Psychology Has a Label for Putin’s KGB-Made Mind
The French term ‘deformation professionelle’ describes how people are warped by their specializations. It applies to the tyrant in the Kremlin.
The young KGB agent during his stint in East Germany.
Source: State Security Service of the German Democratic Republic, via Wikimedia
One way to think yourself into the warped mind of a despot like Russian President Vladimir Putin is to first probe into the dark recesses of your own psyche, then figure out what’s different in his. The list is long, but one cognitive snafu that’s both common and relevant is called deformation professionelle.
We use the French term not only because that language often captures things better, but also because the phrase has an embedded pun that doesn’t translate into the English “professional deformation.” Formation professionelle means vocational training. Deformation professionelle therefore refers to the tunnel vision, biases and distortions we imbibe as we become expert at whatever we do.