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Civilopathy and the Decline of America

James Howard jmhoward at sprynet.com
Wed Sep 2 12:44:14 EST 1998


Civilopathy and the Decline of America

James Michael Howard
Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S.A.

In March of 1985, I wrote a treatise entitled “Evolution of Sociopathy in
Western Civilization A Philosophical Treatise,” (Copyright 1985,
Registration No. 1-545-639).  I said: “Sociopathy is here defined as an
increase in the frequency of behavior typified by immediacy, ethical egoism,
and irreverence in all socioeconomic levels.  Immediacy: action due to
direct awareness of sensory data as contrasted with what is added by memory
and association or thought.  Ethical egoism: individual self-interest is the
valid and of all action.  Irreverence: failure to offer due respect to that
which is properly reverenced or revered; lessening of respect for
traditional values.”  The insights that came from that book, and further
thought, gave rise to another book in 1985, “A Theory of the Control of the
Ontogeny and Phylogeny of Homo sapiens by the Interaction of
Dehydroepiandrosterone and the Amygdala,” (Copyright 1985, Registration No.
Txu 220580).  My theory of human biology has evolved since these two books.
I now have a clearer understanding of the etiology of sociopathy.  I now
understand that I should rename this; I was not writing about sociopathy,
rather, I was writing about a new set of personality characteristics I now
call “civilopathy.”

I recently looked up “sociopath” in a new dictionary and found that
sociopaths lack a conscience and are intensely antisocial.  We know these
individuals.  They are relatively easy to identify.  Many of them end up in
prison.  The distinguishing characteristic is their antisocial behavior.
They are an evolutionary failure, because their antisocial characteristics
reduce their ability to reproduce.  Not many women find them attractive.
They do not leave many offspring, partly because they are often in jail.  I
have finally realized that I was really thinking of individuals who lack a
conscience, or who posses a misshapened conscience, and are intensely
social.  I call them “civilopaths.”  They should be evolutionary successes,
because they should reproduce rapidly.  Women find them very attractive.

I coined the word, “civilopathy,” to explain a phenomenon that I think
occurs within every civilization.  If I am correct, civilopaths, male and
female, will reproduce faster than people who posses a conscience, or if you
prefer, morals.  People who have sex without morals will produce more
offspring.  In my first book, I separated civilopaths from people with
consciences by suggesting that civilopaths exhibited low cerebral control
and low discrimination in terms of people with whom they would have sex.
People with a conscience exhibit high cerebral control and high
discrimination.  I define civilization as a place where aggression and
sexuality are controlled.  That is, it is a place where high cerebral
control is exercised over aggressive impulses and discrimination is
exercised over sexuality.  When civilopaths increase within a civilization
to a point that the “average” behavior exhibited lacks cerebral control over
aggression and sexuality, the civilization begins to decline.  These
individuals are pathological to civilization, hence, civilopathy.  I think
all civilizations first increase in individuals of high cerebral control;
they build the civilization.  However, once formed, this is conducive to
survival of civilopaths.  When they reach a certain concentration, the
civilization declines.  I think the rise of civilopathy has caused the
decline of past, great civilizations.

I would like to quote part of the very last paragraph of my first book:  “If
I were to describe the individual I fear most in their effect on our
society, he or she would be the extreme of what I have been discussing with
one additional characteristic, high intelligence; in other words the
intelligent sociopath [civilopath].  This person can succeed in professions
which are of utmost importance to our society.  He will, like all of us,
seek positions in our society which are most rewarding in money, power, or
‘respect.’  The fact that these professions are so rewarding may have
already attracted this type of person; evolution selects those who are most
fit.  I fear that these professions are already rampant with these people
and, I think that they may have already done much harm to our society.”  I
suggest that this is what is currently occurring in America.  Civilopathy is
rapidly increasing within the general population and within our leaders.
Two signs of this would be a leader who exhibits low cerebral control and
low sexual discrimination and a population that does not see these
characteristics as faults.

(You may read my explanation of the biological mechanism that drives the
increase in civilopathy at the end of my explanation of human evolution at
http://www.naples.net/~nfn03605/.)






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