2013-11-15: Sociopath

[MerchManDan]

I was unaware that spontaneity was a sign of sociopathy.
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[Dogen]

Yeeeeah, we wouldn't use a word with such nice connotations. We say "impulsivity," as in, "That's a nice bike, I'ma take that bike."
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"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

[merest]

I wonder if Slick's refrigerated heart is meant to invert the Girlfriend in the Refrigerator Syndrome in some fashion.

[stripeypants]

I think you mean women in refrigerators? And I don't see how, since that trope is about women characters being used as props to further a man character's story while doing nothing whatever for the woman character's story. It isn't just a part of them that goes in - they have to be killed. Plus, Slick literally did this to himself by locking his heart in a box so no one could hurt it.
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::lesser crisis mode::

[merest]

[enchantedsleeper]

[stripeypants]

But this furthers Slick's story, not someone else's. It would be cool to see that trope inverted and played with, but I still don't see anything like it here.
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::lesser crisis mode::

[tricksterson]

Oh Slick, if you were a sociopath the thought of being one wouldn't bother you. Still it's nice to see him working on his heart.
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I aim to misbehave

[fritterdonut]

Sociopathy is poorly defined term that can refer to ASPD or any number of other behavioral subsets of psychopathy. Being "cold, unfeeling, heartless" and "incapable of love" are not,by themselves, symptoms of either ASPD or psychopathy, the latter of which generally also has an element of dominance and violence, while the former generally revolves around a lack of conscience and disregard for the rights of others. And combined they come with a laundry list of other symptoms such as histories of violent behavior, lack of behavioral control, lack of fear, and compulsive lying.

In short, an antisocial person is not necessarily a sociopath.
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The Thirties dreamed white marble and slipstream chrome, immortal crystal and burnished bronze, but the rockets on the covers of the Gernsback pulps had fallen on London in the dead of night, screaming. - William Gibson, The Gernsback Continuum

[Dogen]

Technically neither sociopathy nor psychopathy are found in the diagnostic manuals used in the US (DSM-5) or anywhere else (ICD-10). The APA (who publishes the DSM) say antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) is sociopathy is psychopathy. Researchers, especially those at the NIMH (the largest funding body for mental health research in the world), say ASPD and psychopathy are different things. ICD-10 (used everywhere the DSM isn't) has updated their diagnoses so that "dissocial (antisocial) personality disorder" now includes psychopathy and sociopathy... but again, some pretty fancy researchers think this merely combines two separate but similar personality traits into one diagnosis. So, really, no one agrees on what the definitions are, or how they fit together, but the main thing is that if you want to bill insurance for it you call it antisocial personality disorder and that's that.
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"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

[fritterdonut]

[Dogen]

Oh, sure. Sorry, I got stuck on the bit about definitions of things that don't actually have set definitions. You're right, though. Everyone has tendencies of a mental illness or two. I have anxious habits, but I don't have an anxiety disorder. People who get anxious if their desk is a mess are exhibiting obsessive compulsive tendencies. The only thing that separates that weird thing you do from a diagnosable illness is whether it's bad enough to inhibit your normal daily functioning. Which is my favorite thing about mental health, we're all a little crazy.
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"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

[mouse]

so i can be antisocial because i hate everybody, but it's ok as long as i don't try to kill them, right?
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aka: neverscared!
a flux of vibrant matter

[Dogen]

Or manipulate them or violate their rights or abuse them in some way that makes you a danger to them or interferes with your daily functioning (such as by going to jail or being hospitalized for getting beat up or getting fired for acting like Gordon Gecko, etc).

Other than that, you can be as antisocial as you like.
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"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. I’ll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

[Leohan]

ASPD is more than anything defined by the lack of empathy, not by malicious intent. Sure, not caring about the feelings and lives of others might eliminate some cons of harming people due to the lack of regrets, but there are no compulsive needs involved in it.

Extreme selfishness, one might call it. But the furthering of one's objectives doesn't always involve screwing other people over.
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