Michigan high school massacre

~~Leo656~~ · 12-03-2021, 09:39 PM

The one mental illness nobody likes to acknowledge is Sociopathy. Because it clouds the "all people are inherently Good until some external force ruins them" narrative that some feel-good types try and push.

Problem is, Sociopaths exist and nobody still knows exactly Why. Cases can and have been made for both Nature and Nurture. In my experience, it's more Nature, although Nurture can certainly reinforce it. But the point is, Sociopathy exists, and Sociopaths exist, and you can't effectively "teach" empathy to a person who sincerely believes that their only responsibility in life is in indulging their own impulses and everyone else can be damned.

Like, if you've ever actually known a "real" one, Sociopaths are fascinating (and terrifying) people. Even in just having a conversation with one, it's amazing what you discover. But the whole "Only I matter, and how my actions affect other people is no concern of mine" bit always stands out super-hard. They simply don't have the mental capacity to understand why anything they do is "wrong"; in their minds, it got them what they wanted or just plain made them feel better in the moment, and that's all that matters, therefore it's the "right" thing to do.

It's hard to try and explain how people like that aren't "bad people". By definition, they are very bad people. BUT, admitting that not everyone is a decent human being runs very contrary to what we're being taught anymore, so on one hand it makes sense why you never hear anyone say "This person was just plain a sociopath" and instead try and pinpoint any one of a dozen other "reasons" why they do things. But sometimes it's just that simple. But you can't SAY that, because it skews the narrative.

I feel like if we collectively admitted that some people are plain Bad we could actually make more progress with this kind of thing. Instead we get hung up on "HOW could they do it?" and "HOW could they not even feel bad about it?" Well, there's very simple reasons How, actually, you just have to stop pretending that human nature is fundamentally decent. I'd argue that it isn't in general, but definitely not in many individual cases. Some people are plain rotten; pretending otherwise until it's too late does no one any favors.

12-03-2021, 09:39 PM	#25
~~Leo656~~ Banned Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: nWo Country Posts: 27,703	The one mental illness nobody likes to acknowledge is Sociopathy. Because it clouds the "all people are inherently Good until some external force ruins them" narrative that some feel-good types try and push. Problem is, Sociopaths exist and nobody still knows exactly Why. Cases can and have been made for both Nature and Nurture. In my experience, it's more Nature, although Nurture can certainly reinforce it. But the point is, Sociopathy exists, and Sociopaths exist, and you can't effectively "teach" empathy to a person who sincerely believes that their only responsibility in life is in indulging their own impulses and everyone else can be damned. Like, if you've ever actually known a "real" one, Sociopaths are fascinating (and terrifying) people. Even in just having a conversation with one, it's amazing what you discover. But the whole "Only I matter, and how my actions affect other people is no concern of mine" bit always stands out super-hard. They simply don't have the mental capacity to understand why anything they do is "wrong"; in their minds, it got them what they wanted or just plain made them feel better in the moment, and that's all that matters, therefore it's the "right" thing to do. It's hard to try and explain how people like that aren't "bad people". By definition, they are very bad people. BUT, admitting that not everyone is a decent human being runs very contrary to what we're being taught anymore, so on one hand it makes sense why you never hear anyone say "This person was just plain a sociopath" and instead try and pinpoint any one of a dozen other "reasons" why they do things. But sometimes it's just that simple. But you can't SAY that, because it skews the narrative. I feel like if we collectively admitted that some people are plain Bad we could actually make more progress with this kind of thing. Instead we get hung up on "HOW could they do it?" and "HOW could they not even feel bad about it?" Well, there's very simple reasons How, actually, you just have to stop pretending that human nature is fundamentally decent. I'd argue that it isn't in general, but definitely not in many individual cases. Some people are plain rotten; pretending otherwise until it's too late does no one any favors.