Sociopath
so¬?ci¬?o¬?path (sō'sē-ə-păth', -shē-) pronunciation
n.
One who is affected with a personality disorder marked by antisocial behavior.
So I'm trying to watch tv last night and, about half way into the film I couldn't hear it cos of the screaming in the street. 13 year old from across the road is out his face on booze and pills and is shouting abuse at the alcoholic family next door. He's really going for it too and, what's more he's mob handed - 3 older guys, mates of his sister.
"This could be fun" I think to myself. There's been a feud going on with those two buildings for years now maybe tonight we'll get some claret. So I turned down the tv so I could hear better and opened the blinds a bit more so I could see better.
The young kid is hollering up at the window and then makes some wisecrack about the pissheads mom. That did the trick, next thing him and his dad come charging down the stairs, ready to kick the living shit out the 13 year old (I don't think they'd seen his mates by this point or they'd never have come out)
The 13 year old is fucking wasted but he aint stupid so he backs off and draws them into an ambush. Suddenly one of the older guys sprints in and smashes the dad in the head with a bottle while the other two chase his son back up the stairs into the house.
I laughed like fuck when the old geezers false teeth came flying out but the whole time I'm thinking to myself - "shouldn't a normal person feel some kind of empathy for this asshole?"
TBH I'm one step away from putting that familys door in and taking a bat to their heads anyway (gotta think of my property value after all) but when I look out at a street that has rapidly filled up with 20 - 30 screaming idiots I'm pretty sure that (legislation aside) I could quite happily march out there and put a bullet between the eyes of every last one of them. I mean come on, I'm trying to watch a movie here!
So now I hear through the grapevine that the father is walking with a stick now cos someone jumped on his spine at one point and all I'm thinking is that a decapitation would have been way cooler.
Is there something wrong with me?
I realise that, technically, these are people but, more and more, I'm seeing them as things.
Quote from: SillyCybin on July 15, 2007, 08:11:17 PM
I realise that, technically, these are people but, more and more, I'm seeing them as things.
I see them as brain-damaged apes.
well, i couldn't look at people like that, is all i know.
but i hardly ever find myself in such situations either (or maybe i just dont recognize them as such), and not knowing the rest of the story, i can't say what i'd have thought.
I have been in situations like that. And yes, I too saw the people involved as somewhat less than human.
It is hard to say what I think.
Sometimes, I can be like that. I understand, intellectually, that there are many reasons for people being the way they are and often there are factors outside of personal control involved. I try to realize someone is being a dipshit simply because they had a bad day. People often react against things that had nothing to do with their situation simply out of frustration.
But then, there is the flipside. This all may be true, but it doesn't change what they are doing. And I don't have the ability to fix everything. And while my life has hardly been terrible, it was no cakewalk either. So there is a...edge of contempt, I suppose, in my thinking.
Quote from: Payne on July 15, 2007, 08:24:22 PM
I have been in situations like that. And yes, I too saw the people involved as somewhat less than human.
In my line of work, I see this shit EVERY DAY, and it just keeps getting FUNNIER!
TGRR,
Loves his job.
even the most subhuman filth has some kinda redeeming characteristic.
everyone is entitled to live despite their disadvantages and standards of life (why there are so many downs syndrome people are around). Being stupid white trash does not mean they are beyond hope.
I did not see any way this could be true until one of the winos came into work, she is one of the nicer ones and less likely to steal, but she comes in every hour to buy her cans of devils bit. now this woman is living in the homeless community, she is disturbed, a thief and contributes practically nothing to anyone. however she is not voilent like her brother who has pulled a hatchet on me. Seeing her visibly decay over the last few months has been really hard.
so one day she comes in, smiling and happy like I have never seen her before, sober too (for now she goes to straight over to the cans). but she comes up to me, and brings out these two pictures, I assume that she is trying to distract me while someone else tries to rob stuff.
the pics are of her kids. the first her son, who is also technically her brother, seeing as they both have the same father, is in the pic, he is in secondary school and doing really well she tells me.
the second pic was her and a little girl smiling, she was the daughter of some other bloke she was with. she had managed to stay sober, and gotten visitation rights. and is now spending one day a week every month with them.
I dont know why but this really cheered me up, but really humanized them a lot to me.
if you got to know the creeps next door you might possibly end up seeing them as fucked up people then meat.
Quote from: faust on July 15, 2007, 08:45:11 PM
even the most subhuman filth has some kinda redeeming characteristic.
Bullshit.
what faust said is exactly an example of the thing that makes me unable to see people as things. in my experience, every person i've looked closely enough at, has always had, somewhere, some semi-redeeming human quality that makes them more than just a meat-thing.
TGRR: you're probably right, but personally i have not yet met such a kind of person, only heard about them.
People are often not outright good or bad.
However, there are complete saints and there are absolute devils. Any cursory reading of the last century should convince people of that fact. They're just not as common as mostly bad or good people.
Quote from: Cain on July 15, 2007, 08:28:10 PM
It is hard to say what I think.
Sometimes, I can be like that. I understand, intellectually, that there are many reasons for people being the way they are and often there are factors outside of personal control involved. I try to realize someone is being a dipshit simply because they had a bad day. People often react against things that had nothing to do with their situation simply out of frustration.
But then, there is the flipside. This all may be true, but it doesn't change what they are doing. And I don't have the ability to fix everything. And while my life has hardly been terrible, it was no cakewalk either. So there is a...edge of contempt, I suppose, in my thinking.
Three words seem to spell it out for me - too far gone
The 60 year old terminal alcoholic lying in a puddle of his own piss in the street. You can see the tragedy if you choose to. There's a life of cruelty, abuse, bad luck and bad decisions behind that. truly heart wrenching.
At the end of the day I don't care about that - all I see is litter.
Shovel it into the refuse truck it's a fucking eyesore and it smells bad.
too far gone is a different situation, IMO.
i feel the same for ancient dementing vegetables. no matter what they did in their life.
Quote from: triple zero on July 15, 2007, 09:09:07 PM
too far gone is a different situation, IMO.
i feel the same for ancient dementing vegetables. no matter what they did in their life.
You fuckers need to stop talking shit about Reagan.
I'm not kidding.
Heh.
Anyway, I was going to say, it is very easy to have contempt for normals. But since one of the things I am trying to do lately is use charm and empathy in order to make my own life much easier. And that requires putting aside that contempt sometimes, in order to attain that greater goal. So I am kind of divided. One on hand, I dont want to perpetuate this sort of behavior from the norms, but on the other, if I do, I can also make my life easier, including, perhaps, not making them act that way.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on July 15, 2007, 08:47:39 PM
Quote from: faust on July 15, 2007, 08:45:11 PM
even the most subhuman filth has some kinda redeeming characteristic.
Bullshit.
even Hitler had an incredible singing voice
depends on how hard you are to please.
Reinhard Heydrich was a world class violin player.
He also probably set into motions the events that caused the Holocaust. A skill is, in and of itself, not a redeemable feature. It is what you do with it. Heydrich never became a professional violinist. Hitler never stuck to painting.
true, I retract my point. but as 000 has also said, I have yet to meet a person devoid of any characteristic that makes them irrideemable
well i'm not going to say whether people like Hitler had redeeming qualities or not. all i know is just that i have never personally encountered a person who didn't.
that doesn't mean they don't exist, only that perhaps they're rare. fortunately.
Quote from: faust on July 15, 2007, 09:42:44 PM
true, I retract my point. but as 000 has also said, I have yet to meet a person devoid of any characteristic that makes them irrideemable
Maybe you just have really low standards.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on July 15, 2007, 09:46:00 PM
Quote from: faust on July 15, 2007, 09:42:44 PM
true, I retract my point. but as 000 has also said, I have yet to meet a person devoid of any characteristic that makes them irrideemable
Maybe you just have really low standards.
could be that or that I have kept crap company all my life and know how to deal with them, my entire fathers side of the family are like that. there are some who have done things that are inexcusable, and they should rot in a cell or something, but both of the ones i am thinking of were very good husbands and very kind to their children.
the only person I have ever met who I have ever thought extermination was a reasonable option was the guy who tried the hatchet on me.
Faust
~low standards, and biased to boot.
The fact that someone can and even does play violin well is not a redeeming feature. Redemption requires that the redeeming features are overwhelming
Is it insensitive? yeah. But is that insensitivity rational? sadly, yeah.
I think that getting numb is a logical way to deal with the sick and twisted contemporary culture. We live in a world of glamorized and idealized violence. Every day you see a thousand people you will never meet. Are you supposed to feel empathy for them? I do sometimes. But I can't give change to every destitute beggar. I can't feel sorry for every sick sad person I pass, cell phone pressed to her ear as tears stream down her face.
During Japan's industrialization, a Japanese poet wrote that isolation is just a part of modernity. He thought the crowded Japanese train system was the loneliest place in Japan. "Isn't it ironic that I feel most alone when I'm surrounded by people?"
With regards to the following post, I would choose which ever viewpoint most satisfied me at the particular moment:
1. Fuck 'em, they're animals anyway
2. Fuck 'em, it's their karma, let them sort it out
3. Fuck 'em, they didn't give me advance warning so I could order pizza and call a few mates over to watch
do you not have any non-"fuck' em" options?
and your point?
no, it was a question. but your answer seems to be "no".
for my point, check any of my earlier posts in this thread.
I know, I know ... just wasn't taking it that seriously I guess. I'm all for the open heart approach to people and realising that there is value in any person I encounter if I choose to see it. On the other hand, I tend to opt to not get involved in others' dramas simply for my own personal comfort. If I believe that all the shit that comes my way is all part of the grand awakening, then it is that way for others as well. Let them tend to their own dramas and learn their own lessons.
I thought option #2 was quite balanced, "Fuck 'em, it's their karma, let them sort it out"
They're monkeys who've inexplicably learned to dress themselves in grubby sportswear. Hell, I once actually saw one throwing faeces.
I know that the law holds that all men are equal, which is a fine and noble delusion to hold, but some form of social cleansing - alright, alright, genocide - would make my street a nicer place to live... :lulz:
ah ok
genocide you say
how many of the world's population would you like to go, 11/12th perhaps? and what about the dolphins?
:pokewithstick:
(hint: just dont answer that)
I think we should just herd them into places where hungry children live....
I feel no need to choose between apathy and empathy. The two can coexist and not contradict each other. I can laugh my ass off at the braindead apes, and still understand the massive tragedy of their situation. There's a human in every one of the man-shaped animals (though often it's become near impossible to unearth).
Only a species evolved from monkeys could simultaneously shoot itself into space while laughing at it's own poo.
Quote from: Kaienne on July 22, 2007, 05:22:51 AM
Only a species evolved from monkeys could simultaneously shoot itself into space while laughing at it's own poo.
You can just fuck right off, asshole.
Maybe someone else will be amused by comments like the one you made concerning Cain's mother.
We aren't.
Go away.
Kai, you're saying you believe in evolution?
lol.
Quote from: Kaienne on July 22, 2007, 05:22:51 AM
Only a species evolved from monkeys could simultaneously shoot itself into space while laughing at it's own poo.
Common ancestor =/= "evolved from"
Fail.
Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on July 22, 2007, 04:41:25 PM
Quote from: Kaienne on July 22, 2007, 05:22:51 AM
Only a species evolved from monkeys could simultaneously shoot itself into space while laughing at it's own poo.
You can just fuck right off, asshole.
Maybe someone else will be amused by comments like the one you made concerning Cain's mother.
We aren't.
Go away.
Link pls.
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=13344.75
three messages down
its basicaly not worth even looking at
its the kind of insult that children in the seventh grade fling at each other
Quote from: Thurnez Isa on July 23, 2007, 01:54:43 PM
http://www.principiadiscordia.com/forum/index.php?topic=13344.75
three messages down
its basicaly not worth even looking at
its the kind of insult that children in the seventh grade fling at each other
Yeah, thanks though.
please dont let the attention whore derail this thread. I was really enjoying it.
I have been thinking about it for the last week now, especially whenever I have to deal with the drunks and junkies, And I agree that though having some merits, it does not make them redeeming.
So I considered what could be done.
Because in Ireland we are still very much liberal, despite these people are thieves, drug addicts and muggers, they rarely end up in jail for more then a month. we cannot get rid of them from the train stations (where my mate works he deals with the same crowd I do) or the parks or shopping malls, because they are public places.
These people do constantly cause trouble, but we cant cut into their rights after they have served their time in jail. What they all need is rehabilitation, but they are so against it that it would have to be enforced in a fascist manner. So basically all we can do is hope they help themselves, or wait for them to die.
These people are the closest to things I have seen. they are single minded blunt creatures, damaged good. Could it in certain situations be acceptable to ever stick these turning the grindstones?
i dunno, over here different sorts of rehabilitation programs seem to work pretty well.
they don't cause much trouble. ok they steal bikes, but that's sort of grown into the natural bike ecosystem in this town. (they sell em for so cheap it's nearly like bike-tax, plus, you only need to make sure your bike is less attractive to steal than the one next to it) (FYI, i live in a 20% student city, where the streets are literally littered with bikes)
other thing is, they beg for money, but you say "no" and they go away
yet another thing is that it sometimes looks kinda creepy when they're in line on monday morning to get their free methadone fix.
apart from that, i have actually no idea how the rehab programs really work on the inside. i should ask some friends who are social workers (but on different programs) perhaps they know.