Sociopath Community

Virus stated: source post

Because you didn't have heart felt feelings for fictional characters?  That is weird and funny!

Syst tends to find a character (always male) in whatever he's watching who he views as carrying similar values to his own, then grows attached to them and proxies their pain in a way he ends up forcibly relating to. A lot of viewers have this sort of tendency, but it in essence had it where when we'd laugh at such a person, it'd have him be like "How is this man's suffering supposed to be funny?". 

We (Tryp, Crow, and I) view the show as dark dramedy with strong elements of tongue in cheek humor at points, while for him it's more of an exploration of other possibilities akin to the show Black Mirror. His tendency to see himself in others has me thinking he's not really too detached beyond narcissistic projection at most. It doesn't rule over his life like other over-the-top empaths, but it's hard to deny that it's there.

As for whoameye's point, who here on some level isn't aware of that?

"Empathy Training" to me sounds like a load of bunk. I think you mean to call it "Perspective Taking", as that jargon is too detached to call empathy.

It's the best I can do for now. I've considered that she calls it "empathy" for my perceived benefit (so that I feel as if progress is being made), that she is using the term "empathy" broadly and allowing it to encompass cognitive, or she is considering any affect regarding the situation, whether conscious perspective taking or spontaneous emotional adoption, as empathy. 

Watching those who have it honestly express it almost more like an affliction... it's really more of an unconscious autopilot for those who aren't properly able to distance themselves from those around them.

The majority of individuals are able to do it spontaneously in certain situations. Some are indeed over affected which causes problems in and of itself. 

But it let's you craft your personality more nuanced, because you experience first hand what other people go through.

It's a matter of curiosity and the feeling that I should be able to do something if I want to do it. Feels on demand...

EDIT for clarification: The ability to connect and disconnect at will would be a major advantage. First, the connect part needs to happen.

I see it sort of like how people respond to the smell, sight, and/or sound of vomiting. It's a contagious response that triggers the individual as opposed to being anything conscious.

If you want to turn this into something that resembles what others express, you'll need to condition some triggers to have any chance of success (and even then, I'm imagining that being a rather limited toolkit when it's unnatural).

One of the only real benefits to empathy is the ability to blend in. There's ways to form relationships with people while being otherwise fairly detached.

I can simulate any of that without actually having to go through any of it, I don't see why I would want that. there's no difference for them.

Condition triggers?

Motor stated: source post

I can't place my finger on the ratio exactly, but it feels like far more people on this forum today didn't come here thinking they were sociopaths, compared to roughly a year ago, and maybe earlier than that. I think the majority of members who joined between a year ago and the time of my posting this joined because they simply want to socialize, and for whatever reason they either want to talk with personalities here, or they have been turned away other places. Of course, I'm not counting people who join, make an "Am I a sociopath" thread, and never type another word. I'm really only considering users who stayed for longer than a month or so.

I'd say this place fits Dark Triad tendencies. We've had some people come in and break the norm who either were here to understand it more without reflecting it themselves in a studying or literary sense, or those who learn about it from having dealt with one in their lives (or believed to have at least), but often it's those who assumed it to be the case when other factors were really responsible for their behaviors (narcissism or edginess being the most common culprits).

I ended up here from my ex-fiance throwing the label at me when I had little knowledge of it, and I stayed merely as a curious lurker until I saw Luna's first posts. My issues stem from a different set of disorders entirely, but I still find this kind of environment more comforting than a place where I have to cater to group behavior in unnatural ways to stick around. Forums related to my disorders would likely cater to "trigger warning" retardation anyway, unlike this sort of environment where you either deal with it or leave in anonymity or embarrassment (something that I find healthier honestly).

I find it fun to see Facebook drama related to events and then come here to see the inverse response.

Thank you for your post, it made me also more reflective and aware of things I could and/or should do. If you drop you're act completely, remember that you still have the ability to switch roles. It helps when people try to build stones in your way.

So this is me talking about psychosis in a pbs documentary. It's an actor but it's mostly my words, a couple things were cut and they changed the messages I said to make them about all that harming people bullshit.