interesting comments, discussions, debates...seems most of it is leaning toward genetics or medical condition, as opposed to external nurture...i'm of the opinion that sociopath can be born out of society, when a meek kid minding his own business gets mercilessly bullied in high school, when a someone gets endlessly tormented for being different...when a someone starving continually gets turned away from the table of plenty

-- these sociopaths are born in some of our callous neighborhoods, and they are comming home to roost

Firstly...

my goddamn goodness!

I didn't imagine this many people responding or even reading.

So this is my last bit of preaching on the subject...

Psychopaths and sociopaths are different.

Psychopaths are defined by an inability to feel remorse.

Sociopaths CAN feel remorse... but tend to not understand the feeling.


Sociopaths TEND to dehumanize the individuals around them, compulsively. These individuals just don't know how another person ticks, right?

Sociopaths are amazing deceptionists, liars, and scammers. Usually they're great actors, though not necessarily professionally. A lonely road.

Wow.

I'm still just amazed slightly by how much response this thread was provided.

Mingle still surprises you?

I try to limit any expectations so everything surprises me. Hehe.

Wise man. I should start doing the same thing, should cut down on massive disappointment.

*giggles*

Expect nothing - not the thought of nothing but nothing at all - and you will find anything you seek.

"Like the gazelle from the hand of the hunter...
like a bird from the snare of the fowler...
free yourself."

Free yourself.

Do witches burn or do they float? I say we find out!

Me too, I'm always surprised for the most part....lol Life is exciting and interesting.....

I agree, for the most part. But again as I've said throughout this thread, either or psychopath or sociopath...there is a lot, and I mean an awful lot that we have to yet learn or may never actually know.

Sociopaths are apathetic towards people, they are God in their own mind...better than everyone. Ted Bundy comes to mind, thought so highly of himself he thought he could defend himself at trial, and he did an exceptional job of doing so even once hitting on the court clerk. However, the evidence against him was overwhelming, he knew this and yet still decided to defend himself. That is the sense of a grandiose person he viewed himself as, invincible in other words. As we know, he failed...but even in that failure he succeeded in impressing the judge, the judge even went on to say something towards the effect of "you are a very intelligent person, I would have loved to see you in my court room as an attorney...but you chose a different road", not exactly what was said but sums up the point well.

Sociopaths can impress people, delude people into thinking they are trustworthy...though Bundy hardly was able to do this while killing prostitutes. He could have gone further. Which brings me to Jeffrey Dahmer, a true psychopath.

Jeffrey Dahmer was able to slide by getting caught when one of his victims escaped from his home after being drugged. Disoriented and naked the victim ran down the street before the police were called and showed up with an ambulance, the whole time Dahmer was standing there with his victim as paramedics went to work on him. When approached with the situation Dahmer thought fast and said "he is my 19-year-old lover who had been drinking too much.". This played on the view of people at the time, Dahmer who was cleanly dressed then took the officers to his apartment where the victims cloths were neatly folded and placed on a sofa, and some pictures of the victim in a black bikini (this is played with in the statement "my 19-year-old lover").

Eventually though, a victim was able to escape and there was no amount of smooth talking that could get Dahmer out of the situation and he was caught. In his apartment there were multiple body parts found, a head in the fridge, and a kettle full of hands and a penis. Dahmer was the textbook psychopath that was able to allude capture with smooth talk before this incident.

I don't think either of these two at any point were lonely, Bundy was disturbed...but not lonely. Dahmer, highly disturbed...but hardly lonely, though this can be argued given the fact that he frequented gay bars and often brought guys to his home. As soon as you seperate yourself from societies image you distance yourself from being "human", or as I like to say "acceptable". Easily able to completly shutoff any and all emotions you felt before, Dahmer did this throughout his trial remaining otherwise emotionless and blank...Bundy took a far different road but even in his testimony he was still callous and emotionless when he spoke of certain events and cross-examined witnesses.

Society creates loneliness, it took me about six years to realize it...and less than a month to distance myself from societies expectations. One thing I've always hated in my life was expectations, and yet my whole life I was being conditioned to meet expectations from people that had no bearing over my life and lifestyle choices.

Watch a local channel in the primetime before the news, drama here and drama there, will they get married? Will she fall in love? Will he find his "one"? Media created fantasy and people took it and ran with it, now we live in a fairytale world where everything is possible and nothing outside our reach. I know that isn't true, a lot of people know it isn't true...dreams are nothing more than dreams.

I thought this was going to be about "Wicked" the show. Your thread title is one of the songs. I really wanted to see that show.

After reading all of the insights in this thread you have enlightened me. I trusted someone that ended up being a conartist-I don't say man-because his actions weren't manly. Fear-your description between sociopath and psychopath has finally made me realize that I was dealing with a sociopath.

Everything fits him to a T. To this day he continues on, eluding the police and F.B.I. because he is intelligent. He knows exactly how much he can get away with before they will come after him. He's done it his whole adult life. He isn't lonely. He is surrounded by people who look up to him-followers, if you will. He has a sense of bravado that he is invincible and he believes it. He even will help others less fortunate, as a screen, so he is more believable.

He has no guilt for duping people of their life savings, homes, etc. He also never goes back to assist those whose life he devastated to help them out. He will say he is wrong and sorry and tommorrow he will be out looking for his next victim.

I love all you folks... seriously... but especially

wux
FearandLoathing
pkd
and, of course, Calleigh.

So before we desensitize ourselves into sociopaths in this thread I'm going to suggest we let it go. Everyone is free here to write as they want but I'm dropping out of the thread. I got so much more from this than I expected... which leads me to believe that there have been people thinking about it.

To leave with a joke from Jimmy Carr...

"Think of the positive - you'll never be alone with schizophrenia. If you're schizophrenic and that offended you... both of you - can **** off."

One's painting, that they so dearly count each stroke of their brush while painting it,,,,can show you such beauty,or such a vivid imagination of the most morbid sides...

This world and its questions to all of what one is or is not,,,
leaves us to wonder need-lessly, to our final conclusions..
WE,,,,,,,,,,,

Both me and I found that joke hilarious. Cheers mate.