What is an Asymptomatic Criminal, according to Psycho Pass?

In the anime Psycho Pass we meet what for me is one of the best antagonists in anime, Makishima Shougo, who in turn is classified as a Asymptomatic Criminal by the Sybil System. However…What it means to be an “Asymptomatic Criminal”, and why can't the Sybil System judge these people or measure their criminal coefficient?

Both the anime and the manga give us little information about this very special condition. One of these data is that approximately 1 in every 2,000,000 people is classified in this way (0.0000005% of the population), but apart from this, we don't know much more, so it may seem that the antagonist (Makishima Shougo) cannot be judged by the Sybil System solely to make the work more interesting.

I want to dedicate this blog entry to expressing my opinion on the matter, with which I will justify the fact that there are asymptomatic criminals and I hope to make this concept a little clearer.

What it means to be an Asymptomatic Criminal within the Sybil System

What is an asymptomatic criminal?

As we had mentioned before, an asymptomatic criminal is every person who cannot be judged by Sybil, since the reading of your criminal coefficient will not correspond to what you would assign when knowing the morality and ethics of your actions. In some moments of the anime and manga I think it is even mentioned that these people can alter their criminal coefficient at will, although I am not so sure about the latter.

MILLION-MILLION QUESTION: Why can't your Criminal Coefficient be measured?

Although no concrete explanation is given in this regard, I believe that a fairly logical conclusion can be reached by understanding how the Sibyl system works. And the entire population regulated under this form of government is exposed to a continuous measurement of their vital signs, and in some way it is even possible to measure the joint stress of several metropolitan areas.

The Sybil system does not read your thoughts, but yes a close relationship is established between vital signs (heart rate, respiratory rate, body temperature, etc…) and your possible stress level, behavior pattern or mental health.

If you think about it, this is not so crazy even in the current year (2021), where artificial intelligence is being able to understand neural impulses and translate them into movement or communication patterns.

What then happens to Asymptomatic Criminals like Makishima Shougo?

The answer is simple: This type of person does not consider their own actions to be wrong., nor that they have a harmful purpose for humanity. It is impossible for your vital signs not to be involuntarily altered when doing wrong, but it is possible for oneself to be so convinced that one is doing right, that even when murdering people, one's vital signs are not altered; something close to a person with psychopathy disorder, although not the same.

This is the explanation why these asymptomatic criminals exist.

It was already very clear to us in both the anime and the manga that Makishima Shougo was a humanist to the 100%, and that he advocated at all times for the well-being of humanity, but reflecting some dark ideals of this humanism. Even so, this does not change the fact that he is a convinced humanist, and does not doubt at any time that his actions are ethically and morally correct.

In this way we could say that The Sibyl System measures the perception that each person has of themselves, and based on that information it evaluates the criminal coefficient of each individual.

Conclusion – Makishima and the asymptomatic criminals in Psycho Pass

Any person classified as an asymptomatic criminal will correspond to the profile of a individual destined to bring changes to society, capable of advancing the Sibyl system through firm and honest ideals.

SPOILER ALERT 🙂

It is for this reason that the very system that regulates society is made up of the brains of people who once fought to bring changes and implement their sincere vision of reality.

For me, Psycho Pass is one of the best anime I have ever seen. If you want to discover a few other of my favorite animes and mangas you can visit my top 20 recommended anime for anyone.