Skyhigh is welcome to correct here but he is saying that the actions of the careerist in aviation are consistent with accepted clinical descriptions of the psychopath and sociopath. I tend to agree, and I indeed think there are similarities.

I am average in many ways, but when I was in college I observed that super bright persons were more disregardful of the feelings others than the rest. As a generality, those who are gifted are willing to excuse themselves from accepted standards of morality to an extent proportional to their mental advantage upon others. In academics, such persons feel themselves free from common moral obligations to assume a license to act unilaterally on their own behalf because they have exceptional mental qualifications.

There are many cases in criminal history where super-bright persons committed unbeleivably heinous crimes simply because they thought themselves above the victim in moral stature. Victims were mere "animals", and the perp thought nothing of the transgression. Ability is an intoxicant, and self-righteousness is a facilitator.

All considerations and standards of morality are "relative" in essential substance; morality itself is a shifting sand without definition or reassuring form. We as human beings do not like shifting sands and formlessness, we like predictability, resolution, and irrefutability; we do not want to have to work at anything we want to receive service and not to have to offer it.

Much like the theory of relativity which shows us that space itself is relative to other considerations such as mass, so it is with morality. Super-bright persons intuitively know this and they form morality to fit their ego such that they can do what they want without repercussion. They drag their children around, distress their spouses, and discard their friends because they think these entities have no feelings, and are not entitled to fair treatment. "What is fair treatment anyway, but the repercussions of what I desire." SkyHigh recognizes that the cost of a career is registered as the casualties of those who are the victims in tow to the endeavor. He is on a moral mission of sorts, but it is a mission borne of experience in the aviation industry, and with a genuine desire to make amends to those who were damaged by the endeavor.

What is the loss if Skyhigh converts a few to his viewpoint???

Another thought I have is, given the direction of this thread, let us hope whomever he converts to his viewpoint is misguided as a person and does not qualify as a clinically-defined sociopath or psychopath.

 

Thee is a theory that the sociopaths and psychopaths that wind up in prison are actually the losers of the sociopath community. The winners never go to jail and wind up being politicians, CEO's, etc. The defining trait of a sociopath is a lack of empathy or remorse. They can sack 30,000 employees and not feel a bit guilty, as long as the bottom line improves. They may actually take pleasure in others suffering, or at least take pleasure in their power to control others lives. It takes a sociopath to lie to employees, cut their pay, gut their contract, and then give themselves a 10 million bonus. Any normal person would not be able to look in the mirror. For a sociopath, it is easy if not enjoyable.

I would imagine there are pilots who are sociopaths. It is not a mental illness where you seem crazy. It is easy to fake. Most sociopaths can fake having empathy and "normal" feeling long enough to get what they want. Ted Bundy was able to convince women to get in his car, etc. He was described as charming, as most sociopaths are. Most male sociopaths are great with women. It is not too far fetched to believe that there are sociopaths flying.

 

wonder if there are any in the construction business, doing their best to pawn off high labor costs on an uneducated public simply for their own self gain? What about every other industry out there, bet you could find some. Skyhigh simply has to constantly justify to himself why he left the aviation industry, truth or not, at least it will make sense to him.

 

Before any more pilots switch from aviation to psychoanalysis --- STOP! You must be saved from this folly. Sure, every kid dreams of the prestige: monocle, VanDyke beard, leather couch, fake Austrian accent, etc. But the golden age has passed and will never return. Low Cost Quacks fill the airwaves and internet, driving down hourly rates. You will have a staggering debt, no shoes, and eat Ramen noodles! Even flying airplanes is a better career.

PsyHigh

 

Is this really a thread on Airline Pilot Central? C'mon guys, quit taking the bait and shut this joke down.

 

Never mind.

 

(wife's account) I need to get my own still.

Interesting...

Aren't all humans are inherently a little selfish. It seems like Sociopath is a label attached to an individual when the trait is excessive. ...so it would appear from the reading here.

Come to think of it, forums seem to propigate this behavior. Selfishness feeds ego. I think we all bring our egos with us when we post from time-to-time. I know I do, even though I try not to. I even spell check my posts. Why? I am affraid I'll look stupid I guess. Why should that really bother me?

Maybe we all have a little of this sociopathic behavior in us.

 

Must say, as long as were making absurd and groundless observations, motorcycle riders are much more likely to be sociopaths than any of skyhigh's choices. As proof I offer skyhigh's avitar.

 

Did you mean avatar? ...sorry, couldn't resist. LOL! It's just that I mentioned the whole spell check thing just prior.

You do make a very good point though.

 

Must be, my young one added the other one to the spell checker for her TV show blog.