I haven't read all the posts in the recent digest, but I
think there's a misunderstanding here that stems from the
fact that there are two definitions of a psychopath. The
earlier one, which may be the best known, is the one we know
from PSYCHO and similar texts, where the psychopat is a
killing lunatic and is having hallucinations and all
that.
The more recent one - which is also called a sociopath - is
about a person being manipulative, narcissistic, seemingly
happy and out-going, but full of hate on the inside. Many of
those husbands and wives who defile their spouses through
verbal attacks are called psychopaths, even though they don't
run around killing people or telling fantastical and
outrageous lies. Same goes with those who bully people in
workplaces and such. (Jim Thompson writes about these
guys.)
I think Patrick is talking about the latter definition, while
many here are talking about the earlier. (I'm still quite not
sure whether the definition fits The Maltese Falcon.)
Juri
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