THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE ANGELS

Why do bad people happen to good people? We all know there are bad people, yet we’re continually surprised when confronted by them (well, I am). If choosing the best-looking people to marry for thousands of generations makes the race better-looking, why doesn’t marrying good people (which surely we all want to do) result in the race becoming more “good” over time?

One reason has already been implied; they fool us into thinking they are kind, caring and responsible. Sometimes for our entire lives, in the same way that homosexuals used to survive by passing for straight.

By some estimates, half the mentally-ill are undiagnosed and 25% of the population are effectively sociopathic. When someone is psychotic, (I’m being very general here), they perceive things that are not there; voices, visions, etc.). When they are sociopathic, it means they do not perceive other people as human beings equally with themselves. It’s believed that this is caused by a lack of “mirror neurons” which would allow them to feel empathy for others. Imagine the implications if 25% of us are like this! Most sociopaths aren’t out to ‘get’ anyone, their behavior is just uniformly cold, callus, calculated. If they befriend us, it’s because we’re perceived to have financial or social value, not because they think we are their equals or fellows, or for loyalty or friendship, or any other good thing.

It’s easy to imagine there have been times in human history when such a person was more likely to survive than a good person. The problem is, it’s not just during bad times. In fact, even in good times, our society seems to favor the un-empathic. The man who feels sympathetic toward the failing business’ owner is less likely to push him until he breaks, while the sociopath has no problem cutting him to the quick. So the sociopath succeeds. Since he succeeds, he attracts mates. To be clear, the sociopath doesn’t choose to feel this way – he or she simply lacks the ability to believe that other people have feelings, or that it matters whether they do or not. We’re speaking here of the sociopathic adept – not all sociopaths succeed in “passing for straight.”

Consider the Ten Commandments; their very basis is as rules against betrayal. Don’t betray god, your parents, your neighbors, etc. So every sin really comes down to betrayal. And the adept sociopath can betray like no one else. What can a good person do about this?

I wish I knew how to tell the good people from the bad, but I haven’t learned the trick of it – I still feel, when betrayed, like I got a fist in the face and a knife in the back.

One out of four people you know are “not okay.” This is a disease that has no known cure, and the bad are out there competing for resources (including competition for mates) and success. Maybe one day science will offer us an answer, but apparently we're not there yet. The only sure protection I know of is to feel nothing for them – but if you’re a good person, you are incapable of doing that.

We spoke earlier about angels having no consciences, and these people are the same. They suffer no guilt, no matter the hurt they cause. Rationally, humanely, there’s nothing I know of that we can do about this. If anyone out there has a test for social response-ability, I’d love to hear it. Or if you have one of those detectors they used on Blade Runner?

At any rate, this is one of the darker, more seductive sides of religion; not whether we ourselves will get to go to heaven (that whole subject being disturbing) but whether or not those who succeed at the cost of good people will burn in hell.