4 ms·
I'm confused why there is any shock, to be honest. I base my definition of the word on the one given in this wp article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopat
by Mithaldu 11y ago
I'm confused why there is any shock, to be honest. I base my definition of the word on the one given in this wp article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy Particularly, the word does imply an individual is suffering health issues, as far as i read it. I don't know how you understood what i said, so i can't usefully say if i made a mistake or you understood my intentions. Though please understand that i did not mean to denigrate, merely to explain.
Feel free to let me know if you still think it was a mistake, and i'll keep that in mind for the future.
- dang 11y agoAh ok, this was just a misunderstanding of terminology. "Psychopath" in English has a specific meaning having to do with lack of empathy and conscience, etc.—not mental illness in general. (It's perhaps confusing because "psychopathology" is quite different from "psychopathy" and does mean mental illness in general.) Colloquially, to call someone a psychopath is to condemn them harshly—even though technically it's an illness, though not everyone believes this—while to say that they're mentally ill is more neutral and in context can be sympathetic. Your English is either native or extremely close to native, so it didn't cross my mind at all that you didn't mean the word as an insult, especially since some HN users throw it around too freely. My apologies for lumping you in with that!
- Mithaldu 11y agoThanks a bunch for the explanation, i'll definitely keep that in mind in the future. :) And yeah, i'm fluent in english, but my native language is german. (As is my mindset, which is why some bits of HN can be a little troublesome. ;) )
- dang 11y agoOne of the least understood aspects of HN is how much discussion here is affected by such subtle cultural differences.