SkinRipper here.

in another way...i am sad that i dont speak english so good cause in my own language i am a really precise thinker and like to analyze people to the point where i can totally see the world with their eyes nd u seem to be a really interesting guy . i never had the opportunity to talk with sn like u.. I like the way u answer cause u are really on point and direct. U also seem to be very clear in terms of awareness.


Do u think it is possible for u to simulate a kind of "unemotional empathy" by constructing it in an abstract way (philosophy etc) ?

The19Keys:
"If she and I were like you we would not of let this thing ruin our lives.

I for one am glad to of met you now"

TheSkinRipper:
"...by 8pm or 10pm I could of taken someones job or lively hood away

I did explain about my parents earlier in the thread. You should of read it.

Most people would not of heard of the 19 Keys

I am fortunate to of found that."

This is one of several stylistic errors shared by these two in their writing. There's a certain type of person on message boards who creates a second identity to bolster his/her argument & ego as a thread progresses.

Note the recent essay by The19Keys extolling the virtues of the OP for us lesser intellects.
Of course, I realize that it's merely a possibility that these two are one & the same, (albeit a strong possibility), but It'll be fun to watch this particular mutual admiration society grow.

I would throw in something about an apology being offered if I'm wrong, but I don't think it's warranted here... or maybe I just don't have any feelings.

reply to post by TheSkinRipper


Welcome from a newb.

First, let me say that your diagnosis means nothing to me, as people change as they age, and quacks are often as nutty as the nut. To really lack any compassion for your fellow man makes you a survivor, not a friend. Unfortunately if TSHTF you might need friends, but not necessarily.
This is "your" choice now, but hopefully you will see some redeeming qualities in your fellow man and actually change your attitude, at which point you can loose the label.

You are as crazy as you allow yourself to be, and I can tell from your text that you are not actually impaired. Sorry, but you know I speak the truth.

Your honesty is what is needed here, but be careful not to hurt anyones feelings in the process, as that seems to be forebode. I repeat, do not stab, pummel, club or beat anyone here, just lightly poke at their voice of reason.

Nice honest introduction BTW, I would like to see more like it.

CHED

Originally posted by TheSkinRipper
reply to post by B.Morrison

 

come to think of it, are you a person you typically doesn't take offence to things?

Nice question.

I in general do not take offense however I do feel slighted by individuals. Within the work place if someone is derogatory towards me I may not take offense but recognize it as a negative aspect toward me.

This often leads me to test their resolve. If i am in a position of authority I will more than likely seek to ruin them through a variety of ways, like to use them as some sort of prey or target. Many people do this type of thing on a daily basis but I feel no guilt or remorse or anything but quiet satisfaction and a job well done. I do not do it out of revenge, but more so out of "I can" and I often find solace in the plight of my competitor.

To which, I must stress I do not do out of pleasure but because I can not stop myself from getting to see the demise of another person.

It is really difficult to explain through writing. It is the first time I have really done this type of communication and putting actions into words with reasoning is far more challenging than I first thought.

Ugh. You have the same level of psychopathy as a first year sociology student. Did you really have to copy the diagnosis criteria verbatim from your textbook? You could have at least put it in your own words. We get it. You need to think you're different from "normal" people and no one identifies themselves as a psychopath, so you did some wikipediaing and decided that would be your online personality. Sorry, but we have seen it before...and all too often on this board.

reply to post by The19Keys

You may well be correct, but over time I see tiny bits of things that look like human emotions peeking out ...not the same ones I might have but something. The most interesting part is that I come to observe overtime that lacking normal human emotion does not by any means equal evil. This is a subject I am most interested in exploring more.

reply to post by TheSkinRipper


I would like to tell you a few things about your supposed "condition".

First you should know that I am in grad school for Research Psychology.
Most of those on this board know that this is my specialty.

I am interested in the tests that you were subjected to endure. I would guess that they consisted of the standard Rorschach test, the MMPI 1, 2, or both (Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory), fMRI imaging, etc...

Now that I have that out of the way. Let's talk about the first thing that is taught to entry level Psychology students.

Correlation is not causation.

The reason that I bring this particular idea to the forefront is because EVERY SINGLE DIAGNOSIS based on the DSM is the product of correlation.
The fMRI that tested your brain waves for a response to certain images doesn't know what it is really testing.
It is testing for a correlation.

No one knows where in the brain "empathy" resides.
In fact, what we know about the brain makes it seem more akin to a holograph or a fractal than a schematic or a purposeful design like an engine.
The brain is an enigma, and no matter what a Psychologist tells you, no known CAUSAL test exists to quantify any of the diagnoses found in the DSM.
A good Psychologist knows this, but they will rarely talk about it because their livelihood is dependent upon making diagnoses of patients. When a patient comes to see them, in order to get PAID, they MUST make a diagnosis.
That is why most diagnoses from shrinks change with every visit and if they prescribe meds, which most do, the meds or dosage levels change also.

They are not actual doctors, but they are playing doctor and what they do that is infinitely more harmful than anything in their book of remedies is create the "self-fulfilling prophecy".
Behaviorism is a product of the self-fulfilling prophecy and it can, for sure, be measured and quantified.

In fact, Behaviorism is the only theory in Psychology worth merit.
But the missing factor in this equation is motivation.

And motivation can be different for each and every person.

I would hesitate to label yourself anything, because then you create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This is not different than the completely bogus and BS term of "addict".
It doesn't exist and it is a product of pop psychology.

If you are talking about it then most likely it is not a problem.
If you engaged in a behavior at some point in your life that correlates with other "known" certain "psychopathic" behaviors then that does not and I repeat...

DOES NOT make you a psychopath.

As I said before.
Correlation is not causation.

Cheers my normal friend.

reply to post by TheSkinRipper


Well you'll be right at home here.... i think you will be surprised when you start reading posts to find out how many people here are ACTUALLY crazy!!

If I had to guess, more than 50% have mental disorders on ATS

Hi, welcome.

I do not believe in psychopaths. I think it is an empty word with no meaning apart form society distancing you away, because you are not like others.

There are no mental illnesses, because it takes one people to be ill, but two (for one of you) to become mentally ill.

I hope it makes sense.

If I have learned anything from your post it is what I am not.

I do belive the human spicies is a parasitic spicies that serves no purpose to it's self or the planet and does not or ever will have the "will" to change.That being said I could not or ever will watch someone kick an18 month old child around without reacting with extreme prejudice,the same applys to animals

We are all predator's before we are anything,some of us just have a code we liive by,make senses?

Good post by the way,there hard to come by lately.

reply to post by Josephus23


It is good to read common senses and logic mixed together,it is so rare.

You to have helped me with what I am not.Thank you!

Greetings Skinripper.

ok...cold and emotionless towards fellow human beings, no empathy, fully out for yourself alone, your status and pleasure is the only thing that matters, will sell the world if you can gain from it...

Yep...your a republican

Welcome to ATS

reply to post by TheSkinRipper


Very interesting thread. Thank you for sharing.

In terms of love for my wife. I provide for her, I protect her from anyone who may cause her harm if need be. I do not beat her or put her down. To me that is love. to you that may just be what is expected from a human to another human. However, who is to say I do not love her more than you love your wife. You can not quantify love.

... That is what a husband does, so it shows I do love her. LOve to me does not have to be emotional.

If it is, I can say I love her because I do those things. You may do it because you feel like doing it. In the end we both achieve the same thing by doing the same things. Love is a feeling that you can neither prove nor disprove.

"Love" is generally understood to be a feeling - the actions are meant to illustrate the feeling.

...So you're adapting. You do the right things. ...But sometimes, people are sensitive to the motivations and feelings behind the actions - and miss them when they're not there. Do you know that?

A few questions:

* Why are you married? Just for appearance sake?

* Why did you marry this particular woman?

* What would you do if she left you?

oh, and ya...to add in.
you having a wife and killing for her is not logical. If you have bred with her, she has served her purpose. If she dies, you can simply get another one. Your stance on your wife shows there is actual real life emotions...sorry if the psychologists have convinced you that your emotionless.

I haven't been scared from a scary movie since I was a kid, I can watch a gorefest while eating nachos, I can watch a rape film without feeling much, etc. its the TV..our brain processes images on the tube differently than we process a real life encounter with something. Sure, you may have a muted sense of empathy..I think many do overall (its always the emotionally hysterical that end up getting TV shows and have the loudest mouth..not a fair comparison really).

Take that general numbing down of emotional stimuli mixed with psychologists telling you your a robot and ya, thats bound to reinforce some behaviors.

A psychopath will always be dangerous...because if you decide you want a car, you will the the most logical step will be to simply murder someone, take their car, and voila..no years of work to get one, no going in the hole..just simply take.

Here on ATS...many of us come here to question "the officals". and rightfully so. Now that your here...why not do some questioning yourself.

ATS - please excuse the punctuation with lack of question marks, my keyboard suffered a beverage malfunction but I want to contribute to this thread.

A few comments and observations
Well I assume you had an fMRI -
The only time I have seen a 'honeypot' employed - or even heard that exact vernacular - was in a Government sector so to speak - where it can be a very effective method in removing people from positions of power -

30 day observation - or 30 day job potential evaluation - which was it

Do you have this wife as part of your cover - because aside from 'fitting in' you really have no emotional need for one and dealing with her parents and the work involved in gifting and going through the emotions would seem more job like to you then rewarding in any way - but a wife is an acceptable cover and sex can be pleasurable even if there are no emotions. Plus sexual gratification from your 'cover wife' keeps you immune in some ways from a honey trap of your own since it is more about physical release then the ego of conquest, or the emotions of love. It is a good, culturally accepted 'beard' as they call it in some communities.

I think - no - I KNOW - you are extremely well suited for employment in certain jobs/sectors we don't even want to know about or think about in general society. I did some very minor reasearch into crew resource management concepts when they first came out, if you continue on with the idea of testing to build 'perfect crews' which is possible in a lot of ways, it becomes a very non politically correct method to hire in the eyes of the general public. However I believe it is a very important tool in identifying who can get certain very unsavory jobs done, and it might be labled a lot of things - but I believe they are looking at things like fMRIs and MMPI for certain employment fields. By research on my part, I mean that I contacted a University and chatted at length through email to the PhDs and Fellows who had published. They were excited to communicate with me, as I showed interest in what they were doing. When I thought about the big picture of this stuff - based upon some other stuff that I knew about - that these happy chatters did not, well - it's frightening. Meaning to them it was all about the positives of building good crews in the operating room or cockpit - I saw the darker side.

Maybe you are bluffing about all this - and maybe you don't know this if you are not - but you are a valuable resource to certain agencies. I am a person who could spot you by the way - or your type unless you eliminated me from your environment right away, but there would be no need as I am not a threat. I would watch you and be facinated but I would spot you right away, maybe within 30 seconds of meeting you, of course I would get chastising from most others about being able to spot you in social situtions because of your ability through the charm of going along with life to fit in. I am known as a real kill joy about these kinds of things - because I can usually spot your type and I prefer myself not to bother to go through the motions of going along with it for social acceptance. I just remove myself. At work I might respect you to a certain degree, but I would not socialize with you. You would be ok with that too, because you don't care.

I do have emotions, but I am not ruled by them. I have been told by some that I am very manipulative in my work environment in such that I can to some degree work both sides of the table/fence including your side. For me it all relates to survival skills - you need 360 vision for survival and that includes recognizing individuals such as yourself. For me, at this stage of my life and through what I have experienced I find people are either too ruled by emotion or are not at all. The middle way is less often found.

Wow pretty interesting.I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you.

No expert on psychopathy but I live in a country that could be considered psychotic.Well the people of course.

If I was hanging on the edge of a Mountain and about to fall to my death would you save me if I reached out to you?

reply to post by TheBirdisDone


While what you are saying is true concerning the amount of personal dissonance or distress that a person might feel when experiencing contradictory emotions and behaviors, it is possible for a person to engage in a behavior and not feel empathy but yet not be a sociopath.
I like Emile Durkheim's term for this in-congruence of emotions, personal ethics, and social expectations.
He terms it Anomy.

I have managed restaurants where I have had to fire people, and it becomes much easier when a person inherits the position of manager.
Because at that point the individual becomes "depersonalized".
They are simply engaging in an expected duty of their newly ascribed "personality".

This situation is no different than what happens at places like Guantanamo Bay.
The human condition is able to engage in a variety of behaviors when given the correct reinforcement.

The biggest two studies on this issue are the Milgram Experiment on obedience and the Stanford Prison Experiment.
I will agree with your notion that certain people have more of an aptitude to engage in harm to their fellow humans without feeling any personal distress, but any Freudian will tell you that what is actually happening is that the person is depersonalizing their empathy with the person through repression.
And those repressions then cause anxieties, neuroses, etc...

I say Freud, because he is the anti-Skinner, to whom I personally prescribe.
But when you get down to the nuts and bolts of the nature/nurture argument, the empirical evidence rests with Jean Piaget (who I would describe as Neo-Freudian in a sense due to his stages of development), and the Behaviorist.

If I was to guess that some type of true personality disorder was to be diagnosable, then I would go with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
But that can be created through nurture.

Look at the world in which we live.
Facebook, Twitter, iPhones w/ cameras....
Everyone is taking pictures of themselves and then they see these pics and pick and post those that emulate their most desired models (aka Albert Bandura's studies).
This reinforces narcissistic behaviors.

In my opinion fMRI's and the MMPI are total crap.

I have been reading all the posts in this thread. And from what you have written SkinRipper is that you are a huge fan of "Dexter". Much of what you have posted here is in the books by Jeff Lindsay. "Dearly Devoted Dexter", "Dexter by Design". "Dexter in the Dark" and of course the first book on Dexter, "Darkly Dreaming Dexter". Yes you tweaked some of the words but your OP reads like a book on Dexter.

BTW, I am a huge fan of Dexter.

reply to post by IrishLass


Ahhh.

Good catch.

Originally posted by The19Keys
I think you are the next level of the human species.
Ill tell you a story that explains why. My Wife's sister was involved in a car crash. It left her brain dead and basically a vegetable. this tore my wife to bits for 3 months she stayed at the hospital and never came home. She did not speak to me. I tried to be there for her but she would not let me in.
This created distress in me as I was helpless to help the woman I loved. After a period of time the Doctors said that we should turn off the life support machine. this angered and upset my wife to the point that she quit her job, left her friends and did not speak to me for another 2 months. All this stress and problem eventually ended my marriage to her about a year later.
She now has no friends, no job and is destroyed by the death of her sister to whom she was very close to.

If she and I were like you we would not of let this thing ruin our lives. We were only married for 6 years but still. Emotion and feeling are good things to enjoy at times but more often than not they are damaging to one's self and other.

Anger has fuelled many wars and hatred has angered many people. If we lost all those feelings we could be better off. to advance in our species I think the loss of emotion would be beneficial. I know people will disagree but I do not care. Emotional ties is what keeps people from fighting back against tyranny, standing up for ones rights. the fear of something happening to your loved ones stops us being bold and making the right choices. Our choices these days are governed by emotion and feeling.

I for one am glad to of met you now and hope to enjoy some frank conversation with you sometime.

Your post hit me exactly where I live. My wife lost her father several years back, she has five brothers and was the only female sibling, to say she was daddy's little girl would be a gross understatement. She was, for lack of a better world, devestated. I was, for lack of a better word, perplexed. Her entire universe was shattered, she was a completely different person after that. I had no words of wisdom to offer, no way to comfort her, I just could not relate. When my mother died a few years later I felt absolutely nothing, she was a horrible person and it was actually a relief to know I would never hear her voice again.
As I often do I spent months thinking about this, how her love for her father changed her life and how my hatred for my mother insulated me from those feelings. In an instant it came to me, love is weaknesss, hatred is strength. If I am fortunate enough to see the end coming I will do whatever it takes to make her hate me.
That is an entirely lucid and logical decision, premeditated and perfect.