The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame:: Muwahahahaha!

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B

ENT ON

W

ORLD

D

OMINATION

A mad scientist never thinks small. Normal people coach soccer teams and worry about the responsibility of being promoted to line shift manager at Denny’s. The most ambitious among us may even yearn to become president of the United States. But the mad scientists in this section would never settle for so little; they sought something greater—absolute power. There are plenty of reasons why: With planet-wide authority comes unheard of wealth, respect, and more statues of yourself than you can shake a chisel at. And never forget, the ladies love a man with absolute power over humankind (and vice versa).

This section explores the mind-set of a group of mad scientists who had the tools and the talent to bring the world to its knees. In each of these cases, symptoms of antisocial personality disorder combine with narcissism or stubborn personality traits to create individuals who are very annoying at best and extremely dangerous to others at worst. Whether designing planet-orbiting mega-lasers or spreading misinformation across an entire nation, these mad scientists could not be satisfied until the entire world trembled beneath their gaze.

DR. EVIL

(First appeared in the movie Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, 1997)

I demand the sum of ... one million dollars!

—Dr. Evil

Primary goals: Money; world domination

Hair: Bald

Best friend: Miniature clone

Likes:

Dislikes: His own son (Scotty)

Hobby: Designing quasi-futuristic clothing

Education: Six years of evil medical school

Introduction

Perhaps the most coldly frightening and entertaining lunatic genius of all time, the persona of Dr. Evil is an ironic reflection of the stereotypical mad scientist. Like the eccentric Dr. Moreau,¹ Dr. Evil is constantly accompanied by a miniature sidekick who serves as a narcissistic reminder of his own perfection. For Dr. Evil, this version of himself is Mini Me, a smaller but genetically identical replica, complete with matching suit. Dr. Evil exhibits symptoms of both antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders. The comorbidity (coexistence) of these disorders is rare and can be extremely dangerous for innocent bystanders unfortunate enough to interact with such psychotic individuals. It is likely that Dr. Evil’s psychological problems originated in childhood. By his own report, his childhood experiences were far from positive. His parents probably modeled manipulation and violence in their interactions, and the young Dr. Evil likely experienced his parents as cold, uncaring, and punishing. Inherently evil and quite mad, Dr. Evil desires to rule Earth or destroy it—whichever comes first. The only impediment to his plans is a gnarl-toothed, bespectacled secret agent named Austin Powers.

Portrait of a Scientist

Very little is known of Dr. Evil’s childhood, but what we do know provides us with startling hints about the origins of the psychological problems that he has experienced as an adult. By his own report, his father was a narcoleptic boulangerie proprietor from Belgium who enjoyed buggery. Dr. Evil reports that his mother, Chloe, was a French prostitute with webbed feet. She was only fif-teen years old when Dr. Evil was born. Dr. Evil’s father was at least somewhat narcissistic, as he would make outrageously pompous claims, such as his assertion that he was the inventor of the question mark. Dr. Evil’s father womanized and drank frequently, would beat Dr. Evil severely, and was by all accounts a very inconsiderate and disagreeable man.

These childhood experiences influenced Dr. Evil in a number of ways. First and foremost, he lacked positive models (behavioral examples) of people interacting with one another. Narcissistic parents (such as Dr. Evil’s father) are often too self-absorbed to provide unconditional love and affection to their children. This self-centeredness can leave children with no experience of what it is like to be loved and accepted. Without this experience—and especially when punishment is severe—such children will grow up to seek constant attention and approval. They may develop manipulative or unorthodox strategies for getting their needs met, as no typical strategies worked with their parents. Narcissistic parents can also be too self-absorbed to provide appropriate empathetic responses when their children experience pain or hurt, leaving their children no opportunity to learn how to relate to others’ feelings. In Dr. Evil’s case, he has developed a strong desire for power and control, which he seeks without regard for the impact that his behaviors have on others. This pathological pattern of behavior affects his relationships with his enemies, his employees, and even his own son.

Psychopathology

Dr. Evil exhibits traits of antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, both diagnoses that are typically unlikely to change without intense treatment. His name is apt, as these characteristics are pervasive and observed in long-standing patterns of behavior that have a severe negative influence on his relationships with others (e.g., his homicidal tendencies). He exhibits the following troubling symptoms:

Antisocial irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by physical fights or assaults. Dr. Evil repeatedly becomes irritable and subsequently assaults his employees. While sitting at his conference table, he enjoys pressing small red buttons that mechanically launch struggling employees from their high-backed conference chairs and into roaring pits of fire. Usually such employees are killed outright, but other times they are only very seriously injured.

Antisocial lack of remorse and empathy. Dr. Evil’s maniacal laughter indicates that he enjoys thinking about the suffering of others. He demonstrates no signs of remorse when he sets his employees on fire, and shows positive affect (expressed emotion) when he commits assaults on others. In fact, Dr. Evil seems incapable and uninterested in understanding anything from someone else’s point of view. He frequently ignores his own son’s pleas for attention and understanding, repeatedly telling him to zip it, or to shh.

Antisocial illegal activities. Nearly all of Dr. Evil’s deeds are illegal, including but not limited to attempting to hold the planet Earth hostage for the sum of 1 million dollars (later amended to 100 billion dollars), assault and attempted murder, liquidating the members of his own therapy group, and stealing Austin Powers’s mojo. When informed of the economic success of his legitimate companies, Dr. Evil is unimpressed.

Narcissistic grandiose sense of self-importance. Dr. Evil’s inflated sense of self-importance is most apparent in his creation of custom-made personal space craft, designed to cryogenically freeze and preserve him for future evil exploits. It is notable that Dr. Evil feels that he is the only person deserving of being frozen and preserved. His sense of self-importance is also belied by the shape of his space craft—one is shaped like a giant Big Boy and the other bears a curious resemblance to enormous male genitalia.

Narcissistic preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, money, and power. Dr. Evil frequently demands exorbitant sums of money from the United Nations and the president of the United States. While a guest on the Jerry Springer Show, Dr. Evil succinctly expressed his desire for power by clutching a globe and declaring, The world is mine! to the camera.

Adult Relationships

Dr. Evil’s antisocial personality characteristics negatively impact his interactions with nearly everyone. Extremely demanding, he asks his employees to complete ludicrously difficult tasks, such as outfitting sharks with lasers on their heads. Almost every interaction with Austin Powers devolves into either maniacal laughter and a murder attempt, or cowardly fleeing. Clearly, everything Dr. Evil demands in relationships is designed to meet his own selfish needs. Unfortunately, his antisocial tactics for getting his needs met only further distance the very individuals who might provide him with satisfying interpersonal relationships, as these individuals must cope with imminent threats to their lives whenever they interact with Dr. Evil. When Dr. Evil’s demands are not met, he becomes childishly pouty and punishes others capriciously.

It should be noted that it is primarily Dr. Evil’s narcissistic traits, not his antisocial traits, that interfere in his attempts to build a relationship with his son Scott. Although Dr. Evil is initially willing to accompany Scott to father-son group therapy, he does not seem to take it seriously. When Scott confronts Dr. Evil about his lack of affection as a father, Dr. Evil readily admits to trying to kill him. To make matters worse, Dr. Evil is constantly accompanied by Mini Me, an ill-tempered miniature clone. Dr. Evil is uncharacteristically generous with Mini Me, offering him Hot Pockets and turning a blind eye as Mini Me runs rampant, scrambling onto tables and biting high-ranking employees. Dr. Evil plays charming piano duets with Mini Me but ignores or derides his own son.² Dr. Evil even confesses that Mini Me completes him and that he would be inconsolable for at least ten minutes without him. Coming from an empathy-free narcissist, this is love. On the other hand, Dr. Evil dismisses his own son, telling him, You’re the Diet Coke of evil, just one calorie, not evil enough. Ultimately, Dr. Evil sabotages all hope of therapeutic progress with Scott by having the therapy group liquidated. A last attempt at reconciliation, held during an episode of the Jerry Springer Show, ended catastrophically in a full melee, with Jerry Springer biting Dr. Evil’s calves.

Scientific Accomplishments

Despite the pervasive negative impact of his psychological problems on his relationships with others, Dr. Evil manages to exploit his evil genius status by surrounding himself with a cadre of brilliant scientists. The scientists who are attracted to the work at Virtucon, Dr. Evil’s evil corporation, are motivated by a lust for money and power. They seem to tolerate Dr. Evil’s dangerously whimsical desires because they enjoy creating evil technologies and hope to profit from Dr. Evil’s eventual world domination. Together, the research group at Virtucon is a formidable collective of vile minds. Their creative and intellectual genius is evident in a range of advanced contributions in the areas of physics, geology, and biology, including:

Fully functional time machine

Subterranean probe designed to explode all of Earth’s volcanoes at once

Moon-based laser weapon, dubbed Death Star

Cryogenic freezing pod capable of putting a person into suspended animation

Slightly finicky command chair with hydraulic lifting capabilities

Additionally, Dr. Evil and his research team have created a moon base and a volcano lair, which demonstrate a superior grasp of both geophysics and space travel. Dr. Evil describes his own evil qualifications best when he tells his son, You know, Scott, I’ve been a frickin’ evil doctor for thirty frickin’ years, okay?

Conclusion

With such a range of scientific accomplishments, the inhabitants of Earth can count themselves lucky to be alive—only three things stand between Dr. Evil and his goal of world domination. First, although the spy Austin Powers and Dr. Evil have been locked in a battle of wits that spans the twenty-first century, Austin somehow continues to foil Dr. Evil’s plans. Second, his own antisocial personality traits lead him to incinerate some of his best scientists, making for high turnover at Virtucon (and occasional lags in production). Finally, his own narcissistic personality traits cause him to frequently execute his cryogenic self-preservation schemes. These schemes keep Dr. Evil intact, but in his absence the people of Earth have time to prepare for his inevitable return.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Parent-child relational problem

Axis II: Antisocial personality disorder; Narcissistic personality disorder

Axis III: No diagnosis

Axis IV: No diagnosis

Axis V: GAF = 55—moderate symptoms: social, occupational challenges; neglects family; frequently defiant to others

TROFIM LYSENKO

(1898–1976)

He would have remained a gardener for life, had it not been for the Soviet regime.

—Lysenko’s father (in a letter to Stalin)

Nationality: Russian

Primary goals: Dominate all of Russian science; avoid learning any science

Hair: Short and slick

Likes: Wheat; eliminating competitors; the USSR

Dislikes: Mendelian genetics; the scientific method

Awards: The Order of Lenin, 1936

Positions: President of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Introduction

Trofim Lysenko was a Russian-born layman-scientist who cleverly manipulated the supreme ruler of Russia, Josef Stalin, into believing that he was a scientific genius. Trofim was born a member of the peasant class, but the interference of communism in the scientific establishment gave him the opportunity to cripple a nation’s scientific infrastructure. Using his own whimsical version of the scientific method, Trofim fabricated successful experiments and was continuously promoted by political friends. In the meantime, he viciously persecuted competing scientists, sending many to prison camps known as gulags. In the process, he set back Russian genetics by more than a century, murdered or imprisoned good scientists, and became one of the most infamous pseudo-scientists of all time.

Portrait of a Scientist

Trofim Lysenko was born in the Ukraine to poor peasant parents. As the oldest of four children, he took on many of the duties of working the family farm and as a result did not learn to read until the age of thirteen. Altogether in his lifetime, Trofim attended about five years of school: two in a village school, two in a horticultural school, and one in a correspondence course for a university degree in agronomy (the study of crops and soil). Not particularly gifted, Trofim was initially rejected to study agriculture at the university after he failed a portion of the entrance exam.³ Later, he earned his agronomy certificate through a long-distance learning program and began working at a small agricultural research station under the title of beet selection specialist.

In this position, Trofim was simply a gardener who occasionally educated local farmers about various growing techniques. It was here that Lysenko also learned the fundamentals of grafting species of plants together to from new hybrids.