chological worldview makes them typically pessimistic regard-
ing human nature. We frequently find expressions of their
characteristic attitudes in their statements and writings: “Hu-
man nature is so bad that order in human society can only be
maintained by a strong power created by highly qualified indi-
viduals in the name of some higher idea.” Let us call this typi-
cal expression the “schizoid declaration”.
Human nature does in fact tend to be naughty, especially
when the schizoids embitter other people’s lives. When they
become wrapped up in situations of serious stress, however, the
schizoid’s failings cause them to collapse easily. The capacity
for thought is thereupon characteristically stifled, and fre-
quently the schizoids fall into reactive psychotic states so simi-
lar in appearance to schizophrenia that they lead to misdiagno-
ses.
The common factor in the varieties of this anomaly is a dull
pallor of emotion and lack of feeling for the psychological
realities, an essential factor in basic intelligence. This can be
attributed to some incomplete quality of the instinctive substra-
tum, which works as though founded on shifting sand. Low
emotional pressure enables them to develop proper speculative
reasoning, which is useful in non-humanistic spheres of activ-
ity, but because of their one-sidedness, they tend to consider
themselves intellectually superior to “ordinary” people.
The quantitative frequency of this anomaly varies among
races and nations: low among Blacks, the highest among Jews.
Estimates of this frequency range from negligible up to 3 %. In
Poland it may be estimated as 0.7 % of population. My obser-
vations suggest this anomaly is autosomally hereditary.49
A schizoid’s ponerological activity should be evaluated in
two aspects. On the small scale, such people cause their fami-
lies trouble, easily turn into tools of intrigue in the hands of
clever and unscrupulous individuals, and generally do a poor
job of raising children. Their tendency to see human reality in
49 Autosomal: the disease is due to a DNA error in one of the 22 pairs that are
not sex chromosomes. Both boys and girls can then inherit this error. If the
error is in a sex chromosome, the inheritance is said to be sex-linked. [Edi-
tor’s note.]
POLITICAL PONEROLOGY
125
the doctrinaire and simplistic manner they consider “proper” –
i.e. “black or white” - transforms their frequently good inten-
tions into bad results. However, their ponerogenic role can
have macrosocial implications if their attitude toward human
reality and their tendency to invent great doctrines are put to
paper and duplicated in large editions.
In spite of their typical deficits, or even an openly schizoi-
dal declaration, their readers do not realize what the authors’
characters are really like. Ignorant of the true condition of the
author, such uninformed readers thed to interpret such works in
a manner corresponding to their own nature. The minds of
normal people tend toward corrective interpretation due to the
participation of their own richer, psychological world view.
At the same time, many other readers critically reject such
works with moral disgust but without being aware of the spe-
cific cause.
An analysis of the role played by Karl Marx’s works easily
reveals all the above-mentioned types of apperception and the
social reactions which engendered animosity between large
groups of people.
When reading any of those disturbingly divisive works, we
should examine them carefully for any of these characteristic
deficits, or even an openly formulated schizoid declaration.
Such a process will enable us to gain a proper critical distance
from the contents and make it easier to dig the potentially valu-
able elements out of the doctrinaire material. If this is done by
two or more people who represent greatly divergent interpreta-
tions, their methods of perception will come closer together,
and the causes of dissent will dissipate. Such a project might be
attempted as a psychological experiment and for purposes of
proper mental hygiene.
~~~
Essential psychopathy: Within the framework of the above
assumptions, let us characterize another heredity-transmitted
anomaly whose role in ponerogenic processes on any social
scale appears exceptionally great. We should also underscore
that the need to isolate this phenomenon and examine it in de-
tail became quickly and profoundly evident to those research-
ers – including the author - who were interested in the macro-
126
PONEROLOGY
social scale of the genesis of evil, because they witnessed it. I
acknowledge my debt to Kazimierz Dabrowski50 in doing this
and calling this anomaly an “essential psychopathy”.
Biologically speaking, the phenomenon is similar to color-
blindness but occurs with about ten times lower frequency
(slightly above 1/2%),51 except that, unlike color blindness, it
affects both sexes. Its intensity also varies in scope from a level
barely perceptive to an experienced observer to an obvious
pathological deficiency.
Like color blindness, this anomaly also appears to represent
a deficit in stimulus transformation, albeit occurring not on the
sensory but on the instinctive level.52 Psychiatrist of the old
school used to call such individuals “Daltonists of human feel-
ings and socio-moral values”.
The psychological picture shows clear deficits among men
only; among women it is generally toned down, as by the effect
of a second normal allele. This suggests that the anomaly is
also inherited via the X chromosome, but through a semi-
dominating gene. However, the author was unable to confirm
this by excluding inheritance from father to son.
Analysis of the different experiential manner demonstrated
by these individuals caused us to conclude that their instinctive
substratum is also defective, containing certain gaps and lack-
ing the natural syntonic responses commonly evidenced by
50 Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902-1980):Polish psychologist, psychiatrist, phy-
sician, and poet. Dabrowski developed the theory of Positive Disintegration,
a novel approach to personality development, over his lifetime of clinical and
academic work. [Editor’s note.]
51 Recent research by Robert Hare, then Martha Stout, and finally Salekin,
Trobst, Krioukova, have tended to increase the probably rate of occurrence in
a given population. The latter researchers, in “Construct Validity of Psycho-
pathy in a Community Sample: A Nomological Net Approach”, Salekin,
Trobst, Krioukova, Journal of Personality Disorders, 15(5), 425-441, 2001),
suggest the prevalence of psychopathy to be perhaps 5% or more, although
the vast majority of those will be male (more than 1/10 males versus ap-
proximately 1/100 females). [Editor’s note.]
52 Current day research suggests that many of the characteristics displayed by