Psychopaths: how can you spot one?

[fractional slacker]

The easiest method is anyone who endorses the use of a violent system to rule others. In other words the parasites that seek approval (votes) from the victims they steal from and threaten. For some reason the author forgot to mention that little tidbit.Anywho yesterday I was listening to an old Radiolab (NPR podcast) titled Blame. They have a great discussion in it where they talk about mapping the brain in the future so as to determine if criminal will reoffend. It then takes on the distinct flavor of the determinism vs. free will debate but without using those terms in order to say there is no such thing as right and wrong, or in this case blame because our behavior is just a matter of our (brain) matter. I found it a delightful listen and a perfect set up for this article.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10737827/Psychopaths-how-can-you-spot-one.html

[Stoic_Dreamer]

In my experience those who are higher on the psychopathy spectrum have an easier time identifying other sociopaths or near-sociopaths.  I think it might be because the part of their brain used to detect external threats is permanently in overdrive. Sociopaths tend to have a higher level of self-protection because they are emotional eunuchs, and thus are more sensitive when someone tries to use that missing part of them against them.  This is particularly true if they use the same emotionally manipulative tools to prey on other people.  I remember sitting in court with a sociopath and asking him to identify what the others were there in court for... it was amazing.  He could pick out violent men there for assault, the drug offenders, child molesters, and even those being charged who were innocent of the crimes they were accused of.  Then he went one step further and started analyzing the judge, officers, and lawyers.  For a full 5 hours of court he didn't make a single mistake in identifying the people around him. 

 

As far as detection by a normie is concerned, being aware of the psychopath checklist and correctly identifying sociopathic behavior is the easiest way to protect yourself.  Steering clear of professions that attract violent sociopaths (i.e. law enforcement, gangbangers, military, politicians, etc.) is also advisable.  For the most part you won't be able to point one out in a crowd because other than the highly dysfunctional part of the spectrum sociopaths tend to avoid detection by blending in with the world around them.

 

As far as brain mapping is concerned it's mostly useful for determining brain function and/or damage.  To my knowledge there has not been a successful way to determine recidivism based upon brain scans.  At the moment it is in the realm of science fiction. Researchers in my chosen field (psychology) like to make extraordinary claims in order to get their government grants but largely fail to produce what they promise.  That is not to say that the scientific research conducted is invalid or unimportant, but rather that extraordinary claims require evidence, including reproducible results. 

 

 

 

 

(Final paragraph removed due to personal soap-box moment on the irony and hypocrisy of determinism in the field of psychology, particularly among the statist elements of it)

[Josh F]

I knew a clear cut sociopath in high school, and found that he responded strongly when I would say "no one is liking you right now."  For me personally if someone said that at the time I would have said "good fuck em", and even now my response would only be somewhat mroe polite, but in this guy's brain I hit on something really terrible.  It literally stopped him in his tracks.

 

Now I think of propaganda as a sociopathic function of the state, designed to confuse manipulate and control people.  I wonder to what degree, however, propaganda could work against a sociopath.  Signs all over downtown saying "No one likes a sociopath."  I am being a bit tongue in cheek but there could be something there.

[Pepin]

Take their actions and words and think about it. A common indicator is the creations of rules that only they are excluded from.

 

Personally I like to make predictions about a person's behaviors and to compare them to their actual behaviour. These predictions are based on gaining an understanding of the person through observation and inquiry. It really is not something you need to do consciously, rather you just need to realize that this is something you do automatically and make use of it as a tool.

 

Confusion is a great indicator for when you are being manipulated. Explain back what the person said, and say that you need some time to think about it. If they continue to coax you, this is likely a bad sign. What I find a lot is that in the moment it can be difficult to understand what is confusing you, but through analysis after you can home in on it pretty quickly.

 

I don't mean to say that this is about sociopaths entirely, but rather about manipulative people and those who are not going to make good friends.

 

As an example from today, I called my Mom to ask her to get my Dad today. They got divorced about a year ago and don't want to interact. She stuck me with the responsibility of driving him around when she left. There is more to this, but she started moaning and complaining about the request, and then started to talk about why he has not gotten his licence yet. This felt out of place to me and I was confused and annoyed as to why she wanted to talk about it so much. Later I realized that she wanted to take the blame off herself for leaving me to be his driver and to solely put it on my Dad. He certainly has responsibility, but she does too.