Psychopathy May Be a Continuum Not a Disorder

The science of psychopathy is highly uncertain, and the idea of the psychopath as a distinct type with his own brain may be largely an urban legend; people may simply vary along three traits - boldness, disinhibition, and meanness - so a psychopath is someone high on a continuum (more like being a jerk) rather than someone with a special disorder like diabetes or schizophrenia, though disinhibition is strongly predictive of bad behavior while the empathy measures predict little.