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blue0mermaid t1_iwlgcal wrote

This is very well known. Fire starting, bed wetting, cruelty to animals.

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ibettershutupagain t1_iwljfia wrote

Bed wetting is a weird one I haven't heard of that

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series_hybrid t1_iwlnl8r wrote

Bed wetting is often associated with terrifying nightmares. In the dream, the child becomes extremely frightened, and literally urinate as they would in real life when shocked by an unimaginable horror.

I'm not sure how that either influences the evolution of psychopathy, or simply reflects that its roots may be present.

It highlights a powerful experience where the child feels powerless in the face of something that has power over them.

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4-Vektor t1_iwlohc2 wrote

Bedwetting is also associated with neglect and abuse. Which can cause nightmares.

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series_hybrid t1_iwm1gjb wrote

Many children can be exposed to the same type of abuse, with each having a different response.

However, it's understandable that neglect and abuse can foster a lack of empathy at a critical stage of development.

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Electrical_Skirt21 t1_iwnvxfa wrote

Real life can be incredibly dull compared to bed-wetting nightmares. It may be hard to empathize with real problems that real people have and their real fears when you’ve been desensitized by horrific nightmares

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series_hybrid t1_iwo5ag4 wrote

Interesting and insightful observation. I hadn't thought of that angle.

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foul_dwimmerlaik t1_iwnybu3 wrote

The original comment refers to the MacDonald Triad, a cluster of traits that supposedly has predictive power as to whether or not a child will grow up to be a murderous psychopath.

The sad part is that bed-wetting is often a signifier of sexual abuse in children, not psychopathy.

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LightMeetsEarth t1_iwo8r9q wrote

This has been debunked.

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SpilledGenderFluid t1_iwopu10 wrote

Correct. The McDonald triad is more a cultural concept and not a scientific one.

Those traits can be linked to parental neglect, brutality, or abuse, which can then cause one to be prone to homicide. But that doesn't mean psychopathy.

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agumonkey t1_iwo0z43 wrote

What about a strange focus on sharp / cutting shapes ? I'm always "fascinated" by the natural reflex in violent people to think of grabbing a knife right away. Seems like the brain as a natural link toward piercing / cutting (in disturbed or threatened people, not the average jolly person)

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RocPSU t1_iwo79za wrote

This. Markers of budding psychopathy in children.

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NikoBadman t1_iwm19yu wrote

I loved to light up small tea candles next to ant nests so that ants would attack them and die.... hmmmm

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Pochusaurus t1_iwn78i7 wrote

animal cruelty and pyromania in one go

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Professor-Paws t1_iworr4p wrote

Insects are particularly dissimilar to us and elicit far more disgust than things more closely related like other mammals.

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