I don't know the answer, but your use of the word "ruthless" brings up a good point.
I seem to remember hearing about studies[0] which showed that to be a politician (or even a CEO of a large company) required certain psychopathic traits. This is because making decisions like, e.g.:
- Sending people to war, knowing that many will not return
- Changing laws which will result in many being worse off
- Firing hundreds/thousands of people, with potential disastrous consequences for many of them
Would be very difficult to be made by somebody who possesses a strong sense of empathy.
I wonder if lawyers tend to posses the same traits, because often they are asked to defend people, even if the persons crimes were indefensible. Likewise, I wonder if this is related to why other professionals are underrepresented? I am doing my PhD in Australia, and despite the occasional crazy academic, I don't think (many of) my colleagues show psychopathic tendencies that I am aware of.
[0] - I don't recall where I heard this, so no citations forthcoming.
I seem to remember hearing about studies[0] which showed that to be a politician (or even a CEO of a large company) required certain psychopathic traits. This is because making decisions like, e.g.:
- Sending people to war, knowing that many will not return
- Changing laws which will result in many being worse off
- Firing hundreds/thousands of people, with potential disastrous consequences for many of them
Would be very difficult to be made by somebody who possesses a strong sense of empathy.
I wonder if lawyers tend to posses the same traits, because often they are asked to defend people, even if the persons crimes were indefensible. Likewise, I wonder if this is related to why other professionals are underrepresented? I am doing my PhD in Australia, and despite the occasional crazy academic, I don't think (many of) my colleagues show psychopathic tendencies that I am aware of.
[0] - I don't recall where I heard this, so no citations forthcoming.