Should Robert Hare be arrested for hate speech?

And other ridiculous notions...

Photo by Ruben Hanssen on Unsplash

The title of this post is a real question that was asked of me over on Quora. “Should Robert Hare be arrested for hate speech”, which I find laughable as a concept. Hare is a man that is more interested in his reputation than he will ever be in truth or the advancement of science. You would think with me being psychopathic, and his “research” being what defines psychopathy currently, that I would be all for his opinions about us being silenced.

Nope and wrong.

Hare has an opinion about psychopaths, and that opinion was forged by prisoners making a fool out of him, and him taking that event and turning it in his favor. I mean… well done. A psychopath would have looked for the silver lining as well. Without the ego hurt, of course, but you work with what you’ve got. He was basically allowed to define psychopathy to his benefit, and then profit off the definition that he himself created.

You might be thinking, oh for the love of all that is holy, Athena, stop writing about Robert Hare and your gripes with his definitions. Oh contraire, my dear reader, this has little to do with Hare, and much more to do with what you believe.

Heads up, if you are looking for reality to be definable because you rely on the opinions of experts, and utilize said opinions to give structure to what you believe about the world around you, this is not the post for you.

For the rest of you…

Have you watched the show Ancient Apocalypse?

If not, watch it, it’s on Netflix and is a fun watch.

If so, this is not an endorsement of the ideas on the show. I do not know anything about ancient construction, astronomy, or why megalithic structures were constructed. What I am, is someone that has delved deeply into the understanding of psychopathy and found what is more or less a constructed cult of academia that will tell you that they are right, no matter the cause. The moment you speak even a bit against them, they turn on the culprit that dares defy their superior intellect.

As I said, I am not an expert in anything that the show addresses. I can tell you that I watch it with the mentality of, “Well, I have no idea what they’re talking about, but it’s interesting, so go on with your bad self and keep entertaining me”. However, the show has repeatedly made an excellent argument for why there is no room in scientific communities for dissent. In fact, the prevailing opinion in many of the scientific communities is:

“HOW DARE YOU QUESTION US!!!???? YOU ARE BUT A MERE MORTAL AND WE ARE…!!!….!!!!! …. well… also mortal but SHUT UP! WE KNOW MORE THAN YOU!!!!!”

No matter what is discussed on this show the archaeological community, for the most part, is like, “NOPE”! Why? Because you are interfering with our ideas and you don’t know anything because we have alphabet soup, and you don’t. Did we mention SHUT UP? Because really… SHUT UP!

There is this belief that if you have the alphabet soup after your name that you automatically know what you are talking about. That’s understandable because there is far too much information in the world to be able to know everything. These people spent their lives doing specialized research, and we didn’t, so they have to be better at knowing stuff about their area of study,… I mean… right?

A lot of times, yes, this is true. However, there is a serious issue with the idea of “what we know to be true”, especially when that super duper awesome category of already decided knowledge is largely based on speculation and assumption.

“We know that the sun revolves around the earth.”

How’d that work out for you?

We know that stress causes ulcers.”

Nope, try again.

There are a ton of these beliefs that built our understanding of the world, and when they are challenged, there is significant pushback. Sometimes it is something simple like:

“If you go outside with wet hair, you’re going to get sick.”

Sometimes it is more complicated like:

“Know what you are dealing with. This sounds easy but in fact can be very difficult. All the reading in the world cannot immunize you from the devastating effects of psychopaths. Everyone, including the experts, can be taken in, conned, and left bewildered by them.”

Both are false, but one is an old wives’ tale, and the other is a direct quote from Hare himself. Experts have this idea about themselves that they have risen above criticism, especially from you, the commoner. This is atrociously obvious in the medical field when a patient knows that there is something wrong, but they are dismissed outright because the doctor is disinclined to listen to them.

What causes this problem? Arrogance. Pure and simple it is arrogance, with a mixture of the fear of impermanence. The defining of the world is a human need, and the deferment to an expert is one as well. Humans want to understand the world in which they live, so they defer to someone that they feel they can place their trust. They think that this person will do what they themselves are unable to, and that is to answer certain questions about the confusing and complex world in which they live.

What they tend to forget is that the person that they are deferring to is human as well and that does not bode well for a truthful representation of the information that they seek. We all see the world through our own veils. Our understanding, our needs, our education, our beliefs, and our comfort level. This doesn't change just because a person gets an education that specializes in some particular thing that they get the alphabet soup after their names. It may be uncomfortable to realize, but those humans are no less susceptible to their own agendas than you are. Actually, it may be much worse.

What is the most important thing you have ever done? Some people would say it is their children, their marriage, their self-reflection, their ability to handle conflict, or to help someone that is suffering, but for a lot of people, their focus is, and always will be, their legacy. As I mentioned, this can be the children that you bring to bear and raise, but for some people, all they care about is to be remembered, and their progeny are unlikely to be what directs people to remember that they exist.

What we know about the world is built on things that we knew about it prior. When that information changes, it is not unusual to see the establishment bucking hard against new information. New information upsets the established knowledge, and that established knowledge is what names have been constructed on top of.

Do you have any idea what a person is willing to sacrifice in order to preserve their legacy? Your understanding of the world that you dwell in. They do not care whether you know the truth, they care whether the “truth” that you know bears their name at the bottom of it, and you are aware that it is theirs. Your need to know is cast away at the altar of being remembered, no matter what the cost. If you are someone that dares speak against the experts, you will be thrown to the wolves and forgotten, the worst fate that can befall a person.

This brings me to my point, and back to the title of this piece. “Should Rober Hare be arrested for hate speech?” No, and again, laughably so. No one should be. There are going to be plenty of things that are uncomfortable to hear, and not all of them will have merit. However, those that define reality have a very prominent habit of controlling the narrative about subjects and will forbid disagreement. No matter how ridiculous their claims, nor how ridiculous the disagreement is, there should never be a harness on what a person can say. Hare should not have any ramifications for his research other than being proven wrong, as is happening slowly despite his concerted efforts to shut it down.

If you cannot disagree, you are bound to a reality that is defined by someone that has no interest in you knowing anything other than what you are told. This should not be something that is of comfort to you, as those that wish to define your reality never have your best intentions, nor the truth, held in high regard. If you allow them to tell you what to think, you will forget how to disagree, and that is what they want.

Hare has stupid beliefs about psychopaths. They are so limited in understanding, and so ridiculous when examined, that they are amusing to pick apart. I am no one to Hare. He has no idea that I exist and if he does he waves me away like an annoying fly. Not because what I say has no merit, but because he is utterly convinced that his brand is on point, and no one would dare disagree with his narrative.

He shows his hand when he sues those he perceives as a threat, and he shows his hand when he so casually diagnoses psychopathy in a hotel worker, so I have very little work that I actually have to do other than point out his behavior. However, you need to know that Hare is no exception. He is no bad apple that needs a comeuppance. He is one of a thousand, maybe a million that needs to be the one that decides how the world is conceived. This is a problem that begets more of itself. Once a bad idea is established, an entire field of study will be built on that bad idea.

People that establish their reputations on that tower of misinformation will defend it with all that they have, despite knowing that it is wrong. It is easier than knowing that everything that they have worked for is a lie. Most of the time they can delay the inevitable until their lifespan ends, but that does nothing for those that are left behind, living in their houses built on sand, and trying to fend off a flood.

Never assume that what you are being told is the truth. That doesn't change depending on the source. Do not assume that I am telling you the truth. Not because I have intentions to mislead you, but rather because the information that I have for you is based on my own experience, and scientific studies that all too often have glaring issues with them. It is important to remind yourself that the world is always changing and what we may think of as the bedrock of knowledge may be nothing more than paper in the rain.

This post isn’t to make you feel discouraged about the world, but rather the opposite. We are but humans, and the world is a vast old place that has been hostile to us for our entire existence. Whatever information that we can wring out of it while trying our best to simply hold onto the evolution that we have gained is a win. No matter what the shrieking tried to tell you to the contrary.