen found almost frozen to death on bank of Chinese river after travelling 7,000 miles to be rejected by girl he fell in love with over the internet'

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'Fell in love' over the internet? Yes, a sad story.

This person needs a reality check and to meet people in person first before being 'in love'.

However, for balance I can understand web interest, but mutual lurking and dialogue, if it occurs, does not equal being 'in love'.

A potential for love, exists perhaps.

James 1:5-8 English Standard Version (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.