Sociopaths and their place in our society.

Choe

Well-known member
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Love2Know

Well-known member
The 2nd video reminded me of the film "Talented Mr.Ripley" where I find not just Ripley but also the character of Law to be psychopathic....(because the Law's character was easily bored with people after using them,charismatic etc.)

Very true, good point. Ripply was more psychopath/ Law more sociopath. He did indeed belittle human relations, for example what you previously stated with 'using people' as well as serial cheating on his fiance. They both were disturbing characters. I always felt Snoop Dog (Random I know), gave me a sociopath vibe to the point I turned off the tv if I saw him on it.
 

Choe

Well-known member
Very true, good point. Ripply was more psychopath/ Law more sociopath. He did indeed belittle human relations, for example what you previously stated with 'using people' as well as serial cheating on his fiance. They both were disturbing characters. I always felt Snoop Dog (Random I know), gave me a sociopath vibe to the point I turned off the tv if I saw him on it.

Oh,I forgot about the cheating,psychopaths are said to be distinctively promiscuous too.
I agree they were both disturbing characters! Well said. However I wanted to point about Law's character as I felt only Ripley was made the BAD guy,when both were sociopaths,only Gwyneth's character was normal person :smile:
 
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Love2Know

Well-known member
Indeed lol!!!!!! I must also point out how this video talks about our systems and organizations, themselves are sociopathic. This is a very good point, the qualities that a sociopath possess are generally ambitious, vanity, egotistical, lack of empathy, COMPETITIVE, impulsive (making decisions quickly) these are the valued qualities of our wester, european society and now with the 'global village' phenomena it is spreading all over the world and devaluing countries with strong community and kinship values. These people are also very charming and make you feel like you are the center of the world for however long they deem you useful to them.
 
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Mandy

Well-known member
Indeed lol!!!!!! I must also point out how this video talks about our systems and organizations, themselves are sociopathic. This is a very good point, the qualities that a sociopath possess are generally ambitious, vanity, egotistical, lack of empathy, COMPETITIVE, impulsive (making decisions quickly) these are the valued qualities of our wester, european society and now with the 'global village' phenomena it is spreading all over the world and devaluing countries with strong community and kinship values.

Agreed. Western social 'systems' are sociopathic, I thought it was fuelled by the individualist culture we live in. All the more reason to tune mentally into eastern philosophy. We are the next generation of decision makers...

Going to watch the video now. Thanks for sharing.

P.S. Don't forget to add the word CHARMING to the sociopath list!
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
If you're interested in sociopaths/psychopaths (and I am, since having to attempt to deal with a whole family of them over the past 4-5 years, and they operate so much as a cult, almost as they have only one mind between them - very scary to watch in action) I'd recommend the following book by British journalist, Jon Ronson (he's the man who wrote the book, "The Men Who Stare At Goats", on which the film of the same name was written.)

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Psychopath-Test-Jon-Ronson/9780330492270

I found that once I got into it, I could not put this book down until I'd finished.
When researching for this book, Ronson interviewed Al Dunlap, considered to be your fairly typical corporate psychopath. At one point during the interview Dunlap was standing in front of a giant sized portrait of himself placed prominently in his house, and thus demonstrating #2 characteristic of a psychopath, Grandiose Sense Of Self-Worth from the following list:

http://www.arkancide.com/psychopathy.htm
 
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Mandy

Well-known member
If you're interested in sociopaths/psychopaths (and I am, since having to attempt to deal with a whole family of them over the past 4-5 years, and they operate so much as a cult, almost as they have only one mind between them - very scary to watch in action) I'd recommend the following book by British journalist, Jon Ronson (he's the man who wrote the book, "The Men Who Stare At Goats", on which the film of the same name was written.)

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Psychopath-Test-Jon-Ronson/9780330492270

I found that once I got into it, I could not put this book down until I'd finished.
When researching for this book, Ronson interviewed Al Dunlap, considered to be your fairly typical corporate psychopath. At one point during the interview Dunlap was standing in front of a giant sized portrait of himself placed prominently in his house, and thus demonstrating #2 characteristic, Grandiose Sense Of Self-Worth from the following list:

http://www.arkancide.com/psychopathy.htm

Ooooooh, interesting!
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
When i see this thread,i think narcissism!!!So would a narc be a sicopath by definition?

Yes. Narcissism is a personality disorder under the sociopath umbrella. Many sociopaths are narcissistic, but not all.

And to qualify further, most corporate sociopaths are narcissistic - their emotions have been discounted somewhere along the way, so they don't react like most of us. They are the people who have no difficulty in sacking workers, then justifying it with a charming smile, and an argument which sounds quite plausible!

The kind of psychopath who kills people may not have learned the kind of skills - verbal and social - that a narcissist displays, so they just act out when they feel the need.

Just to illustrate, that father in the family I mention in my post above is a textbook narcissist - he ticks all the boxes. A number of years ago one of his sons attempted suicide (I could totally understand why!!) and the father said to me: "Do you know how it feels to have a child who wants to die?" That was when I knew for certain he was sociopathic/narcissistic:
- it's all about him
- no mention of his son, other than how his son's actions affected him
- the anguish in his voice was so put on, and then immediately he switched it off, and talked in a normal voice
 
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Love2Know

Well-known member
Sociopaths basically it's like someone deactivated the part of their brain which controls empathy. I was on prozac and other medications for a few years because I had 'anxiety' as a teen, this is mentioned in the video.... I wasn't a sociopath but I was definitely numb. I couldn't feel happy or sad or anything, I was pretty much void of emotions, I was a zombie... but actually all my ambition went away as well. I also wouldn't talk to anyone for a year not even my childhood friends, I didn't care about anything. It was really weird. I started to read this book about twins and one of them was skitzo and for some reason it made me realize how mentally castrated I had become. I ended up flushing those medications down the toilette and moving out of town for a while! Best decision ever.
 
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Mandy

Well-known member
Yes. Narcissism is a personality disorder under the sociopath umbrella. Many sociopaths are narcissistic, but not all.

So to confirm, many sociopaths are narcissistic, but not all, but all narcissists are sociopathic? Is that correct?
 

Mandy

Well-known member
Sociopaths basically it's like someone deactivated the part of their brain which controls empathy. I was on prozac and other medications for a few years because I had 'anxiety' as a teen, this is mentioned in the video.... I wasn't a sociopath but I was definitely numb. I couldn't feel happy or sad or anything, I was pretty much void of emotions, I was a zombie... but actually all my ambition went away as well. I also wouldn't talk to anyone for a year not even my childhood friends, I didn't care about anything. It was really weird. I started to read this book about twins and one of them was skitzo and for some reason it made me realize how mentally castrated I had become. I ended up flushing those medications down the toilette and moving out of town for a while! Best decision ever.

Poor pumpkin. Dont let them medicate you again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPOrD6xfDNo
 

R4VEN

Well-known member
So to confirm, many sociopaths are narcissistic, but not all, but all narcissists are sociopathic? Is that correct?

If you have a look through the 20 characteristics of a psychopath, then I'd say that any regular narcissist scores high on this check list, so by definition is a psychopath. Many people with measurable personality disorders have a few characteristics of psychopathy, but would not be considered a genuine psychopath.

And we're talking here about the psychological personality disorder of narcissism, not your Libran friend who can't pass a mirror without staring fondly at her reflection!!
 
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