Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Are you a sociopath, or just an extreme narcissist ?

Jenna meets a paramedic. He thinks she's incredible, and they seem perfect for each other. He leaves before they can plan to meet later, and now, at her wit's end, Jenna tells her coworker Pete the story. This reminds Pete of a book he once read, a question psychiatrists ask in order to ascertain whether a person is a sociopath:



Recently, a friend recommended a book, The Sociopath Next Door, which he says will keep you up at night, thinking how 1 out of every 25 people you meet would just as soon kill you as tell you to get out of the way. A fellow 30 Rock fan said on his blog:
...the basic principle of sociopaths viewing others as tools instead of people is entirely correct. Sociopathy is more than just a lack of emotion, they literally don’t connect to people the way human beings are supposed to.
Reference: http://www.fearfulsymmetry.net/?p=179

All this talk of sociopathy (psychopathy is the outdated term) makes me wonder whether sociopath is the latest incarnation of witch, Communist, racist, or even terrorist. Who in their right mind, when accused of such a despicable thing, even labeled as such by an expert or authority, can figure out what to do or say to disprove it ?

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