World leaders and senior politicians should be tested regularly for signs of madness, a leading brain scientist warned Sunday.
Dr James Toole, president of the World Federation of Neurology, believes it is now critical that presidents and prime ministers be scrutinized for signs of mental instability. A crack-up by Tony Blair or George W. Bush would have the most devastating consequences, he will tell the world neurology congress in London -- yet nothing is done to monitor their psychological well-being.
"Pilots of airliners are in charge of a few hundred passengers, and we monitor their mental health in the most detailed way," Toole -- of the Wake Forest Medical Center, North Carolina -- said. "By contrast, politicians control the lives of millions, but we let them run around without any form of psychological profiling."
"Similarly, we have laws governing the packaging of food and manufacturing cars, but we don't think about having similar requirements for those in high office."
Toole recently chaired the Working Group on Presidential Disability, which urged that contingency plans be prepared for the possibility of a US leader becoming mentally unstable. He believes such problems are of overriding importance, particularly in the West, where populations are ageing and more and more individuals in senior governmental positions are likely to lose their grasp of reality.
Without safeguards, their symptoms are likely to be missed by their peers, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
Nor do the lessons of history paint a reassuring picture. A disturbingly large proportion of world leaders last century were clearly unhinged. Obvious examples include Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot.
The prospect of mad leaders triggering wars may provoke images of Dr Strangelove. The reality is that the history of conflict in the past century can be traced to the mental instability of a few individuals. "It is now time to think how we can curtail their activities," said Toole.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS