{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
originally posted in:Spread the Word
3/7/2014 12:43:04 AM
5
I have researched this in depth, as I find the notion of evil interesting (though I don't personally believe in evil) and since psychopaths/sociopaths are frequently called evil, I wanted to know why. I was surprised to see that the defining category was ASPD, which a psychologist I saw when I was young talked about with me quite a bit. I was too young to fit the diagnosis criteria (which was 15 years old at the time) but he said I fit some of the criteria. I myself, provided I am actually a sociopath would fit into the Secondary category. Being a contrarian, I rejected the notion out of hand, but as I get older and am better able to rationally analyze the way I react to things, the more convincing it is.
Also, [url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ist/?next=/science-nature/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/]James Fallon[/url] has done some work with the physiological side of this disorder. He found a correlation in brain scans with psychopathic individuals, and a correlation to the MAO-A gene and psychopaths. Some of you have probably heard of the "Warrior Gene", that is the MAO-A gene. The warrior thing is a terrible moniker, and doesn't really apply to the mutation. It basically codes for the production of an enzyme which acts as a metabolizer for monoamine chemicals, like the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. The enzyme breaks the chemical chains via oxidation. The gene can be expressed a variety of ways, but there was found a correlation with 3 or so specific expressions and psychopathic behavior, and then once again to the brain scans. It might be the case that the gene mutation, when supervened to make a big complex system like a brain, might change the structure in way which reduces or numbs emotional response pathways in the brain.
As I said, interesting stuff. Thanks for the thread BTW.
English
-
[quote] I myself, provided I am actually a sociopath would fit into the Secondary category. Being a contrarian, I rejected the notion out of hand,[/quote] I find that quite amusing actually. I'm the opposite, I still feel fear and anxiety from time to time but I fit quite firmly into the Primary category and, in an odd sense, embrace it whenever the Nurse at college would bring it up. The narcissist in me likes the stereotype of power and manipulation that comes with the territory. That being said, I'm not totally incapable of forming attachments; it leads to an odd situation where the relationship turns out hollow, and I only realise how much it meant to me following a bad experience with that person. Accordingly, I suffer from quite severe depression on top of it, which, to come full circle, apparently has a high co-morbidity with ASPD. I'm not actually eligible for a proper diagnosis, however, since I'm 17 and sometimes worry that my behaviour will end up with me in a psychiatric hospital. As for whether you are a psychopath - I would say that depends on how bad your impulse control is, and how often you manipulate people or display callous behaviour. You give me the impression of being able to control yourself.
-
Yes, I am not very impulsive. Which is a definitive positive IMO. I do tend to view people as objects and find empathy to be difficult or even impossible to apply. That's not to say I am not empathetic, but its very subdued and not very expressive. Simply because of my tendency towards rationalism and...not really impulse control but lack of impulse I think I have staved off a lot of potential trouble. I still generally don't see any reason to care if I offend someone or anger someone, but I don't see any reason to go out of my way to do so. So while I tend to display a lot of sociopathic traits, even to the detriment of others, I am simply not impulsive enough for it to be a chronic problem. By that definition, i would not be a psychopath. As to whether I am manipulative, that is a harder one to answer. I have no desire to manipulate my friends and family so I don't. In the past when I noticed that people seemed to react differently than I did, I would mimic them in order to not seem out of place. I abandoned that notion though, when I just didn't feel like maintaining the facade anymore. I could not bring myself to care if anyone noticed that I was just not feeling anything and lacked the passion they had for whatever I was analyzing. I wonder if that was an ASPD thing itself, no longer caring to pretend to be normal, because meh what people think of me. I however am very manipulative when it comes to work and tricking customers into liking me. That's nothing out of the ordinary, but I hit it pretty hard, with my former zeal to not seem out of place.
-
Have you ever found yourself in a position, at any point in your life, where you meet a potential romantic partner, and you find yourself tailoring your personality to what they like in order to increase your chances of success with them?
-
Absolutely. I think all of us run "a game" in order to try to make ourselves look more attractive to a potential mate, but some of us hit it pretty hard. Totally changing the way we present ourselves in order to conform to our IDEA of what that specific person would like. I mostly got over that though, and just expect potential mates to like me for what I am, instead of my fatuous facade. My idea of what they would like was typically superficial and easy to see through (and typically wrong incidentally), and as I said I eventually just didn't care about presenting the facade any longer. You?
-
Yes, although attachment leads to liberty. For my most recent relationship, which is unfortunately no longer, I completely changed my personality and presented myself as, essentially, another person. Fortunately, it reaches a point whereby the other person is sufficiently attached enough to allow you to slowly slip back into being you. Sometimes works; sometimes doesn't.
