Live data from Hacker News

I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

wsj.com

71–80 of 203 posts

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be interesting to know if this is a common experience among sociopaths. I had always thought that behaviors like theft resulted more simply from the lack of empathy (and desire for the stolen item), rather than resolving some kind of internal tension.

Yes. She says "I was sorry I had to steal to stop fantasizing about violence" - it seems there is something else going on here, not just being a sociopath.

I would say not necessarily. Attempting to understand someone that totally lacks a personality trait means that their motivation pathways could be entirely different. Un-understandable by those who do have the trait.

In this case, do something minor (stealing) to scratch the itch that, if left unscratched for long enough, could result in doing something major (violence).

It feels like a reaction to societal rules that don't make sense in their experience of the world, and so maybe the itch exists because the rule(s) seem irrational and arbitrary to them.

Or maybe the lack of empathy leaves a hole to be filled with mischief.

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#72
post #53
post #52

I had the experience of dealing with clinically diagnosed pshycopaths. One of them was in my school, a kid that was very smart but too rational, you could feel there was something wrong with him. He did not have real friends so he tried threaten people into becoming his friend or else... He was not using physical force, but using his mind in order to plan punishing people rationally. He just could not understand the…

PostData: He got diagnosed as a 30 years old or so.

[dead]

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#74
post #33

Super interesting. I can recognize this behavior with people playing multiplayer games. When there are no stakes, and everything is a game, people mess around – especially when they’re bored. If it’s just a game, who cares? People with extremely low “emotional reactivity” appear unlikely to share with others (why would they, most of us share stuff for empathy - and they may not see the point - or lose out socially).…

Reading this reminds me of someone I was friends with in high school who quickly turned out to be absolutely insufferable to play any sort of cooperative game with.

They would take absolutely _everything_ that could be shared, and calmly and with complete conviction explain it was better off with them. They were blind to the bigger picture of quickly having nobody who would ever play with them.

Magic the Gathering at lunch was also a terrible experience with this person...

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#75
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PostData: He got diagnosed as a 30 years old or so.

How could he be 'very rational' and also 'threaten people to become his friends'?

By going about it on a very analytical and methodical and rational way. Rationality is about the mechanism, not some particular moral or value content.

You might be asking "but if he was rational, couldn't he see that blackmailing is incompatible with friendship?". Well, if he wanted the trappings of friendship (having a friend group, playmates, hanging out and so on), and not some "genuine bonding", it's not that incompatible.

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#76
post #27

> After years of study, intensive therapy and earning a Ph.D. in psychology I wonder what the percentage of psychologists get their degrees to figure out what the hell is wrong with them. I bet it is pretty large. Also her gaze in the picture is quite unnerving. I wonder if it is because I know she is a sociopath or would I find it just as unnerving if I did not.

The two psychologists I know are definitely in the top decile of people I know who need to see a psychologist, so yes this tracks.

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#77

I’m really worried that there’s a trend to normalize narcissistic and sociopathic behavior simply because “they are self aware” There are a few ASPD, NPD or narcissist Instagram pages which are clearly sociopaths getting their attention fix by acknowledging and describing these behaviors - this isn’t the same as recovery groups or serious interventions because ASPD has been seen as impossible to treat (though that’s…

So what is your proposed solution? I'd rather have a sociopath that is upfront about being one to me than figuring that fact out by myself. Shunning those people from society seems like not an option to me, they are people after all. I think normalizing sociopathic behaviour is something to be worried about, but I personally don't see that happening anywhere so I am unsure what your point is.

Let's genetically profile for it, and if there's a link, screen for embryos that don't have it. This would require a bit more technological advancement of course. But imagine, a world without sociopaths! It would be the biggest generational improvement in the world in history.

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#79

I thought this fad of building identity on labels was dying down ? I have no idea if her diagnosis is right - doesn't sound pathological/needing a diagnosis. Reading trough the article I don't feel I've gained any practical insights - just reads like someone trying to sound interesting by putting a label on themselves and explaining how it fits them.

the writer of the article is lying, she doesn't have a PhD and is using someone else's name, it's just an ad for another book

https://old.reddit.com/r/askpsychology/comments/jqewhk/does_...

Re: I always knew I was different, I didn't know I was a sociopath

#80
post #33

Super interesting. I can recognize this behavior with people playing multiplayer games. When there are no stakes, and everything is a game, people mess around – especially when they’re bored. If it’s just a game, who cares? People with extremely low “emotional reactivity” appear unlikely to share with others (why would they, most of us share stuff for empathy - and they may not see the point - or lose out socially).…

Stewart Lee's impression of Ricky Gervais ("the Boris Johnson of stand up") literally saying what cannot be said because of political correctness and the woke brigade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIHY5cFXqQk

Post reply on HN