Sociopath Community

Taking another person's view or perspective isn't hard for me. Like when it comes to being religious or atheistic. Sometimes I argue from an atheistic point of view, other times from a religious/spiritual one. I have no problem understanding why people see things as the do. It's very hard to get through to someone if you don't understand what motivates that person, or why the person thinks like he or she does.

by Turncoat

"Empathy........So say someone i know, mom dies, Empathy would be me remembering the pain i went threw when someone close to me died.

Sympathy.........Would be me fealing sry for him because his mom is dead"

No, that first one is still sympathy. You'd be using your own past experiences to sympathize.

Empathy would be feeling sad because he's sad. Him being sad that his mother died would serve to make you just that much more sad by proxy.


"Now what if I was the one who killed his mom just to watch him suffer. What would that be called ?"

Sadistic.

I don't like seeing someone I like being sad, and i try to be kind to that person then. I'm not sure if I feel what that person is feeling. I've read there are something called "mirror neurons" that are involved in this. But lets say for example that someone is faking that he or she is sad. If this makes someone else feel sad, he/she is "mirroring" a fake emotion. So is it really possible to truly mirror someone's emotions? What I feel when someone I care about is sad, is perhaps more like sympathy. If someone is happy or at least laughing it can make me laugh too. But that is more like "emotional contagion" and not really empathy.

There are two kinds of empathy.

Emotional empathy, also called affective empathy or primitive empathy, is the subjective state resulting from emotional contagion. It is our automatic drive to respond appropriately to another’s emotions. This kind of empathy happens automatically, and often unconsciously. It has also been referred to as the vicarious sharing of emotions.

Cognitive empathy is the largely conscious drive to recognize accurately and understand
another’s emotional state. Sometimes we call this kind of empathy
“perspective taking.”

Yea but i dont get any kind of sexual pleasure out of watching someone hurt or thinking about someone being hurt, but i do enjoy knowing that they are hurting, if it be phiscal or mental. I dont understand why I want bad shit to happen or why I do the things i do to people, When i was a kid i used to kill things animals dogs cats whatever, I didnt think much of it at the time tell i got older and realized other kids werent doing the same things. I remember one time a kid i knew had some baby kittens in his garage, he said he didnt want them so i asked if i could take them, he was hesitant at first then he gave them to me, I always wanted to put something in one of those metal fish nets that float to keep fish alive, it has a 1 way plastic door that only pushes down and not up, I put all of the kittens in there and threw them out in the water, wasnt just any water, I went to a pond with real clear water because i wanted to watch them die, When i threw them in I got this rush of fealings hard to describe, it felt good and it felt like someone was boosting me with energy almost to the point of me shakeing real bad. When they stoped moveing i pulled them out and dumped them on the bank and left. I still think back to that day and the way it made me feal. it was diff than the times i just hit a dog or cat with something and killed it because that was a fast death or when i shot animals it was always fast for them to die, But when i watched those kittens die slowley it did something to me i didnt feal before, exicted I guess is the word. It would probably be best if someone broke into my house and killed me in my sleep, because i know im not threw.

TC seems to be one of the few who can truely grasp the distinctions between empathy and sympathy.   empathy gives geat strength, while sympathy is for the weak.......

What if one has selective empathy? Say for specific things or types and that is all?

Yet they cannot empathize with a loved one over a death.. what does that mean?

Yet they can empathize with a random unknown person?

i.don't think that's what you meant to say...

Nope thats what i meant to say. why

scattered....

doesnt make sense

My wording is shoddy for it. It's hard to explain. I have had circumstances where i have been able to pick up others' feelings (those who i do not know, strangers) and i don't understand why that has happened.

My empathy seems to be restricted to specific things or people i care about. This is likely selective.

However picking up empathy? off randoms, well i picked up their feelings. It's not very fun and i wasn't shielding. Another time i picked up someone's negative energy combined with my own and damn near stabbed him. He asked for it though...

I am not sure what to call it. I have great empathy for animals, especially cats and dogs. I would rather hurt people than animals. (Unless i was hunting food) So i have empathy for animals and elders (older folks). I assume this is a learned behavior as it wasn't always the case.

Other than that, it seems my empathy is limited i lack "affect" according to shrinks and also it is confusing to me so my wording, i try to word best i can...

by Storm

Some people see empathy as just a weakness but I think it's useful. I'm not sure about this, but I think that it's empathy that makes people understand how their behavior affect others. I don't lack it completely (I think). I sometimes do something that is less than good to people (who in some cases are friends). At the time it feels great to do it, but sometimes afterwards it hits me (sometimes it can take a long time), that I really shouldn't have done that (at least not to a friend). That I wouldn't have liked if someone had done it to me. I can understand how it would be if I lacked this ability completely.

 Of course empathy is useful, it's information. It also helps create emotional bonds between people, and a better/more successful cooperation in many ways.

by DaniellaEllaLaLaLa

If a socio somehow finds that their antisocial behavior affects them negatively, they might function just as well as any empath. I don't think the high-functioning sociopaths need to be more empathetic since they often realize they're making it easier for themselves by "behaving".

 Yeah...I disagree that a socio (even a high functioning one) would manage to function just as well as a normal person all the time. I'm convinced everyone in their lives gets opportunities to hurt others, do damage and get away with it, or even gain something from it. Sociopaths wouldn't have any issues that. They're too differently wired to not tramp on people if opportunity arises.

by Storm

 I don't like seeing someone I like being sad, and i try to be kind to that person then. 

If someone is happy or at least laughing it can make me laugh too. But that is more like "emotional contagion" and not really empathy.

 Well, I always thought this kind of emotional contagion was empathy. If it happens, you're definitely not a psychopath in my book :D

by ReinadeFuego

What if one has selective empathy? Say for specific things or types and that is all?

Yet they cannot empathize with a loved one over a death.. what does that mean?

Yet they can empathize with a random unknown person?

I have no idea.

One can get selective empathy though through training/desensitizing.