> In general, undeveloped countries seem to have fewer problems with psychopaths (disregarding the ones in charge). I find this immensely curious.
My pet hypothesis on this is that humans are wired to cope with extreme stress, scarcity, and violence. In an environment of relative peace and abundance we develop a whole host of neuroses. Most cope through entertainment, drugs, and other outlets, but some just totally flip out.
It's like what happens to hunting and working dog breeds when cooped up in a little apartment. They start eating the furniture, digging holes in the walls, chewing lesions into their skin, etc. Watch a large predator animal walk nervously in circles in a zoo.
Uh? Your point about the church is weird: I live in France which has rejected (mostly) church a long time ago and this hasn't really created a 'slew of new problems'.
Not all churches require monogamy, but I will use that as an example. This remains a global problem irrespective of how it affects you: institutionalized monogamy did prevent, or at least limit, the STD epidemic. That's one objective problem off the top of my head, there are other subjective problems.
That's not to say that institutionalized religion didn't have problems, it had many, we simply now have to find other ways to solve the problems that it did.
Disclaimer: all of this is entirely unscientific, just observations.
From the perspective of a South African, we didn't have people walking into a public place (church, concert or otherwise) and shoot up a crowd. In general, undeveloped countries seem to have fewer problems with psychopaths (disregarding the ones in charge). I find this immensely curious.
One thing that Facebook has taught me is that problems are like biodiversity. It seems as though every time we solve a problem a previously minor problem becomes a major one. One example that many here should be familiar with is Facebook: it solved many quality-of-life problems, but in the process has allowed other unforeseen problems grow out of control. I seriously wonder whether rampant psychopathy (relationally speaking) is a symptom of development (technological, economic, social and otherwise). It's logically possible to see how: you no longer have to worry about where your next meal is coming from so, provided predisposition, you can start obsessively worrying about your fabricated issues.
Up until relatively recently, the entire human race was involved in a desperate struggle to survive. Now, while still a minority, a decent percentage of the human race no longer has to worry about where their next meal is coming from. These elite are typically concentrated in specific geographic regions, which is where I've noticed that most of these "novel problems" exist.
> BillG: The world is getting better, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.
I'll add to that: until our evolution reaches a point that we are no longer in a fight for survival (by ways of nature or science), we won't feel as though the world is getting better. We are incessant worriers by nature.
> church
The church kept us in line and now that it is being rejected, we are acting like rebellious children away from their overbearing parents for the first time - doing everything we weren't allowed to do. This will pass, and we'll have a slew of new problems to replace it.