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Just wondering if i am a psycho... I have not killed anyone but I would if it were legal.. obviously not sure how i would feel...
It's called Sociopathy.
But you haven't done anything yet so you can't claim this.
In fact, I don't think a true sociopath would even question it.
Fuck yes, thank you.
I have known a few sociopaths in my lifetime and they wouldn't even think twice about the morality of anything that they do. In fact, if they weren't killing anyone it was because it benefit them more not to.
I would have to agree and dissagree. Some sociopaths can question their morality, not that they would care deeply about it but can be something that comes to their mind. Most of them don't question it, but some can and do, not that they care about their morality.
Sociopaths do have feelings (not sure if that would be an accurate word for it) for themselves, not anyone else, and given that questioning if "they" are a sociopath and "their" morals, I think it is likely a lot may think about it, just never express it.
Sociopaths have feelings, however, the marked difference is their lack of empathy. They only think of what benefits them. Period. They don't care about others, unless doing for others benefits them more than not doing so.
It is true that a sociopath would think of morality on the by and by, but more than likely it would not be for themselves but concerning an outside situation (such as, if one of their friends screw the other over, or if someone harms them, THEN morality is an issue), but they rarely even consider morality in terms of their actions.
Sociopaths are an odd study indeed. You'll find many in prison, many engaged in criminal activities, and many that decided that they would gain more benefit from living under the image of a normal person as they are intelligent enough to pull said roll off and intelligent enough to have the foresight to realize that criminal behavior won't benefit them in the long run as much as having everyone believe that they're just a regular person.
Sociopaths don't brood on morality as it applies to them. The basis of their thought and conscious mentality is what will benefit them, and what do they need to do to attain said benefit? They see people as pawns, and nothing more.
The first paragraph was what I was trying to explain in an indirect way while directly sticking on to the point that they can think about their morality.
I am not saying that in general they will try to find loopholes to make what they have done sound like a noble thing, just that sometimes they might come to a point in which they think about, yet still don't care unless it benefits them.
Third paragraph I completely agree with. I don't know if saying there are different "types" of sociopathy is accurate, but there are definetly certain groups of sociopath that believe different things from other sociopaths like you explained.
For example. What if a sociopath is told he is a sociopath, diagnosed with it, and accepts to being a sociopath? Wouldn't they think about such things that make them sociopaths, including their morality? Not that they would care much about it, yet would think about it?
In short, I think it's possible for a sociopath to think about their morality, yet not really care much or believe they should be positive in morality. I could be wrong, in which I would like for you to show me why (I'd like more knowledge on the subject and welcome your opposing thought on my thought on the matter).
Oh no, this is not an argument. I was just stating the subject matter.
It IS possible for a sociopath to think of morality in many contexts within their lives but as far as seriously considering morality or attaching any importance to the morality of their decisions, their sociopathy inhibits this function. They're simply unable to seriously care about the morality of their actions. They completely lack empathy for anyone but themselves, so a question of morality would be trivial and nearly meaningless to them. People are their pawns and they do what benefits them.
In a way, a more intelligent sociopath would be the most rational human being you'd meet, but at the same time, the behaviors of a sociopath (using others, manipulation, being purely out for their own gain with little regard to the feelings of others if said others can't benefit them) are just unacceptable within a society built on principles of cooperation and caring for one another (aside from competition and other various values).
Their concepts of morality only apply to their lives if they would benefit from acting in a moral nature, more so than acting in an immoral nature. This makes it necessary for them to know what is commonly accepted as moral and asses such subjects but in reality, they don't give a fuck about it unless it benefits them.
No worries, I didn't see this as an argument, just a calm rational discussion.
Yeah, that's what I meant by the whole morality thing, being able to think about it, not in any way that would make them want to become more moral, though.
I see what you're coming from. Thanks for replying.
i actually dont think it would be that hard to kill a person but i am not exactly full of empathy. But to be honest i could never find that much anger towards something to want it dead. I think the actual act is not that unnatural it is the motivation for doing it
What would you get from killing someone? Is it power? Curiosity? Emulating something you're allowed to do in a video game?
And as for the person whose life has ended and all the other people whose hearts are broken by this, perhaps children left orphaned, spouses left widowed, do you think about them or just not think the person could have some relations? If you do think about the people it'd hurt, do you just shrug, or are you curious to see how much damage you've done to them?
This isn't a rant, by the way. I'm genuinely curious because it's so different to how I feel about things and I can't really understand it.
Also, hmm, how would you choose who to kill? If it were legal, would you be more interested in killing me than someone else, or less interested? And why?
BPD, psychopathy and sociopathy are all disorders which effect the part of the brain which deals with emotion (prefrontal cortex I believe). It causes less activity in that area and thus most people with those disorders do not feel remorse, attachment, empathy, guilt etc.
It is possible to dissociate and not feel those feelings, even if you do not have those disorders though. Personally I do not feel empathy or sympathy and I can hurt people and not feel bad about it, and I'm definitely not a sociopath or a psychopath.
Sociopaths have feelings just the same as anyone else, they just choose to ignore them. Anyone can kill without remorse through simple dissociation.
That's why there are remorseless killers in prison that didn't pass the sociopathy checklist, because being a sociopath isn't exclusive with feeling no remorse. There is strong evidence to suggest Jeffery Dahmer had BPD and not sociopathy, he killed 17 people without a care in the world because he dissociated when it came to people he didn't know on a personal level. One of Ted bundys ex girlfriends later testified that he was so different infront of a camera when everyone was watching, that he was actually immature and over emotional in private life.
I think it's normal to kill bullies, burglars, scam artists etc. If I weren't the one going to jail because of the incompetence of the authorities to adequately punish these scumbags I would kill them and not bat an eyelid.
Funny how we feel little or no remorse when killing animals, but taking the life of another human being is somehow different. Why? Because it's culturally unacceptable, or rather, it is unacceptable in our modern westernized cultures. Social conditioning? Maybe...in some many tribes it is normal to kill babies that are born with defects.
One way or another, being a psychopath is just about killing without feeling remorse afterwards - it is just the most visible extreme of this kind of behaviour and also a way of identifying psychopaths. There are many other less sinister traits. What other things do you do that make you think that you are a possible psychopath?
"I would if I could"
Yes and I'm the Prime Minister of Italy. My saying so proves it's true.
People say many things. Whether the truth is ever among them is hard to discern.
The lack of empathy is the worst character known to mankind... This reminds a lot of me watching "most evil men and women" from discovery channel.
I don't think you'd be able to do it. if I were to put a knife in your hand and tell you to gut someone just because you can -no hatred or money involved? nah, my cash is that you drop the knife and run away.
Depends on who you kill and why. As someone who served in the army I can tell you that sometimes you do what you must and move on.
If you kill out of self defense, or to protect a loved one, then I have no idea because I have never been put into that situation.
But if you just go out and kill somebody with no remorse, that shows a complete detatchment from normal human emotions!