www.ted.com Psychopathic killers are the basis for some must-watch TV, but what really makes them tick? Neuroscientist Jim Fallon talks about brain scans and genetic analysis that may uncover the rotten wiring in the nature (and nurture) of murderers. In a too-strange-for-fiction twist, he shares a fascinating family history that makes his work chillingly personal.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10
For those who commented on the shortness of this talk: TED is a banquet of possibilities for the speakers and participants alike. The longest talks can be a maximum of 18 minutes. Then there are 9 minute talks, and then 5 and 3 minute presentations. I was alloted 9 minutes. Normally, the core subject matter I discussed takes about 50 minutes to present, but this talk was really about how I found out during my research that my own family had these skeletons in our own closet. Ouch.
I would love to hear more of your work! Hope all is well!
@@summerstar143 me too!
Where can we watch some of your longer talks?
where u shoked when you found out you are a psychopath
I really enjoyed it, Jim. The best presenters are those that can give us serious information and make us laugh at the same time. I could listen to you all day.
Jim Fallon here. Tomorrow night, Wednesday, November 18th at nine PM on CBS, there will be an episode of Criminal Minds that is based, in part, on this TED talk. In the episode, I play myself giving a focussed lecture on transgenerational, sex-linked, violence and its relationship to continued violence in war torn regions of the world. The executive producer/writer Simon Mirren did a fantastic job of capturing the core theory in an excellent dramatic crime show episode. May be worth a look-see.
what’s good
Hi jim
Politicians should have an EEG and a family mental health history search done by this man 🧠
Mental health does inherently make you evil. If anything scanning for mental health can also be good at the same time because it can help the person get help
I meant doesn't
Say that sis!
1000% AGREE!!
Why would this matter?
There's a more recent talk by him where he admits he is the psychopath and then goes on and gives the results of his studies on how trauma on a younger age is what triggers the genes that turn psychopaths into violent psychopaths.
Bad Xerge Kind of seemed like he was gearing up for the big reveal but got cut short!
URL?
link?
-I will apologize not for the monster society has forged me into-
Happy flowers. Billowing clouds. Singing birds. Peaceful waving grass. -Over the disintegrated corpses of my enemies!-
He should be a guest on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Narcissistic side of a psychopath inhibits(usually like is in Fallons case) to admit to the fact, that our current state of affairs in general is in a huge risk to lead all the complex life of the planet to go extinct. This is due to characteristics of psychopaths. In the big picture, we are in a huge risk to destroy such a huge portion of our habitat, that we do not have the capacity for ex. secure all the nuclear power plants(resent findings from ocean floor sediments near Antarctica shows us, that the sea level will most likely rise abruptly & not by any "smooth" exponential rate..), methane from Laptev Sea is going to come up(nobody knows exactly how much, but posses a huge risk of Earths average temperature to rise several degrees Celsius in just few years, AI coming self aware i.e. conscious and operating in a way that humans are not able to control "it"(can be Ai created by Ai and so on, thus ") etc. Human hubris and specially psychopaths arrogance(special kind of hubris) might be a leading factor to our species utter and complete die out. Very important topic and also want to Thank You James Fallon to address this issue, even he lacks the part of the brain to really understand the risk he 7 his appears cause to all living things , or maybe better put just doesn't care, thus doesn't cross his mind.
Because they have the same name?
It´s ´James´, not ´Jim´.
@@JohnSmith-yl9en they are both abbreviated with "Jim"
@@moskaupatriot44 Jim is obviously an abbreviation of Jimothy, not James smh
He's a great teacher. He makes thing every learnable/ understandable
I have a lot of respect for this man - for digging into the truth of this disorder. He was brave enough to dig deeper into who he was, utilise his education and curiosity about himself and share this knowledge with the World. For someone who is a “psychopath”, he’s done something really good for a disorder that’s all too unknown and misunderstood. 🏅
He's not a psychopath
I know he thinks he is, but I would bet serious money that he isn't.
@@TdotSoul that term is outdated. He, by clear brain scans, has ASPD. To deny that is to deny all of neuroscience
@@TdotSoul he is, just because he doesn't fit your fantasy of what a psychopath is, doesn't mean he isn't. He's a prosocial psychopath which means that he isn't antisocial which wouldn't qualify him for antisocial personality disorder. Although, he still qualify as a factor 1 psychopath.
@@saintsterling887 Wrong ASPSD is solely diagnosed by diagnostic criteria considering behavioral characteristics. A prosocial psychopath could never be diagnosed by it. Also psychopathism (as well as autism) don't count as disorders anymore today.
Many psychopaths say they kill not for pleasure but the urge is so overwhelming. When there is brain damage involved to the inferior prefrontal cortex (medial orbital cortex and medial prefrontal cortex) Some of this depends on WHEN the damage occurs.
This one was pretty interesting, too bad it was so short
Now there are other long videos as well
So I removed the suspicious relatives. Now I don't have a psychopath in my family anymore.
lol
I felt that vibe too somehow 🤣 lmao
It would be useful if there is a historian on board here to provide us with some perspective (and data) on whether the 20th century has been as 'psychopathic' as it might seem, or are we just more well informed about our behavior in war, in the home, on the street etc. In addition, were there chronically warlike societies in the past that lasted many centuries, or are we just aware more of these 'interesting' societies because of their otherwise rich cultural impact on the world?
It should be noted, as he did in "Dr. James Fallon Discusses the Traits of Pro-Social (good) Psychopaths." that many famous people we adore as heroic were or are psychopaths. People need to distinguish between those psychopaths were have a code of ethics and those who do not. And yes, one can base morality on what benefits the self overall.
edwardsson777 One can base morality on whatever they want but that is if they are also open to defining the term itself. If one feels it healthy to cry about a murdered child in their neighborhood news but yet feels nothing for people their own sons and daughters murder overseas under military command, for example, it isn't morality you allude to but cowardice and self-delusion and/or just immaturity and denial of moral subservience. Many psychopaths being adored does not make them any better for it if they were adored by the ignorant, the dependent, the weak and other psychopaths.
And yet psychopaths continue to get elected to public office.
+edwardson777 Because they're experts at pretending like they really care for gullible unwashed masses. The world is bleeding because of crowns resting atop faulty brains.
Curious as to who he feels these heroic people are/were.
I want to hear him give a much longer talk!!!
This was brilliant. Thank you for sharing.
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
Wish I could've been there to hear all of it- very interesting.
Thank u for all you do and your insight.
Gadding, These genes such as the MAOA and vasopressin receptor gene (and other) are not 'psychopathic' genes, but rather gene subtypes (called SNPs) that code for a protein, usually a neurotransmitter related enzyme that alters the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain in development and later in the course of postnatal, adolescent, adult behavior. Some of these alter aggressiveness and can, in combination with stressors, associate with violent behavior (not murder per se). Jim
Very informative and incendiary.
Ted Bundy looks like he's about to give a TED talk himself lol
Ted Bundy wasn't a psychopath. He was a psychotic. Two totally different things.
@@VinniCorrea what ia psychotic ?
@@underground461 Who is suffering from a psychosis. A condition that affects the brain and causes you to lose touch with reality.
Vinni Corrêa he was a psychopath lol. He knew exactly what he was doing, it’s not like he has some psychotic episode
@shaka mata _ African pride bruh he killed likely over 36 innocent women. He was guilty without a doubt.
psychpathic killers are so interesting. im so attracted to the stories and the people. It's something i'll never tire of researching.
Will do! thanks for the heads up. =)
The new Tonight Show is gonna be awesome!
njoyed th talk thoroughly
I always read his book during my work breaks, he is funny and extremely intelligent. His writing style variates throughout the book, which makes it more interesting and dimensional (from extended info about the working of the&his brain to his own silly experiences and life choices). Its easy to comprehend and follow in case you are also someone whose first or second language isn’t english and is dubious about whether or not you should give his book a chance❤️❤️
Just bought his book. Thanks for mentioning it. 😊
@@leeannetourigny6479 you are welcome. I’m glad I could help:) I have al ready finished the book by now. Im curious to know your experience after reading it 🙃
I came here because i am reading his book. After i finish it, i hope to learn how my father passed this trail of destruction to my brother but not to me. Arrived at page 110, i have already changed my previously polirised view on psychopaths/sociopaths and people affected by ASPD. They have indeed a genetic fault which was inherited. How can i blame them for everything, when other than not having asked to be born, they also were conceived a bit faulty.
What is the book please?
You can't blame a bad weed but you have to eradicate it nonetheless
@@g.c.9904 how? I am asking myself 'how' for nearly 5 years, since i learned who they are. I still do not have an answer that is both morally and ethically correct. In my original country of 60 million souls, there are an estimated 60,000 psychopaths alone. The gail capacity is 55,000 and there are already about 5,000 people jailed more that the system can hold! Where do you put people like these that do so much damage to others in a systematic way? Not ALL criminals are psychopaths, but 95% of psychopaths commit crimes. Most do not even get reported by whom they assalt/do damage to. In reality i do have a definitive answer. But that answer is IMMORAL.
This was fascinating! The State and Child Protection Services should get MRIs on every child and parent suspected of abuse.
interesting. i like how he mentioned his own family
yeah. the "bang" at the end of it was like, loud. i was like, "c'mon TED. really."
thanks to this man, we are able to detect psychopaths much better. He passed last year november. RiP
He did this speech on Criminal Minds
“It comes from too much serotonin” Guess I’ll never be a violent criminal since my brain straight up doesn’t know how to make that stuff
But he says there's too much in development, and then it doesn't work later on, so maybe that's your problem? :o
Now think about how many pregnancy aged women are on antidepressants in places like the US these days- easily a double digit percentage. What problem could this possibly cause
@@motoredbikemadness2061 "pregnancy-aged" isn't an age. And like 3% of women take anti-depressants while pregnant. They are also the most studied drug taken during pregnancy, by a long shot. I'm confident that the social problems caused by having parents with unmanaged mental health disorders are bigger than the social problems caused by a tiny minority of people who take anti-depressants while pregnant.
@@queerdo “”pregnancy-aged” isn’t an age” yeah... that’s nit picking, my point still stands- many will remain on the meds if they become pregnant. But you claim only 3 percent of women are on antidepressants while pregnant? So therefore the vast majority of those taking them must all quit, despite their doctors likely saying there’s no need to as you claim? They do have withdrawal/cessation symptoms, eg. ‘brain zaps’. And a quick google search confirms common SSRIs do cross the placenta and into the child’s blood stream- just to get that one out of the way. I’m using antidepressants as an umbrella term for ssri’s- because they’re also prescribed for anxiety disorders, ptsd, PMS, phobias- most things that involve mental anguish. It’s not a crazy claim that a decently large fraction of people, including pregnant women are on these drugs. Im not educated enough to say it’s a big problem- but it’s a possibility we can’t deny until enough time passes. We already know they cause a little bit of birth defects
@@queerdo aside from my long winded essay- I just disagree with you that only a few percent of pregnant people are on ssri’s. I think it’s much larger, most people who are benefiting from them will likely continue, since the doctors say it is a ‘negligible risk’ and they do have withdrawal symptoms
ten years later and this pops in my recommendations
I always knew in my heart of hearts that my husband's egregious, disturbing psychopathy came from his mother. This confirmed it for me. I wish my ex-husband had taken ownership of his mental illness the way dr. Fallon has. It makes a world of difference when you admit it and deal with it than If you deny it and punish everyone for finding out
Sugar Free Amen great point
It's rare for psychopaths to do this. They fundamentally don't have emotional empathy, can't form emotional bonds, and can't reason about their potential regret for future actions, so instead they generally operate on ego, pleasure, and hate, often feeling superior to regular people. "Why should I change? I'm great!" Even Dr. Fallon, after learning of his own psychopathy and committing to be a better person, did so from a place of ego and not from a place of genuine care for others. It's possible he had such a good upbringing that he'd internalized the idea that being a good man provides better social status, and so sought to attain it. He said in an interview that he regularly asks himself, "What would a good man do?" But he's not using it to cover evil deeds - he's never been violent. Oddly, I have immense respect for that. Even with his own brain working against him, he still made the right choice.
@@gigatesla most CAN reason about their actions and behavior like Fallon. The very few are the murderers who lack self control.
@@chicxulub2947 It's a very specific type of reasoning that they're bad at - counterfactual reasoning about their potential regret for future actions. See this article: www.pnas.org/content/113/50/14438
You realize the mother doesnt show psychopathy it just means the x chromosme is expressed in males mostly. Mothers who do carry the mao gene dont show psychopathy . Youre really trending on dangerous water by blaming mothers this isnt 1950a where scientists tried blaming women for eveything. Its not the mothers fault
the background behind him looks like salmon
lmao
This guys Gives Me Hope
Luiza, Thanks for the tip on watching Camila Batmanghelidjh. I read about her life and work and it is impressive. I couldn't find any outcome data on her approach with these kids, though. It sounds like it could work, but does it?
Very fascinating !
日本語字幕本当に助かりました Thank you so much for subtitle in Japanese
Hey Doc, really a great video yours. I'd like to hear more about it, a shame it's so short. By the way, I've been wondering: you said that that MAOA gene was the cause of increased violence mainly on males. But a gene like that wouldn't be the favorite one to evolution, especially to early human kind? And by being so interesting to survival, isn't there any genetic answer that sets killing actions only to non-human beings? How is that explained? (will you by any chance be on ted again?)
I'm 12 year late to this but better late than never. That gene doesn't necessarily impede it being passing down. As in, it can and does have an evolutionary advantages. Sure, early humans were very much tribal and there was fierce completion with the other hominids ( Neanderthals, Denisovians and so on) but there most certainly was intra-species competition as well. All of it was most certainly exacerbated by the scarcity of our hunter-gatherer lifestyle of thousands of years. That gene may have helped some individuals most suited for survival and may even have benefitted the tribe they were in. I've seen people discuss before how it was not all collectivist or individualistic but rather depending on the context, in various different places on the spectrum. In short, there must have been some evolutionary benefit to it and thus it survives till this day. Hope this helped. As much as a reply that is 12 years late can be.
War is not necessarily about the destruction of the other group. But rather about widening control to more territory and thus more resources. And the people that make up the "enemy" have often proved to be the most valuable resource of all.
RIP. Great talk.
volume up!!!
4:42 “Your cousin is also Lizzie Borden” i was like “WOAH WOAH WOA- WHAT??”
He's got the "felon" in his name... :P
This guy did a great documentary about this but I forget its name. Worth watching if you can be bothered to search for it
Brainout, I find that for myself it is easy to use my will when I don't particularly have an emotional dog in the fight. But when the issue is something I am passionate about, I'm not sure my dispassionate will is in the driver's seat at all.
Yes - it proves that the money invested in quality social provisions can have a profound affect on society. The nations with less anti-social behavior seem to be those that invest the most in protecting abused children. Scandinavia has a brilliant record in this regard. Social workers actually move into troubled households and take an hands on approach to assisting dysfunctional parents. If this doesn't work - the children are then placed in foster care.
liked it! thanks!
I'm glad to see it tweaked your interest.
Very interesting!
You look at somebody like Charles Mason, how crazy screwed up was he? But there was a time in our history when that kind of character was being selected for, and now it's happening again. Awesome talk.
In korean humor community , captures of this with mistranslated captions are popular " I found out that some of my relatives have potential to be murder" "But now, it's ok because I eliminated all of them "
Would be ace to hear Thomas Sheridan on Ted.
çeviri için teşekkürler
i thought this was Jimmy Fallon
you thought jimmy got fat?
The title is wrong.
Makes sense. There narcissistic and psychopathic traits in my family on my mother’s side. I’ve heard there are distant relatives that were murderers. My mother and sister have psychopathic personalities
He just said its mainly males who express the psychopaths gene not females what are you even trying to say
I think you don’t understand what he’s saying.
Very interesting. I'd like to say something in defense of Lizzie Borden. She not only was not found guilty, but there was suspicion that the murderer was (I believe) her uncle. Odd how we seem to assume she was guilty after all these years.
Really like this guy.
I salute you.
Iwanatt, To continue, when the damage is early let's say during the first 3 years of life, the adult psychopath may not really know what they are doing is wrong. If the damage is later, let's say 7-12, he may know it is wrong but feels overwhelmingly driven to carry out a violent act. Think of it as a fundamental drive like the need to take a leak. You can hold it back for a while, but the outcome is inevitable.
Palestra disponível em português. Tradutor colaborador do TED. Belúcio Haibara
This is still an open question concerning Manson. If you conclude that he masterminded a series of nine murders, then there is good reason to conclude that the he used those kids as the murder weapons, and that he was indeed a serial killer. But as you infer, this is not the usual meaning of serial killer. There is a nexus of the law, psychpathology, and common meaning here, and there are no bright lines separating these three domains.
I have the warrior gene (Maoa-l 3r) some people say this cause impulsiveness, but people say they are calmer in stressful situations! The way I see myself as when I'm in a stressful situation I tend get angry but I feel calm. People who have seen me angry tell me I'm emotionally A-Flat. As though They think another person has taken over me. I'm A-Flat becomes even though I'm angry I feel calm. My dad says when I'm in a stressful situation he uses the metaphor that "I hold on the fingers of the ledge." As though I don't feel stressed out to do anything about it. Yet I when someone tells me to fix my problem I snap. To me it's a mixer of both (at the same time)
Are you a clinically diagnosed psychopath? A woman named Athena Walker, on the website Quora, seems really similar to you, & she is a psychopath, herself. The "angry but calm" thing, to me, sounds like a psychopathic state of mind, since they can feel anger & adrenaline, but not fear or anxiety, which would explain your focus while in that state of mind. I've heard some refer to psychopathy as the "warrior gene," as well.
Charlie Van Kampen I have never been clinically diagnosed as a psychopath, even though according to a clinically diagnosed psychopath I have emailed in the past has said that "we share similar stress reactions." Most people don't believe that I'm a violent person. It's only people who really know me that have seen that side. E.g. Best mate, past girlfriends. Violence is influenced by environment. I was brought up as a child to avoid violence. The gene causes the individual when angered become aggressive. Think of it a volume level on a mixer. Most people when angered may go to a 5, but people with the 3repeat with go to a 10. It's like most people when they explode feel like a raging bull let loose in an arena with a bunch of people, while for me it's like a great white shark let loose in a shark cage with a bunch of people.
djfluxysnowcott do you care about your best mate or any close family member? Okay, I know the next question is going to appear extreme but bear with me. How would you feel about me killing your dad? Or your closest family member? Also, have you ever cried? The questions am asking are in reference to whether or not you fall under the ASPD tree.
Teddy Tibbs I only been tested for the Maoa-l gene, not any other genes, plus my orbital prefrontal cortex is damages since I was a baby, but it doesn't mean I'm a sociopath or psychopath. The Maoa-l gene can be found in people with bi-polar, paranoid schizophrenia, autism or aspergers & probably other disorders but their not sociopathic. The questions that you ask I can ask but once again does it mean anything? Not really, because if their intelligent they will pretend to be like everyone else. Remember people with aspd deceive others, manipulate people, have superficial emotions that help them survive though other people around them. Like Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, Edmund Kemp. No one knew they had any idea that they where killing people.
His theory explains the question posed by Steven Pinker in earlier TED talk (A brief history of violence). Steven Pinker noted that historically violence decrease exponentially. It seems that Jim Fallons gene concentration theory implies a feedback loop. And feedback loop can explain why the violence decline is exponential.
Perhaps a little pique did sneak through, but I wasn't exactly trying to academically filter my thoughts either. That said, I take your point, but stand by my postulation.
Okay I just watched it, this way way better than Jimmy Fallon :D
Luiza, Humans have selectively bred dogs for many thousands of years for specific purposes, in an attempt to amplify those wolf behaviors desired for varied human purposes. But some other changes occur remarkably quickly in canines. In a study done in Russia on wild foxes in the 1950s, it was found that after only a couple of generations the foxes become docile, friendly to humans, and even take on new coloration patterns much like domesticated dogs.
In the thumb nail I thought this was the guy who played the Leigh Emerson (the Christmas killer) in American horror story: Asylum. It seemed fitting lol but it wasn’t him.
Where is the whole talk
It’s weird how a psychopath will admit it because they are extremely manipulative by nature and revealing who they are to the world would mean that they won’t be able to manipulate as well.. manipulation comes naturally for them which makes sense how he charmed people.
awee James, you are so adorable.
However in places where there are a lot of violence, the potential benefit from traits like these diminish as the average. Benefit of social interaction deteriorate. Traits like these are held in check by the fact that they are beneficial in small quantities in rare situations but if everyone had them then society would breakdown and people would benefit less so those traits wouldn't be passed down. That's the dynamic equilibrium and why psychopaths account only for 1% of the population.
That was interesting, at least.... but, I wonder, could it be corrected (the neurological damage) esp. with what we know about neurogenesis nowadays?
I really enjoyed this video very informative although I have to question I thought you said that he said that the mutation was on the female side in his family to appears to be on the male side lol I believe I read about a study that was done on Holocaust Survivors and they had found a mutation I believe it's along the same line the mutation had different effects on the male side or the female side in children and grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors I've always said women are the true keepers of our species fits right in
Very interesting. Where are the rest of the parts? Too bad I cannot find it. :( But thank you for uploading this.
Some Serial Killers are just called Public Servants or simply Employees. These people are carefully selected.
And i never said that having a different mind set from whatever is classified from the norm is bad. (One cound go into metaphysics about the 'your reality is not the same as mine as far as we know', but i'll just leave it at that)
HWN- Identical twins, as it turns out, are not identical at all. Look up the new findings about CNV copy number variation). This is changing the way we interpret nature vs nurture, and tilts the interpretation more in favor of the genes now.
Favorite part. He wore same shirt in his guest appearance on Criminal Minds.
he shoulda kept going!
Luiza, You don't think there is an important role for pain in shaping survival and effective behavioral responses in all animals including humans?
Tem legendado em algum lugar?
Programs that use stored data that is re-writable could theoretically change behavior. Even if the "nurture" alters how the "nature"'s behavior is manifested, it doesn't change the nature itself.
sent here from tiktok
@Alexillion well if you had been paying attention you would have noticed it says jim fallon not jimmy!
I remember you from criminal minds!
Me too.
I love it!
Wow that explains the comonality of the image of the psycho mother with the pack of murderous sons common in so many stories.
I like Fallon. Charming and unassuming. Seems like the kinda guy you could have a beer with. And he makes everything sound so clear and simple too. More scientists should be psychopaths.
I love it
Scary.
Please tell people how to contract you
Isn't the bad news with him? I though the gave a talk describing this whole thing differently. The EEGs he did were done because of Alshiemers and he just happened to find out that his scan was similar to those of psychopaths?!
I know 🙄 psychopathy is combined with pathological lying.
That's one family christmas dinner where you don't want to piss anyone off.
I understand the serotonin thing comes from a gene, but could it be that a mother with and exessive amount of serotonin due to antidepressants or other medications could lead to her child having psychopathic traits? Don't think so but, just curious
good point/idea
First thing I thought of too.
Isn't his name James Fallon? or is Jim his nickname? Nevertheless, it was interesting to listen to. God job!
it spurred me into a murderous rage.
Someone needs to tell PJA down there to be careful on assumptions like that which could lead them into a heap of trouble throughout their life.
0:55 TED Bundy 😆 Good one sir.
I think it is a good speech as everything is clearly explained and it is not too difficult to follow. The biological terms that he uses are sometimes difficult to understand, but because there are also a lot of humorous elements in this video, this is made up for. Very interesting is that he researched his own family tree and found out that he is related to Lizzie Borden. However, I do have a remark on Lizzie Borden. Jim Fallon implies that she is a murderess. Although Lizzie Borden was never found guilty of the deaths of her father and stepmother, she was acquitted. Furthermore, there are also theories that it is possible that other people were responsible for their deaths, for example her uncle or the father's illegitimate son.
I think I missed this, but what job title does he have? Like what type of neuroscience does he specify in?
Olivia F first fucking thing he said and its in the bio