What I think are "Schizosapiens"

 The name "Schizosapiens" came to me at around 3:00 a.m. a couple of days ago. At first I felt shame because it seems like an insult to mental illness. I personally suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and currently take Fluoxetine 20mg daily to manage my mood.

Fluoxetine is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor, meaning that it creates a buildup of Serotonin[1] within the synaptic gap, increasing the stimulation of neurons that increase a more positive mood.

The result was metaphorically like clearing up the broadcast signal reception on an old television set or unscrambling the pay-per-view cable television channel called "Realty" Not the reality TV everyone has come to know so well, but actual reality itself.

Growing up with anxiety distanced me from feeling the euphoria associated with "spirituality" so I was never hooked by religious superstition. One day on the Internet I found atheism. I was intrigued by the logical arguments that pointed out the contradictions in religious tomes and the hypocritical behavior of religious followers.

Delving deeper into critical thinking I discovered a short list of Logical Fallacies commonly used in debates, then my research lead me to Cognitive Development, Biases, Distortions and Development. 

Then in 2016, Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States. Soon after, the word Narcissism began circulating among the late-night television comedians and my research turned toward the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. (DSM-V)

The communication style and behavior of Trump supporters, including those in the Republican party, conservative Christian televangelists, various Hate Groups identified by the Southern Policy Law Center, The Anti-Defamation League, Right Wing Watch, among others, showed a pattern that could be matched with cultures around the world where terrorism was active. 

From there was connect the Dark Triad Personality which then connected me to author Steven Hassan's books Freedom of Mind and The Trump Cult. 

I hypothesize that what we are dealing with is Human Speciation. A pattern of behavior so wide-spread and so ancient that it has become normalized through validation, coercion and violence. The patterns of cognitive dysfunctionality, behavior and communication methods has me convinced that we are witnessing human evolution in progress again.

Human intelligence is evolving beyond the clouded perception of the old species and is rendering progress. They have become so frightened and confused by the development of complex knowledge beyond their capacity to comprehend it, that they are becoming violent and are threatening "civil war."

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1. Serotonin: Verywell Health, Wikipedia 

Speciation of Current Humans

 

The Speciation of Current Humans

It has become glaringly clear over the last several years that there are currently two species of humans. As knowledge of the world around us becomes broader and more complex, a large enough portion of the world’s population are demonstrating their limitations and reacting to complexity with increasing hostility and violence.

The pattern of behavior that has been called “abnormal” or “disordered” by professionals has become extraordinarily common due to the Internet and social media. The news media’s irresponsible coverage of this behavior has it now normalized and validated.

There are some superior intellects trapped among the inferior and they sometimes emerge from their traps to be known as survivors of cults or domestic abuse.

Some inferiors can survive higher education and become bankers, brokers, surgeons, pharmacists, accountants, entrepreneurs or any occupation where the outcomes of decisions are highly predictable.

They cannot, however, become lawmakers, leaders, judges or government bureau chiefs and they cannot be allowed to choose them either. The last attempt cost the lives of over 5.15 million deaths around the world from mishandling the Covid-19 epidemic. 

Following is a growing list of common human flaws among the inferior species. It’s a work in progress so you might see a lot of familiar material from previous posts. 

You might be offended by this classification but these people are extremely dangerous on many levels.

• Anti-intellectual.

• Intimidated by highly intellectual people and institutions.

• Intimidated by complex situations and public policies.

• Susceptible to shame by peers for intellectual pursuits.

• Commonly shame peers for intellectual pursuits.

• 
  

• Rigid, dogmatic thinking

• (Problem with the Brain’s prefrontal cortex?)

• Polarized thinking bias.

• You’re either good or evil. No inbetween.

• You’re either with me or you're against me.

• Mutual Exclusion bias.

• Nature versus nurture, not a combination of both.

• Unable to comprehend long-term consequences.

• Climate deniers.

• Anti-vaxxers.

• Unable to comprehend wider degrees of effects.

• Anti-vaccine mandates.

• Unable to imagine the perspective of other people.

• Empathy is limited to only close friends, relatives or group members.

• Believe that morality is a religious edict (exclusive to their own religion), not related to a normal socially developed empathy and a sense of fairness or justice. 

• Extremely low awareness of self and others.

• Prone to outbursts of anger.

• Chronically frustrated and often lashes out at the wrong people.

• Seeks out or creates situations for them to vent their chronic frustration.

• “Karens” or “Darins”

• Destructive protesters.

• Illusion of Ubiquity created by the mass media.

• Tend to believe that isolated incidents covered on the news media are more wide-spread than they actually are.

• Tend to believe that entire cultures or races behave like one or a few people from that culture or race. 

• Schizotypal

• Believe in conspiracies, aliens, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, angels.

• Believe they are Religious but don’t adhere to their Prophet’s teachings.

• Paranoid

• Extreme fear of other races, cultures and some subcultures.

• Believe they are victims.

• Probably unconsciously aware of gaps in their perception and comprehension of the world around them.

• Extremely fragile ego and low self-esteem.

• An acute need to feel superior to other people.

• Spotlight Effect Bias: A highly judgemental individual also assumes that everyone around also judges the same way.

• Attracted to groups with leaders that regularly criticizes and makes up rumors and false propaganda about non-members or other groups.

• Slippery slope conspiracy.

• They are against the Covid-19 vaccine and mandates because they believe it’s a slippery slope toward tyranny, ignoring the health risk they pose to themselves and others.

• Menacing

• Malicious humor.

• Name-calling.

• Violent rhetoric.

• Alluding to possessing or openly possessing firearms.

• Trolling on the Internet.

• Membership in groups known for their intimidation tactics.

• Physical violence.

• Gullible

• Vulnerable to cult manipulation.

• Loyal to anyone who validates their beliefs.

• Unable to recognize manipulation and coercion.

• Extreme fear of shame.

Illusion of Ubiquity

 The illusion of ubiquity is the false perception that a small number of objects, persons or beliefs are in the majority. In reality, those few items, people or beliefs held, are simply getting more media coverage as a result of their novelty or controversy.

The Dark Triad Personality

Introduction

A few years ago I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and prescribed Fluoxetine (Prozac™) 20mg daily, a Serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which increases the quantity of serotonin in the synaptic gaps. The transformation was astounding. I saw the world completely differently than before and my interest in Psychology as part of my communication studies became an obsession.

So far I have hypothesized the following:

• Logical fallacies and cognitive biases can reveal some personality traits, states, belief systems, subcultures and personality disorders.
• Everyone perceives and reacts with the world through the filter of their hormones. ( I have seen the filters change within myself.)
• We own our feelings. Our hormone balance, determined by our genetics / epigenetics, creates our general demeanor at homeostasis (default state) which can range from a positive outlook to a negative outlook, extravert, extrovert to patient, introvert, anxious, depressed, short-tempered or angry.
• We often incorrectly attribute the cause of our feelings to external sources like relationships, and situations. This comes from our oldest instinct for survival, being always aware of potential danger.
• Certain emotions governed by our hormones, are part of what is called the “preparatory set” which remain near the surface to be more likely triggered by stimuli. This is what makes each of us a unique personality.

Narcissism

Most personality traits are on a spectrum. Not all narcissists are willfully cruel, most don't realize what they are doing and nobody around them knows enough about the issue to correct them. I have a sibling, who always has the last word, loves to Zoom video conference and does nearly all of the talking, always knows more of what you are talking about and says "yes, that's right. and...(blah, blah, blah)", often but not always changes the subject to their own experiences. For the longest time I couldn't understand why when that person came to visit, it triggered subtle feelings of hostility in me. My temper was shortened because I was in emotional defense mode for competition I did not want. This kind of narcissism is mild but no less exhausting and exasperating. Narcissism standing alone can actually be beneficial, especially because this person is a teacher.

Psychopathy

Psychopaths as defined by the field of psychiatry is technically someone with Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD). Psychopathy is a colloquialism and not a formal term used in the mental health field for official diagnoses.

Anti-social behavior can be summed up as follows:

• Lack of emotional empathy but a clever sense of cognitive empathy.
• Emotional empathy provides you with the ability to understand when doing something might hurt someone else's feelings and in-turn, hurt your own feelings. Along with cognitive empathy also provides you with a sense of what is fair and reasonable.
• Uses malicious humor. (Passive Aggression)
• Humor at the expense of someone else. Directing attention to your problems, for example, at Thanksgiving Dinner with extended family, or while at a restaurant dining in public with friends or strangers within earshot.
• They try to goad you into revealing your weaknesses by making up fake weaknesses of their own.
• They try to get you to reveal secrets you have about your friends by sharing gossip with you.
• Then they use what you revealed to drive a wedge between you and whomever you spoke about.
• They alter their persona around other people, even when you are there.

Machiavellianism

Based on the writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, called by some "The father of modern political philosophy and political science."  Machiavellianism has come to be know as having these characteristics:

• Manipulative
• Callousness
• Indifferent to social norms
• Cold selfishness
• Winning at any cost
• Willing to do things other people find terrible or immoral
• Low emotional self awareness or intelligence

The Dark Triad Personality

The combination of narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism.

This malevolent personality knows how to use your weaknesses against you, and can easily achieve cult leader status. However, cult followers often try to emulate their leader by using the cult leader's tactics and phrases, but often out of context and fall short as they do not fully comprehend that they are psychologically captive.

The Dark Triad Personality can be identified by these characteristics:

• They lie nearly all the time and continue to lie despite being called out on the lies.
• They repeat slogans loaded with logical fallacies, hyperbole and weasel words.
• Twist facts and statistics to their own benefit.
• Continuously vilify, denigrate, dehumanize, disenfranchise or alienate other people.
• Victim Blaming
• Manufacture danger to keep their followers huddled and isolated in fear.
• "They are taking your freedoms and rights away!'
• "They will take your jobs, guns, land, livelihood away!"
• "They will convert you to homosexuality!"
• "They want to kill all babies!"
• "They are Communists!"
• News media outlets that continuously cover stories of violence and disasters.
• They exploit their followers cognitive biases to maintain control over their followers and destabilize their opponents.

Some characteristics of people vulnerable to the Dark Triad Personality:

• Very limited vocabulary due to lack of cultural diversity.
• Dogmatic, intransigent belief system
• Low self awareness and situational awareness.
• Prone to psychological projection.
• Vulnerable to logical fallacies, cognitive biases and weasel words.
• Defer decisions to leaders without question.
• Intimidated by intellectuals, high fear of humiliation.
• Obsesses with affiliation, being validated and praised.
• Xenophobia, or simply fear of the unknown.
• Fear of people they don't know can create physical discomfort, which they then attribute to the people they fear, leading them to express anger, hatred and rationalizations for the way they feel in the form of conspiracy theories.

UPDATE: 

Sadism is now considered to be such a major part of this personality that it's sometimes referred to the "Dark Tetrad."

Dark Triad - Wikipedia

Common signs of psychopathy - Healthline

You Might Be a Conversational Narcissist and Not Even Know It. (Here's How to Tell) - Linkage

Intellectual Arrogance - Conservapedia

5 Things Psychopaths and Narcissists Will Do in Conversation - Psychology Today