Sociopath Community

The 1944 movie is a pretty fun portrayal of it.

i have trouble distinguishing between lying and gaslighting. i'm an excellent liar, so i create doubt in others, my story is airtight and unwaveringly convincing and causes the person to doubt their perception. it's more of a case by case tactic than trying to create chronic doubt in the person.

There are other ways of driving people insane, and one is making them believe in certain strange conspiracy theories. I have come up with a few myself but not for this purpose of course.

I don't seem to deliberately do this to my targets, turns out my reality is so fluid that I accept what it suits me (on the surface though, with a bit of digging I acknowledge the truth) or accept a few versions and put them into use depending on context, all seems subconscious though.

The difference is when just lying that the person doesn't know it isn't the truth. When it comes to gaslighting the victim knows it isn't true yet is forced to believe it.

I tell people versions based on real events that have been altered in my favor. The problem is that I've caught myself believing in these versions. And in a way it must be like this, since for all intents and purposes it is the truth. It is also like I wrote, if someone doesn't know it's not the truth it doesn't really matter. I am in general quite truthful though and not like a mythomanic. I see no real purpose in lying when it isn't necessary, and also a slightly altered version of the truth does a better job in most cases.

Perhaps I am as truthful as most people are. I don't really get any pleasure out of lying about e.g. achievements. I don't even have to do this since I'm quite good at many things. It has happened though that I've been accused of lying when I've told the truth. Don't know why this is... Could be that some things I've told are hard to believe or it evokes envy in some people.

You mean this isn't when you hold a Zippo up to a gaseous woman's anus and let hilarity ensue?

I think VoV was spot-on when he wrote:

by Venator of Verum

In most cases people are 'blind', due to their reliance on another person's perception of reality, as they fear what the inevitable clash of the 'cause and effect reasoning' with their dreams, will bring into fruition.

Manipulation is fundamentally the reframing of the perceptions of others. In the instance of "gaslighting," a person adopts a perception portrayed by the "gaslighter." This happens through the process of causing the "victim" to doubt their own version of reality.

I think the only way to not let that happen to you is to become socially conscious. If a person denies some thing happened, or tries to minimize it, etc., and has some stake to gain in doing so...it should immediately come to your mind that this person may be attempting to manipulate you. Personally, when I speak to people, I am as focused on reading the purpose behind what is being said as much as the semantic content itself. And that's probably normal; I have not really spoken with many others about what they pay attention to during a conversation to know (interestingly, one time I spoke with a narcissist about this, and he said he visualized how he appeared to the other person).

Simply reading into the intent behind actions as well as having a decent grasp on reality should keep you from getting "gaslighted." People who fall victim to "gaslighting" are often unsure of their own perceptions due to insecurity or poor social perception, and/or confusion, and as VoV pointed out, they are often reliant on the perceptions of others, and their emotions distort their ability to see what is happening for what it is.

Could be that some things I've told are hard to believe or it evokes envy in some people.

Fucking this. It seems like hearing about other people having good things going on with themselves and their lives, is threatening to their fragile senses of superiority / worth, so they choose to immediately discard the possibility of these things happening. My solutions to this is to either feed their egos a little bit in order to make them feel secure enough to be able to accept my stories, or subtly undermine them so their new sense of inferiority allows me to convince them of the truth of my stories.