By Joyce Alexander, RNP (retired)
The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia wrecked a few days ago and early reports said that it had hit some rocks. Quickly though, reports came out that the captain, Francesco Schettino, had driven the ship closer than normal to those rocks on the way out of port in order to show off the ship to the residents. An article from the New York Times gives more details.
More bodies found on ship, as transcripts reveal rebuke to captain
Interviews from some of the over 4,020 passengers of the liner stated in news reports that it was “like the Titanic.”
Only shortly after the shipwreck it was determined that the captain had left the ship early on, and also that he had been seen drinking on the bridge with a young, attractive woman at the time of the crash, and that he had been drinking at dinner before the crash. This indicates to me that the man may have been drunk at the time he made the decision to go closer than was safe to the reef.
Rescue crews had reportedly told the captain to “go back to the ship” and at that time they were in command with the authority to demand that he return. He didn’t return and was subsequently branded a “coward,” as well as taken into custody by authorities for not doing his duty in the time of the wreck. I have a feeling this man’s professional life as a sailor is over, and that he will become an international pariah.
Videos taken showed the passengers lined up, going down the side of the overturned boat on one rope, like a line of ants going to a food source.
The captain finally came up with a story that he somehow believed would show that he was not at fault for leaving the ship early (excuse me if I laugh). He said he had “accidentally fallen into a lifeboat while trying to help rescue efforts.” This single statement, to me, branded the man a psychopath. Dr. Robert Hare said in his book, Without Conscience, that the psychopath’s brain doesn’t work like other brains when it comes to lies. They will tell a lie when there is evidence to show it is a lie right in front of them, they will tell a lie that is so unbelievable that no one would believe it, but they do not “get it” that their lie is totally unbelievable.
Of course a psychopath would also put his own well-being above those of his responsibility, such as the passengers, and would desert a sinking boat on the first available lifeboat. Capt. Schettino leaving first, by itself, would not brand someone a psychopath, when maybe they would only be a coward, or so terrorized that he became unglued and deserted the sinking ship. But being told to “get back on the ship!” and refusing to do so does seem to indicate that he was either totally unglued or had no concern for the passengers.
The other things that the captain did that were irresponsible, like drinking at dinner, and drinking at the time of the crash with the rocks, and steering the boat close to the rocks so that he could show off, all of those things might have just been a day of poor judgment, and would not necessarily make me brand someone with the term psychopath. But those things, in concert with the unbelievable lie, make me think that this man has not only no conscience, but that his brain is unable to distinguish a believable lie from one that is so unbelievable that only a psychopath would tell it.
I’m not sure that there is a lie that would be believable or that would not damn any captain who deserted his ship like Capt. Schettino did. However, a man who was not a psychopath, who had simply panicked and deserted his ship, who otherwise had a moral compass, would show some remorse for what he had done. He would at least show some shame at having failed in a pivotal moment in his life, in which he should have showed some courage and concern for the more than 4,000 lives in his charge.
I think that anyone can “fail” in a moment of horrible terror, in combat or accident. The overwhelming terror of something like a ship capsizing, the panic of the passengers, and possibly also the man being drunk, could account for him deserting the ship early and refusing to do his duty, or letting go of his responsibility. But the unbelievable lie is the one thing, that taken with all the others, that makes me think this man is truly a psychopath.
Here’s another article about the captain by a former commander of the U.S. Coast Guard on CNN.com:
Ox;
That, and several others by him, was one of the strangest reactions to something I ever saw. And it was a Key Lime pie, not a particularly sweet one! I am not much a sweets person myself, I got it more for atmosphere and to have something when he got to my place as it was late.
I still maintain he likes sweets, he just can’t eat them as many HIV+ individuals avoid sweets for a variety of reasons and that is why he was angry, as I got too close to what he was hiding.
Well, BBE, you are fortunate too have missed that bullet! I just saw another guy today who said he was a “sex addict” who was put away for 30+ years for not telling his partners he was HIV+…he had such a smug look on his face when he was being lead out of court in the photo that went with the story….he was going to appeal! he said! Oh, well, I wish him luck….NOT!
My x-spath boss would lie even when to some it was obvious. The problem was, his manager was more incompetent than him, and believed him!
I suspected the very same thing. Kudos to the writer of the article.
If we the awakened suspect it it must be true! Just like the judges on American idol, we’re the judges on Lovefraud.
When I heard about his behavior during the shipwreck a little buzzer went off inside my head that said “psycho.”
And funny thing is I could envision all of us on Lovefraud hitting our buzzer’s like Jeopardy. LOL!!!
Another point to bring up too is if he is a sociopath the idea of causing a shipwreck might have excited him. The sheer sadistic pleasure of watching the terror in people’s eyes while they scramble to make it to the lifeboats would give him extreme pleasure not to mention people drowning.
I can remember watching the “psycho” movie trilogy with Norman Bates and Norman was watching a shipwreck on TV getting all excited over watching the passenger’s screaming for help and drowning.
The idea that he held the prospect of so many people’s fate in his hands must have been exciting to him. It may even have been a one time fantasy of his that he acted out and brought to reality.
“I’m God Almighty and I hold your fate in my hands.”
Another example in eugenics is the length of the ring finger in comparison to the index finger. Men have a longer ring finger it is believed because of exposure to higher levels of testosterone. Normally women are less exposed to it and have a ring finger of about the same lenght as the index finger. Women with longer ring fingers are suspected to have been exposed to more testosterone. BTW I have ring fingers that are longer than index fingers, and not by just a few mm. It’s very obvious they’re longer (half a finger tip). No wonder thus that I’m a tomboy.
I suspect Newt Gingrich is a spath too. I’ve read somewhere that 80% of politicians are sociopaths. I really don’t believe that figure to be true but a lot of them are. Being politician’s they would be high functioning spaths.
Meaning they’re not garden variety which is scary.
If Newt get’s the nomination this would spell disaster for the Republican party.
When his ex-wife went on TV to do an interview I said to myself, “this
is the ex-wife of a sociopath taking revenge.”
Either that or she was trying to warn everybody. I do know that several of his Republican politician friends have made comments that they don’t trust him and several times he has pulled the rug out from under them.
He’s charismatic and is a great speaker but look out.
I totally agree with the post — and quoted it here, http://pathwhisperer.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/captain-francesco-schettino-psychopath-betrayed-by-his-lie/
It might be worth noting that the whole cruise industry has a huge problem with psychopathy. Since the industry has no interest in publicizing onboard crimes, both staff (for along while now) and passengers (increasingly) have figured out that many crimes (such as date rapes) can be carried out with near impunity, with almost no consequence to the perp. From this it would be a natural evolution for the authority figures (ship officers and security officials) of cruise lines to be increasingly psychopathic themselves — overlooking psychopathic misbehavior is not only easy for them but a source of pride.
Thank you Pathwhisperer! Nice blog you have there!
darwinsmom;
Finger ratio length is not really Eugenics, rather, a scientific observation.