Just letting a few brain marbles roll around...
Clearly, it is in our self-interest to study what conditions may contribute to psychopathy and the purposeful manipulation of others. I think organized religion is a great place to harbor these dysfunctions because they have the unknown to fill in as they choose. No shade to organized religion.
All just my opinion- How do you stimulate these behaviors in a person with whatever genetics may predispose them to pschopathy?
1. Focus on superficial appearance at the expense of lived experience. It is better to look good than to be good. Dysfunction does not matter if it is covered with an attractive veneer, and exterior beauty is the most valued trait a person can have.
2. Focus on inauthentic expression of emotions or suppressing emotions . Act happy/perky when you are sad, angry, etc. Our emotions are our translation of what we see in the world. If you distrust and hate your emotions you learn to sever and numb them. A person who is untethered from their own interpretation/language of emotions is vulnerable to manipulation and they lose all internal standards of appropriate behavior. It can turn someone into a puppet or a pure "id" personality. (An aside, I think this also causes much of substance abuse.) We need our feelings.
3. Focus on control as a theme song and hierarchy governs who has control. You are either one of the passengers or the driver. If you do not have the apparent hierarchical privilege, your ONLY option to feel control is to manipulate someone who does. Manipulation is the child of powerlessness, and we all need a sense of agency.
4. Focus on one's specialness regardless of one's contributions or skills, and excuses are made for behavior that violates the social contract. No consequences. "Doesn't count for me" was Lori's refrain. Lori really has not acheived anything in her life (including an enduring loving relationship with her children) and she mines credibility and prestige from the people around her, particularly men. eg-Lori loves to mention that Charles was a semi-pro baseball player.
We need feedback from the other humans to tell us when we've crossed the line. It is the consequences that constitute the feedback. No consquences? No feedback, and no lesson. I think it was Annie Cushing who brilliantly called this a kind of echolocation between humans.
You have to recognize that you are no more or less special than others for this feedback to mean anything to you, though. You also need to echolocate in a community of others who are truthful about the harm you are doing and who care about the harm you are doing. I don't think an organized religion can accomplish this goal unless it is a dynamic rather than just a container made of rules.
