Insanity For Fun and Profit

I have been having a problem lately, my Tender Lumplings.  I had an idea for a really good blog entry about a week ago and I didn't get the chance to write it.  Nature and life conspired to blog block me at every chance and I just couldn't get it done.  And now, of course, I can't remember what it was about.  I'm sure it will return to me, I hope it does, I think you would have enjoyed it but for now I will have to deal with other topics. 

So what shall we discuss today then, hmmm?  How about the human brain.  That dense mass of gooey gray matter that, arguably, makes up our entire selves.  Nothing happens anywhere except in our brains.  We believe we see things miles away.  We believe we smell things.  We believe we can hear train whistles blow from around the bend of the tracks.  But do we?  Really?  All those things are just a flash of an electrical synapse in the depths of our brain.  We only know what our brain tells us.  We cannot have any other source of information.  We don't see or feel or hear anything really.  Our brain just tells us we do and we believe it. 

But what if you brain starts lying to you?

I've been reading a book about psychopaths.  No, it is not just a big book of stories about serial killers.  ( I have read that book though and it is pretty good.  You all know of my fascination with that subject.  But now having read about what some psychopaths have done I want to read about why they did it.)  This book looks at the way a psychopath's brain works and shows that being a psychopath, or having certain psychopathic traits, is not always a bad thing.  Few psychopaths become violent and in some areas being a ruthless, self serving, cold hearted and charismatic person is an absolute boon.  Think of the world of business, the stock market, the military and politics.  There is no place for emotion in those worlds. 

The good news is that from what I've read I can say with certainty that I am not a psychopath.  But I do have a few of their traits.  But after thinking about it for I while I have decided that I only exhibit those traits for my own amusement.  I am now officially announcing that I am a Recreational Psychopath.   Because I actually have emotions and feel things I can never be a true psychopath, but I can pretend.  I can lie, manipulate, appear to show no empathy or sympathy at all and be a complete narcissistic bastard but all for my own amusement.  And it is that pleasure I take from my bad behavior that proves I'm not a psychopath.  Stupid emotions ruin everything. 

This all goes against my hindu training.  It's all about compassion and selflessness.  That's great and all but sometimes, my Dearies, you have to have a little fun.  Until next time...