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[–] • 5 pts

From :

Sociopathy refers to a pattern of antisocial behaviors and attitudes, including manipulation, deceit, aggression, and a lack of empathy for others. Sociopathy is a non-diagnostic term, and it is not synonymous with "psychopathy," though the overlap leads to frequent confusion. Sociopaths may or may not break the law, but by exploiting and manipulating others, they violate the trust that the human enterprise runs on.

I think a person can have some or all of those traits without the IQ level associated with intelligence. Your average hood nigger has a lack of empathy for others, for example.

[–] • 1 pt

Prof, you're saying you believe a sociopath does not have to be intelligent.

I mean to ask, is everyone intelligent a bit of sociopath to some degree?

[–] • 2 pts

Prof, you're saying you believe a sociopath does not have to be intelligent.

I mean to ask, is everyone intelligent a bit of sociopath to some degree?

OK. It was unclear from the way you phrased your question.

It's a vague question you're asking. "To some degree" could very well include all people, not just intelligent people. Speaking for myself, I definitely have a good bit of the 'lack of empathy' symptom.

[–] • 2 pts

Yeah, I have to say "some" degree since it's not a quantifiable measure.

I feel it too.

[–] • 1 pt

When discussing a lack of empathy, I feel it's possible we are discussing a lack of compassion instead

To me, empathy is knowing that someone else might feel hard done by my actions. Compassion is allowing that to affect my actions.

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt (edited )

Purely anecdotal, but I’m “intelligent.” You can believe that or not…up to you.

That said, I’m not aggressive, but do hold to some degree all the other traits listed.

You can ask questions to frame a situation with others to suit your desired outcome. If I can do that…why wouldn’t I? I guess that’s manipulative and deceitful.

As for lack of empathy…nobody is special. The world sucks and it’s a bitch. Giving handouts and help to everyone who is unable to help themselves is a waste of my emotional bandwidth. Is that a bad position to hold?

So technically I guess I could qualify as sociopathic…. I don’t see it as a bad thing, though.

[–] • 1 pt

Thanks. I think I'm just in the middle of redefining the term "sociopath" in my mind. It's always had a negative connotation to me but it's because of what I've been told/taught.

[–] • 2 pts

Yes. Intelligence requires distancing oneself from the masses of unwashed asses which is easy to do if you are a sociopath.

[–] • 2 pts

I don’t think so. But my take on the matter is that if you have strong self control and discipline (common with intelligence) you can force yourself to do immoral things even if you feel it to be wrong. So essentially a sufficiently disciplined individual can “turn off” the grasp emotional thinking has on them.

That doesn’t make them a sociopath, but they can do actions considered sociopathic when needed.

[–] • 0 pt

True. I would also think repeated behavior makes a sociopath as well.

[–] • 1 pt

Intelligence at its core involves suppressing more base responses to make room for thought and actions that counter impulses. Empathy is a lower-level response, so it could be suppressed more by an intelligent person.

[–] • 0 pt

Interesting. What is a low-level response? Anything that you can be controlled/suppressed?

[–] • 0 pt

First off this is all just empirical. Don't quote me.

By low-level I mean instinctual, basically what animals do. Intelligence significantly involves being able to delay gratification so you have some space to reason, think without having to take immediate action, or respond to how something first seems. Longer-term planning (like surviving through a winter) requires intelligence.

So my off-the-cuff theory is that intelligent people, going on some ideas or ideology, could think it's good to suppress empathy in some cases.

[–] • 1 pt

Sociopathy being knowledge of but lack of consideration for the rules, isn't the same thing as an intelligent take where you can describe a way to get from A to B "as the crow flies" where the cost and time expenditure of a journey is a reduced specifically because rules and conventions are an impediment to an inevitable destination.

[–] • 0 pt

What are the rules?

[–] • 0 pt

Specifically the one that I rail against is the Hatch Act.

[–] • 1 pt

Emotional people call people who are logical sociopaths because they are emotional babies and can't understand how to think with their brain.

Sociopaths are usually unintelligent. Psychopaths are usually more intelligent.

Most people's perception of what those words mean is backwards because of hollywood.

[–] • 0 pt

You called sociopaths logical and unintelligent. How does that work?

[–] • 1 pt

No I didn't. I said emotional people call logical people sociopaths. They are wrong because they think sociopath means some smart evil manipulator but it doesn't.

Sociopaths are usually retarded and can't navigate social settings.

Psychopaths can manipulate and be quite charming because they are smarter.

[–] • 0 pt

I understand what you are saying now.

I thought sociopaths are supposed to be good at navigating social settings though.

[–] • 1 pt

Please tell me about the genius mass murderers. Maybe I'm wrong, but I have never heard about a genius being a murderer or committing genocide.

It's usually midwits with too much power fucking things up and losers that become common murderers.

[–] • 1 pt

Geniuses are rare. Which is likely why you haven’t seen it.

[–] • 0 pt

But they are also highly capable. So if geniuses had a tendency to be psychopathic it should be seen.

[–] • 1 pt

How? If you had a genius serial killer do you think they would be easy to catch?

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

Maybe a little, but that's really minimal. The more sociopathic tendencies someone has, the more likely they are to be low-impulse morons.

Hollywood really did a number on the public perception of sociopaths as these slick and eloquent corporate climbers or elusive serial killers, when the truth is that most of them can barely read because they dropped out of high school for knifing their teachers or snorting drugs, that's how little control over themselves these retards have.

That high functioning CEO/surgeon/senator sociopath you have in mind is a different breed altogether, the 1% of the 1%, because even the majority of non-fuck ups sociopaths are just your average midwits in law enforcement or sales.

[–] • 0 pt

Eh, no? My official mensa iq is over 140, if you consider that intelligent, and I turned down a promotion to manager because I hate controlling other people.

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