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 Posted: Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:13 pm
I'm in the middle of a book call The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout. It's an interesting book about sociopathy and the question of the nature of conscience. Sociopaths create a special problem for psychology. After all, how can you treat someone who has no conscience?
Can people be born without a conscience, or are they created? Can it be both? Is it possible for a person to be born evil?
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 8:15 pm
Sounds interesting, I might actually pick it up now that you mention it. I don't believe I have a book like that yet.
I recently picked up a book called "Whispers: The Voices of Paranoia", lots about stories of it, others relating to incidents like Hitler. And while we are at it I might as well say the book that made me interested in psychology and changed my whole view of everything and a whole new way of thinking, 'Why We Hate' [Rush Dozier Jr.]. Great book and I recommend it, it's not all about hate specifically.
But i'll have to check that book out, and see if it interests me. Thanks, and i hope others that are interested find it. ^^
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Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2007 4:47 pm
I'd think it would be related to autism (don't get mad, let me explain) in that it involves a pathological lack of empathy. But it depends on what you do with that lack of empathy; most people know hurting others is wrong, only a few choose to do it anyway.
I had the misfortune of knowing a true sociopath personally. She virtually destroyed my friend's life and state prison would be too good for her. Spending the rest of her life swimming in raw sewage would be too good for her.
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Posted: Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:09 am
The difference between a sociopath and an autistic, generally speaking, is that autistics have difficulty displaying empathy, or feeling empathy in the "traditional" sense. Autistics can feel empathy, but knowing how to interpret or to display that empathy becomes the problem. Sociopaths completely lack empathy, but know how to fake it. In this sense, autistics and sociopaths are complete opposites.
Autistic- May feel empathy but look completely unfeeling to a person's situation.
Sociopath- Doesn't feel empathy at all, but knows how to lie and manipulate well enough to appear to be empathetic.
Some autistics even say they are overly empathetic and can unconsciously take on the feelings of another person, while others may have a hard time being able to relate to others because of trouble with empathizing.
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