RE: Enjoyment from watching others get hurt, and sociopathy
November 27, 2017 at 6:16 pm
(This post was last modified: November 27, 2017 at 6:41 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
(November 27, 2017 at 10:35 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: Thanks to a Netflix doc, I learned a few weeks ago that 40% of internet porn being viewed depicts violence against women. 40%! And people jerk off to that. And then I thought about the popularity of the Saw movies and how sadistic they are.
What to make of this? I mean, if so many people enjoy watching others in pain in one form or another, is sociopathy even a thing?? How in the world is it so normal to enjoy watching other people's pain if we supposedly have empathy?
Well . . . seen as this is not sexually explicit I guess I'm allowed to say this outside A-69: I like BDSM and I am both sexually sadistic and sexually masochistic.
Nothing that would actually cause any lasting harm to myself or others though, of course. Pain but not damage. This applies both to porn and actual sex. (Well, maybe not actual sex I'm getting, but at least actual sex I would desire). All of this is 100% consensual and legal, of course.
And despite all this I am definitely probably not a sociopath in any sense.
(November 27, 2017 at 11:26 am)mlmooney89 Wrote: So on the other hand I'm kinda doing a 180. How violent are we talking in porn? I do like things a little rough but where does it cross into violent? Depending on where our line is depends on if I'm part of that 40%...
I mean, if we're including stuff like spanking on the backside to the point of leaving a faint pink mark then I'm pretty sure that includes a lot of women too.
(November 27, 2017 at 11:40 am)Catholic_Lady Wrote: So the question is, is it abnormal to enjoy watching other people get hurt?It's normal.
Quote: And if it's normal, then what separates these normal people from sociopathic people?
Many things. We have a conscience and are against non-consensual violence, for one.
I mean, there's a difference between seeing the UFC come on the TV and grabbing the popcorn and seeing someone get attacked on the street and grabbing the popcorn.
(November 27, 2017 at 11:51 am)Whateverist Wrote: Still we are the most violent of the there chimp species. The Bonobos are the most saintly, I wonder if they're made even more closely in His image?
The Bonobos would make my mayo-making look tame. They often communicate via sex.
I don't think we're more violent than Chimps though, I think we're in-between Chimps and Bonobos. I'm sure Chimps would have even more wars than we do if they were capable of building a civilization and making advanced weapons.
(November 27, 2017 at 11:41 am)Rev. Rye Wrote: My take on it is that people seem to be able to switch off their empathy for certain situations, whether it's in sports or if it's a criminal awaiting punishment. What differentiates the sociopaths from the normal people is that the sociopaths can't switch theirs back on.
Hmmm. I actually read that psychopaths can switch there's on and off which is why they are able to blend in and fake empathy so well. Because they can turn their empathy and compassion on, it's just not as intense as their desires and they can switch it off whenever they feel for it. They shallow compassion and empathy they feel is merely used to suit their own ends. It's just another tool in their manipulative toolbox.
A lot of scientists used to think that psychopaths only had cognitive empathy (the ability to think what it's like to be in someone else's position), and they completely lacked emotional empathy (the ability to feel what it's like to be in another person's position). But more recent evidence has put that in question and suggests that psychopaths can also feel what other people feel, they just don't care because their own selfish desires are stronger.
Psychopaths and sociopaths are different of course. For one, sociopaths are more low-functioning, and their anti-social behavior comes from past traumas and a poor upbringing (they stopped feeling empathy and compassion from a young age because not caring helped them cope better . . . so it's a defense mechanism) whereas psychopathy is genetic and psychopaths are born without a conscience. Psychopathy is neurological whereas sociopathy is psychological.
Sociopaths are often easier to spot and are worse at blending in too. Sociopaths also get caught more.
Perhaps . . . normal people can't switch off their empathy even when they choose to ignore it to get what they want (some people are bad people without being sociopaths or psychopaths), sociopaths can't switch on the empathy at all, or they lost their ability to, even when doing so would help them get what they want . . . and psychopaths can switch it on and off whenever they feel like it but they just use it as a tool to get what they want?
