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Letter From A Psychopath

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Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#211

Post by undoware »

undoware wrote: post #198
DanBC wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If your position is that all convincing self-accounts by psychopaths are themselves only convincing because the psychopath is somehow 'tricking' you, then you can take that statement and s/psychopath/any group you care to name/ and you'd never know the difference. Don't believe me? Try substituting various bogeymen of the twentieth century: crack dealers, pedophiles, etc. You see what I mean? It always works: You s…

So is being any sort of successful criminal. A pedophile, for example.

vanderzwan: I'm intentionally dealing with public-paranoia stereotypes: The pedophile on the hunt; the crack dealer at the schoolyard; etc. etc. I meant 'pedophile', and used this charged word, specifically to pick out how our reactions often blind us; but in doing so, I myself equivocated between illness and criminality. Ew. Thanks for catching that.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#212

Post by MarkPNeyer »

undoware wrote: post #197
MarkPNeyer wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If your position is that all convincing self-accounts by psychopath He made no such generalization. He simply talked about this one self account.

Good point, thanks Mark. :) See, I positioned myself for not getting it quite right -- I can say, "this means I'm probably less psychopathic than you." Monster! :D

raaaarrrr

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#213

Post by sliverstorm »

tomstokes wrote: post #92

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this letter is observing people's reactions to it. In the letter, the author goes so far as to admit that s/he is and always will be a psychopath without a sense of guilt or remorse toward others and a keen ability to recognize and exploit weaknesses in others for his/her own gain. Judging by the comments here, the letter has done just that. One comment below notes that "Jeez, tha…

he was too incredible of a case for anyone but the highest-ranking therapist to handle

I was actually waiting for a reveal of something like, "And I discovered the reason I connected with the top therapist so well was because she was a closet psychopath!"

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#214

Post by Havoc »

dfraser992 wrote: post #106

Sociopaths are one of the fundamental threats facing humanity today. Such traits may have been beneficial in times past as group conflict was so prevalent, but if global issues like getting into space, climate change and the prevention of economic chaos are to be dealt with effectively, humanity is going to have to learn how to cooperate more effectively. And that means preventing sociopaths from getting into positio…

Well good luck with your witch hunt.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#215

Post by Havoc »

sliverstorm wrote: post #213
tomstokes wrote: post #92

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this letter is observing people's reactions to it. In the letter, the author goes so far as to admit that s/he is and always will be a psychopath without a sense of guilt or remorse toward others and a keen ability to recognize and exploit weaknesses in others for his/her own gain. Judging by the comments here, the letter has done just that. One comment below notes that "Jeez, tha…

he was too incredible of a case for anyone but the highest-ranking therapist to handle I was actually waiting for a reveal of something like, "And I discovered the reason I connected with the top therapist so well was because she was a closet psychopath!"

You might not be all that far off the mark. I'd imagine people who fall somewhere within the dark triad [1] would connect better with a psychopath, even if they are not one themselves.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_triad

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#216

Post by wrongc0ntinent »

yurgeni wrote: post #83

>psychopaths hate weakness they will attempt to conceal anything that might present as a vulnerability [...] ability to rapidly find weaknesses in others, and to exploit it There seems to be confusion about what constitutes 'strength' and what constitutes 'weakness' in regard to human personalities (or 'hard' vs 'soft') For example, compulsively manipulating other people is more properly regarded as a weakness , I th…

>There seems to be confusion about what constitutes 'strength' and what constitutes 'weakness' in regard to human personalities (or 'hard' vs 'soft')

This here is the crux of the matter, and we only stand to lose if we go on with all the hyperbole and analogies around psychopathy. The value and consistency of what constitutes "weak" and "strong" depends to a large extent on the feedback we (and "they") get in everyday interaction (whether they live in a city or grow up around Baloo the bear). Burying psychopathy down to some exclusive and immutable genetic level is to ignore this (I'm not talking about causes here, but about behavior reinforcement and motivation).

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#217

Post by sliverstorm »

prawks wrote: post #201
mcguire wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might also want to note that there are many different versions of [staying] out of trouble .

Exactly what I thought. Especially given the above quote: researchers could study only the psychopaths’ behavior, in most cases through their criminal records It's a fascinating disorder, really, in that the most severe cases are difficult to detect so long as they do not make mistakes.

The most interesting part is how unlike a typical disorder it is. Your typical disorder removes capability; psychopathy removes empathy, which can be seen as a capability- but it could also be seen as a natural (well-intentioned) limiter.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#218

Post by Florin_Andrei »

tomstokes wrote: post #92

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this letter is observing people's reactions to it. In the letter, the author goes so far as to admit that s/he is and always will be a psychopath without a sense of guilt or remorse toward others and a keen ability to recognize and exploit weaknesses in others for his/her own gain. Judging by the comments here, the letter has done just that. One comment below notes that "Jeez, tha…

Good points.

Here's something even more fascinating, and surely much more controversial - now re-read that letter, and try and count how many times you hear in it echoes from Ayn Rand's characters, or from the writer herself.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#219

Post by sciguy77 »

undoware wrote: post #182
tomstokes wrote: post #92

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this letter is observing people's reactions to it. In the letter, the author goes so far as to admit that s/he is and always will be a psychopath without a sense of guilt or remorse toward others and a keen ability to recognize and exploit weaknesses in others for his/her own gain. Judging by the comments here, the letter has done just that. One comment below notes that "Jeez, tha…

I hate to logic-chop a civilian (i.e. someone who didn't waste their youth in an analytic philosophy department studying ethics) but here we go. If your position is that all convincing self-accounts by psychopaths are themselves only convincing because the psychopath is somehow 'tricking' you, then you can take that statement and s/psychopath/any group you care to name/ and you'd never know the difference. Don't beli…

This is why I love HN. I learned something new from your comment, thank you.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#220

Post by sliverstorm »

circlefavshape wrote: post #119
jseliger wrote: post #16

If you're interested in what life for such a person is like (or if you might be one!), check out M. E. Thomas's Confessions of a Sociopath . I wrote about it here: http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/summary-judgment-co... and Tyler Cowen wrote about it here: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/06/con... and elsewhere. FWIW, from what I've read ( http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/08…

I thought that the ME Thomas book read like a work of fiction. The drowning of the possum right at the start - cruelty to animals being one of the stereotypical psychopath behaviours - smelled strongly of a creative writing class to me

Is cruelty to animals part of psychopathy? Or simply a behavior that can develop unchecked due to psychopathy?
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