Friend or Foe: The Psychopath Dilemma and CE-5

Discernment operates as above, so below

Still from Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu (2024)

“We must know evil to be able to destroy it. We must discover it within ourselves and when we have, we must crucify the evil within ourselves or there is no salvation.” —Professor von Franz in Nosferatu

We humans find ourselves in a tough situation. The information we use to form judgments is always limited, and those who have something to hide are experts at managing that information. This places us in a bind. Even with good information, it is difficult to know that we have enough information to form a sufficiently objective conclusion. And if the information we do have has been manipulated, we’re even worse off. This applies to all things, but in the context of human predation I would sum it up like this:

There are obvious signs of malevolence, but no obvious signs of benevolence.

The obvious signs should be … obvious. I’d bet that everyone who has been on the receiving end of overt malevolence knows it when they experience it. And there’s really no mistaking it. When someone is in the process of hurting or killing a victim in a particularly sadistic way, that should be obvious. Or when they grin at you as they see your friends and family believe the lies they’ve been spreading about you. Or the threats they dole out to keep your silence about their true nature. Those are all explicit signs of human malevolence.

But it doesn’t work the other way. Overt signs of benevolence can never be taken as proof of benevolence. (Same as how virtue signaling is not proof of virtue.) I find it amazing that practically everyone knows the phrase “wolf in sheep’s clothes,” or one like it, but so many people are taken in by false displays of compassion and benevolence. The most effective psychopaths are not successful because they are obviously malevolent. They are effective because they convince others that they are not malevolent. They wear a mask.

This mask does several things. It disarms you by gaining your trust, which they can then exploit. It creates a group of supporters who won’t believe they could possibly be malevolent, which creates a form of “reputational” and social armor. It allows them to achieve objectives they would not otherwise be able to achieve if they were openly malevolent. Without such a mask or persona, they would have no support and they would quickly be imprisoned, killed, or otherwise run out of a community. As such, they have to operate by way of deception.

Malevolence often presents itself as its opposite: charming, friendly, stable, reliable, caring and compassionate, benevolent.

So what are we to do? Simply being reactively distrustful of everyone isn’t helpful. Luckily we don’t need to be. As a start, we just need to be cautious and aware that this is the state of the world. In other words, we need to understand the very basic truths that 1) malevolence is real, and 2) appearances can be deceiving. But these two understandings are sadly lacking in many communities.

One community in particular is what I’ll broadly call the “New Age.” Many readers may know that I’m convinced of the reality of metaphysical evil in addition to plain old human evil, and its relation to the subject of non-human intelligence. If you disagree, that’s okay with me. Reading the following as a metaphor for human evil will be just as effective, I think.

Steven Greer is a medical doctor and longtime advocate of “UFO disclosure,” and I’d place him squarely in the New Age camp. He engages in a practice he calls “CE-5,” or “close encounters of the fifth kind,” which involves summoning and “contacting” non-human intelligences and craft via a form of meditation, often in a group. Many people think this aspect of his work is pure charlatanry and nonsense. I’m not one of those people (though I’ve heard convincing claims he has engaged in fraudulent behavior in this pursuit). But neither am I an advocate.

In the wake of NewsNation’s recent release of an interview with an ex-Air Force special operator who claims to have worked as part of a UAP crash-retrieval team, and that part of this program involved summoning craft in much the same way as Greer, Greer tweeted this:

One of the 1st suggestions when going out to make contact is to invite the ETs to come “IF it is safe and appropriate. This is an invitation. It is a peaceful, diplomatic mission. Get the CE5 Contact app. Link in Bio. Read Dr. Greer’s paper - “One Universe - One People”

Even if I didn’t believe in various aspects of the “supernatural,” I would find this statement shockingly naive. Because I do believe, I also find it absolutely irresponsible.

Greer is notorious for his firm conviction that “ETs” are exclusively benevolent. Any evidence of malevolence (some of it quite overt, in my opinion) he ascribes to “deep-state” groups manipulating events in order to give aliens a bad image. Even the suggestion that they may not be benevolent makes him visibly upset in interviews. So take a look at what he is saying here. He is assuring readers that we can trust in the benevolence of the beings allegedly contacted via CE-5 simply by inviting them “to come IF [implication: and only if] it is safe and appropriate.” If such things are in fact possible, what makes him think this will be any more effective in the spiritual domain than in the human one?

Job offer: baby-sitter.

I invite all potential applicants to spend time alone with my children but ONLY if you are safe and act appropriately. You have to promise.

If you are a peaceful, benevolent baby-sitter, please stop by at 7:00 pm this Friday at 555 Naif Blvd. I’ll be out by then, but the door will be unlocked and the kids waiting.

Con men and destructive predators thrive on this level of blind openness and “compassion.”

Now, let’s say that there is some reality to certain “supernatural” phenomena. This approach is basically an open invitation to a different type of predator. In the religious sphere we might call it diabolic obsession or possession. Starry-eyed naivety and positive intentions are not protection against malevolence. They invite it in. And metaphysical predators are reportedly just as good if not better at deception than their human counterparts. In other words, you should expect them to put on a good show. They might even make you feel really good as a sign that they mean you no harm and to establish a connection. Psychopaths “love bomb” for a reason.

And just for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the “ET” hypothesis is correct. I personally am not convinced by it, but if it were true, humanity would be screwed with “diplomatic ambassadors” like Greer. He is essentially promoting an “open border” policy with a potential adversary that is arguably more technically advanced, and thus potentially more dangerous than any human adversary. Sorry, but I would much rather place my trust in a hardened diplomat schooled in realpolitik, and a military intelligence planner who habitually asks what if and plans accordingly, than some pollyannaish New Ager beaming love and light to an intelligence who for all we know shows us only what they want us to see.

And you know what? Any hypothetical, truly benevolent race of “space brothers” would understand and respect that. Just like any good potential babysitter is okay with being vetted by parents and would probably be uncomfortable if they showed no signs of concern for their child’s well-being. They would understand that this world is a complex place, that we have to deal with liars and predators; that we have to make judgments based on limited information; that we have learned the hard way the need to be cautious, and that peace is only possible through strength in the form of the willingness to resort to overwhelming force.

Bringing this back down to earth: in a world with very real human predators, we cannot be naive. We have to be aware of the potential dangers and take steps to forestall them. We can’t just act nice, let our guard down, and assume everyone is as nice as they appear. We have to be selective about who we “let in,” whether into our personal lives, our communities, or our countries. And we have to be willing stand up for ourselves against those whose benevolence is only a pretense masking an insatiable appetite.

If you’re looking for a babysitter (use this as a stand-in for any position of responsibility), they should be more than willing to be tested and doubted until they prove themselves. If they’re insulted by the suggestion and try to demean you for offering it, you’re better off not trusting them.