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Letter From A Psychopath

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Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#231

Post by southpawgirl »

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…

Undoware, all very well explained; I couldn't agree more.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#232

Post by mzs »

"I hope that it can remain confidential for the time being, seeing as it is quite personal."

Dang who is the one exploiting weakness here?

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#233

Post by VladimirGolovin »

throwaway83294 wrote: post #176
yannk wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, why the throwaway account? Did you think about telling anyone or did you even tell anyone, so that maybe others don't have to go through the same thing you did?

For reasons I won't get into, after he was confronted, he did what I'd describe as "firing a warning shot", but in terms of social power. Basically it was his way of saying "Don't mess with me. I have influence and can destroy your life." Following that, I've been forced to take precautions in terms of carefully bringing friends into this knowledge, among other strategic preparations in case he "attacks" some day wit…

Everything you said above checks out, my experience with a psychopath was similar.

> "Don't mess with me."

I heard this exact phrase, he said it right to my face. I didn't think at that moment that I'm posing any threat. Perhaps the guy overestimated me.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#234

Post by VladimirGolovin »

sliverstorm wrote: post #217
prawks wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's quite possible that this is not a disorder, but a stable evolutionary strategy.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#235

Post by VladimirGolovin »

sliverstorm wrote: post #220
circlefavshape wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I think it's a side effect due to the lack of empathy. On the other hand, they do enjoy their domination over weaker beings, so this might be pleasurable to them.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#237

Post by diminoten »

selmnoo wrote: post #178
diminoten wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that our responsibility, to save a man from mental illness? I don't feel it is.

Is it our responsibility to help people who have down syndrome from hurting themselves? Is it our responsibility to help people with physical handicap? Is it our responsibility to help people suffering from depression? I'm offended by the thought and the idea that we should just ignore our ill. What if the person suffering from the mental illness was your brother or sister? Think about if it was you, and no-one reach…

You're way overgeneralizing. I mean you and I, users of Hacker News, to help one specific person. That's all.

It should be blatantly obvious that, were the situation different, I'd feel differently.

Not everything is a moral crusade, Internet warrior.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#238

Post by VladimirGolovin »

RivieraKid wrote: post #150
VladimirGolovin wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think psychopaths are incredibly boring, unidemensional people. I met at least two. Both were extremely vivid people, and deeper contact with them, when they turn off their cloaking field, was baffling: it was a bit like communicating with an alien. In any case, these people were really, really far from being dull.

How did you knoe they were psychopaths?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist, and before that, a very strong gut feeling. Too many things click together: the overall toxicity of a person, his desire to belittle / denigrate many people around him (a waitress in a cafe, contributors to an internet community project, a non-psychopath competitor etc.), his grandiose self-image (he literally designated himself as 'elite'), threats of violence and criminal leanings, always hogging the spotlight in social settings, "friendships" that change to enmity overnight, et cetera et cetera.

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#239

Post by yurgeni »

wrongc0ntinent wrote: post #216
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 everyda…

Yes. Another reason I think we can call sociopathy a weakness is that, as with all evil, the actors are thoroughly deceived about their own motives. This makes them especially maddening to those who catch on and falsely assume that they could make a straightforward choice to behave differently

Re: Letter From A Psychopath

#240

Post by [deleted] »

catchaway wrote: post #175
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…

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this response is observing how this has changed the tone of discussion in this thread. It's interesting how the parent tries to downplay his own ability to identify weakness in his readers and manipulate them into thinking of what they found as inspirational as being manipulative. Judging by the comments here, the parent's been pretty successful. One comment below notes that "What…

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