Antisocial Personality Disorder

Originally Posted by Flint

The scientific method is designed to fend off flawed assumptions. It intends to compensate for our desire to color our perceptions with personal bias. It does a pretty good job considering the impossibility of that task. Luckily, science isn't carved in stone. We peel away the layers as we go.

Yes, that's why we have the sciences of psychology, psychiatry, and neurology. Personality is NOT a "magical spirit from the land of fairy tales and unicorns." Some aspects of personality or some tendencies do seem to be inherited - autism, schizophrenia, and some forms of intelligence are examples of this.

Most neuroses and, to a large extent, personality disorders, are more the result of early childhood experiences than they are brain chemistry. I suggest you read the book by the respected psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck called People of the Lie, if you are in doubt about what constitutes personality and what constitutes evil.

The world cannot be explained by physics alone. To attempt to do this just goes to show how ignorant of science you really are.

Originally Posted by Flint

What other options are there? It's physical, or it's something else.

Exactly. Its physical and a 100 if not a 1,000 "something elses." Good science does not fall back on black and white thinking. Science is subtle and complex. Try cracking a book on biology or psychology sometime. You'll be amazed.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by marichiko

... the respected psychiatrist, M. Scott Peck

I honestly don't think those terms have ever been used in conjuction with that name. You mean the Road Less Travelled pop psychology guy, right?

"Made a lot of money" <> "respected"

[Pangloss62]

Maybe there is no why, at least in the metaphysical sense. "Why are we here?" "Why do we die?" "Why do accidents kill little kids?" I see this world (and we as a species) as having no real "reason" for being here other than to manifest our bilogical imperative to reproduce. As I've posted before, just because we can "imagine" a better world as in the Lennon song doesn't mean it will occur. We sure have a bad track record.

The sun is dying and will one day engulf the earth.

Originally Posted by wolf

I honestly don't think those terms have ever been used in conjuction with that name. You mean the Road Less Travelled pop psychology guy, right?

"Made a lot of money" <> "respected"

From Wikipedia: He (M. Scott Peck) graduated from Friends Seminary in 1954, after which he received a B.A. from Harvard in 1958 and an M.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1963. He served in administrative posts in the government during his career as a psychiatrist. He was the Medical Director of the New Milford Hospital Mental Health Clinic and a psychiatrist in private practice in New Milford, Connecticut. His first and best-known book, The Road Less Traveled, has sold more than seven million copies.

Now, Wolf, I'm sure your academic credentials in the field of psychiatry put Dr. Peck to shame. It is especially outrageous of the man that he wrote a popular book on psychology that gave understanding of the field to millions of lay-people. TSK, TSK, Tsk! I suggest you read People of the Lie, if you can stomach reading the ideas of this charlatan.