(December 21, 2017 at 8:05 am)Hammy Wrote:(December 20, 2017 at 5:15 pm)bennyboy Wrote: I think you are seeing all people as monolithic, as though psychopathy is a property like skin color. I see people as a complex interaction of parts, and I believe that most people have the capacity to willingly do harm to others, given the right social climate or other conditions.
I see psychopathy as a diagnosis . . . So yes you do either have it or you don't. Obviously there will be a spectrum and there are people who are almost psychopaths. But almost a psychopath is not a psychopath. The experts determine whether someone is a psychopath or not.
The fact we all might have psychopathic traits to some extent doesn't make us all psychopaths. Just as the fact that we're all on the autism spectrum to some extent doesn't mean everybody gets to be diagnosed with autism.
I'm not sure why you've made the whole thread about psychopathy. You introduced the word then proceeded to just keep arguing about exactly what it is.
I'm talking about the fact that people aren't monolithic. You can use whatever term you want for good and bad instincts, good and bad intent, and so on. I believe people are different in different contexts, both internal and external. You really have to know a lot about a person and their history to understand how they've arrived at good or bad behaviors.
