Psychopathy or sociopathy isn't an all or nothing condition. There are some people who are "slightly psychopathic". If they are also quite intelligent, they might very well rise to the top of the heap because they are willing to do what it takes to get ahead (but stay within the bounds of polite society). A slightly psychopathic business executive will probably find success because he won't feel a great deal of suffering if he has to lay off 500 people on Christmas Eve.

As for "breeding psychopaths", it isn't entirely clear how we get psychopaths or sociopaths. One theory is that "pathic" personalities have a critical defect in their brain--specifically, a solid neural connection between the limbic system (emotional center) and the prefrontal cortex (thinking center). This connection is what enables almost all individuals to incorporate guilt into their personality. We learn guilt by failing to please our parents when we are children and being punished. ("Not only did you eat all the cookies, but you broke the cookie jar too! Shame on you. You're going to get a spanking right now!" her mother yelled.) The child feels like the parents love has been withdrawn, and the fear of love being withdrawn is what we call "guilt". "Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving." Internalized guilt is what keeps us on the straight and narrow, and out of the court house, out of jail, out of trouble.

Psychopaths can't feel fear and guilt. The neurons that make it possible just aren't there. So, they grow up rule-less. They are often also rootless, and don't form close relationships (they can't). Some psychologists are trying to develop therapy to help psychopaths behave (and feel) more normally.

Is all this true? I estimate the what I have written has about a 63% chance o being true.

The necessity for psychopathy may be explained in terms of evolution. We need variety in the gene pool for better chances of success as it makes adaptation to changing environments that much easier. A byproduct of this variety in the gene pool may be psychopathy. It's like life as people understand it - it's painful at times but that's just part of being alive.

There are some psychological aspects of psychopathy which I'll list below. The Macdonald triad

1. pyromania
2. cruelty to animals
3. Bed wetting

Humans are the only animals that have learned to control fire and it's one of the many important technologies that has fueled human civilization.

Hunting was one of the primary modes of human nutrition - we were hunter-gatherers.

Bed wetting can be understood as mental immaturity - children are inquisitive and this trait has led to inventions that created civilization as we know it. The downside is inqusitivenss can lead to experimenting with the moral boundaries of society.

As you can see the symptomatology of psychopathy reflects, but in excess, human traits that have made us successful in the evolutionary game. Psychopathy consists of magnified human traits - consistent with their ubermenschen mentality.