Sociopath Community

Buttered Toast said: 

Turncoat said: 

Okay, lets for the sake of argument accept the premise that you can sympathize without it being about weakness. 

How does one sympathize with strength? 

Are you suggesting that there's a trap of making sympathy an acknowledgement of some kind of weakness?  I think it would look something like peer-camaraderie?  Respect?  The recognition your brother-at-arms faces the same struggles with the weak that you do?

Definitionally speaking, I question how one can "feel sorrow, compassion, or pity for someone else's misfortune" over a strength or virtue. 

'Oh that poor man, he's just so buff, sexy, and amazing. The weight of his success must be so difficult for him.'

Turncoat said: 

Buttered Toast said: 

Turncoat said: 

Okay, lets for the sake of argument accept the premise that you can sympathize without it being about weakness. 

How does one sympathize with strength? 

Are you suggesting that there's a trap of making sympathy an acknowledgement of some kind of weakness?  I think it would look something like peer-camaraderie?  Respect?  The recognition your brother-at-arms faces the same struggles with the weak that you do?

Definitionally speaking, I question how one can "feel sorrow, compassion, or pity for someone else's misfortune" over a strength or virtue. 

'Oh that poor man, he's just so buff, sexy, and amazing. The weight of his success must be so difficult for him.'

 It does sound insincere, almost a backhanded compliment.  I suppose the weak can't sympathize with the strong.  It either looks like awe/envy when weak->strong, or pity/contempt strong->weak.  It might only have some possibility at peer-level.  Horizontally.

I'd say I could see it apply for a celebrity who doesn't want to be hounded by paparazzi, but even then... while it is their strengths that are drawing people in, it's still the weakness present in their attitude over paparazzi that elicits sympathy rather than their success doing so. 

While some people might find it easier to sympathize with successful people, it's still not their success they're sympathizing with, but rather their success that they're relating to.