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Actual sociopaths, who are literally incapable of producing any sort of empathy for anyone. After all, it is a mental illness.
My mother-in-law is on the narcissistic spectrum. When she's at home (far away), I feel sorry for her because she's elderly, she's has no insight into why she does the things she does, and she's not capable of acting any differently.
When she's with us and I have to deal with her behaviour, it's exasperating as fuck. It takes a lot of effort to deal with her BS and to try to keep my wife on an even keel, and so my empathy level drops way down.
It's a similar situation with psychopaths and sociopaths: In the abstract, I understand they can't help being the way they are, but if I have to deal with one, I cut them no slack.
It's possible in the abstract to have some sympathy for Ted Bundy and wonder how someone could end up as totally fucked-up as he was and feel some empathy over a wasted life, but that doesn't need to extend to condoning what he did.
I don't know about all of that, but the important thing is to keep those people at a distance.
Yes we should have empathy for them. Just because they may be monsters does not mean we have to be. We can choose to be better. We should have empathy for all. Don’t forgive or condone. But have empathy even if they don’t deserve it.
Have no mercy because it will never be reciprocated ever. At the same time, have no anger. A sociopath that controls her behavior deserves neutral treatment.
It's a curious ethical topic. Do we also pity murderers or arseholes because they're born that way?
Are u talking about psychopaths? I mean a sociopath has empathy but its weak.
In psychopaths empathy is non existent. Psychopaths are thought to be born that way, but sociopaths are thought to be made(severe abuse during childhood).
I think you need to look a little deeper.
You watch ABC news tonight.
It says 209 died in a car bomb in yemen today.
Do you feel anything?
No?
Then doesn't that make YOU a sociopath?
It doesn't really make you a sociopath if you don't. What it does is make you an empath if you do.
What does ABC news or car bombs have to do with Rosie's response? Why would you automatcally suggest she feels nothing for those people?
No there isn't. A criminal commited a crime, that's all there is to it.
If you are mentally ill and didn't commit a crime, you aren't a criminal.
What happens if a mentally ill patient commits a crime? In quite a few cases, they have violent tendencies and do so. The hospitals are full of such cases and I know this first hand.
Furthermore, criminals have psychological issues and that's why quite a few of them are admitted. I did not say that everyone who is a criminal is mentally ill or vice versa. Don't get things confused.
I’m a sociopath and can turn my empathy on and off like a faucet. So really it depends.. me personally I don’t think so.