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People throw around the word sociopath. I have know a few sociopaths. I have been told, I have sociopathic tendencies. That said, I would never take advanta

People throw around the word sociopath. I have know a few sociopaths. I have been told, I have sociopathic tendencies. That said, I would never take advantage of the poor, weak, or helpless. If you have sociopathic tendencies--work on them! Whatever you do, don't cross that line where you think it's ok to take advantage of the aforementioned. I live among a lot of wealthy sociopaths. They are in complete denial, and actually believe, "Hay it's legal! I did nothing wrong? I'll even go to church, or synagogue!". I look at them with utter disgust. The sociopaths, I know, haven't done the damage to society like this little puke. I don't care about his SEC violations. Every trader--strike that--successful traders; cheated on order to get their wad. They all use inside information. Yes, there's some of you who got luckey on this momentum trading these last few years--great. I'm talking about the series 7 boys who always seen to make money. Raising the price on a drug, a drug that he knew sick patients would be paying "out of pocket" for--that's a true scumbag. The word sociopath is too nice.

mikeash 11y ago
I wonder why you're being downvoted. Reflexive instinct for someone who admits they have sociopathic tendencies?
- oldmanjay 11y ago
  Because armchair psychiatry and textbook class hatred is not really an interesting contribution to the conversation. The HN bar is higher than mere handwringing.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    But all the comments saying "this guy is a sociopath" or "all big-company CEOs are sociopaths" or "here's a pop-psychology book about sociopaths" are? They're not getting downvoted....
- JBReefer 11y ago
  Because the standard of conversation here must be higher than a personal anecdote, sprinkled with class warfare.
- michaelcampbell 11y ago
  I can only speak for myself, but I downvoted him for: > Every trader--strike that--successful traders; cheated on order to get their wad. They all use inside information. Which is unprovable, and almost certainly untrue. It's the financial version of anti-intellectualism.
oldmanjay 11y ago
Well you're definitely right that people throw around the word "sociopath."
izzydata 11y ago
Sociopathy is probably a varying scale. Unless it is actually severe enough to cause problems for you or others it doesn't fit the definition of a mental disorder. I'm sure everyone has at least little bit, but that's just how humans are.
deleted 11y ago
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logfromblammo 11y ago
Lack of empathy can be overcome with a rational commitment to adhere to a personal system of ethics. If a sociopath doesn't actually care what happens to other people, they can still formulate a list of rules to follow that prevents them from appearing to be a sociopath. I recall reading about a brain researcher who was studying the measurable physiological differences in PET scans between the brains of serial killers and the control group brains when he discovered a brain scan that matched the psychopathic pattern in some other scans done for Alzheimer's screening research. It was his own brain. [0] Surprise! You have a serial killer brain! Why don't you act like one? Maybe you just have better impulse control. Maybe you prefer to amass your wealth as adoration from fans and acquaintances. Maybe you prefer to humiliate others in video game arenas than to get any real blood on your hands. So a smirking asshole like Shkreli isn't just a matter of sociopathy. It's being a sociopath so incredibly careless and stupid that he just couldn't avoid inciting the torches-and-pitchforks mob against him. If you make enough people hate you, you're going down for something, even if you have been careful about following all the laws to the letter, or at least covering your tracks. If Shkreli really is a sociopath, he won't care about getting caught or going to jail. The burr up his butt will be that other people are better at his lifestyle than he is, and can prove it. (You lose! Good day, sir!) [0] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/?no-ist http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscient...
- kbenson 11y ago
  James Fallon (the researcher) gave a good TED talk[1] regarding this. What was interesting is that everyone around him (including his wife and children) weren't totally surprised by his findings that he was less empathetic, and that, as you note, he found that he could be a better person (and he wanted to be) by making an effort to do the things that come naturally to others. 1: http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_...

mikeash 11y ago

I wonder why you're being downvoted. Reflexive instinct for someone who admits they have sociopathic tendencies?

oldmanjay 11y ago
Because armchair psychiatry and textbook class hatred is not really an interesting contribution to the conversation. The HN bar is higher than mere handwringing.
- mikeash 11y ago
  But all the comments saying "this guy is a sociopath" or "all big-company CEOs are sociopaths" or "here's a pop-psychology book about sociopaths" are? They're not getting downvoted....
JBReefer 11y ago
Because the standard of conversation here must be higher than a personal anecdote, sprinkled with class warfare.
michaelcampbell 11y ago
I can only speak for myself, but I downvoted him for: > Every trader--strike that--successful traders; cheated on order to get their wad. They all use inside information. Which is unprovable, and almost certainly untrue. It's the financial version of anti-intellectualism.

oldmanjay 11y ago

Well you're definitely right that people throw around the word "sociopath."

izzydata 11y ago

Sociopathy is probably a varying scale. Unless it is actually severe enough to cause problems for you or others it doesn't fit the definition of a mental disorder. I'm sure everyone has at least little bit, but that's just how humans are.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

logfromblammo 11y ago

Lack of empathy can be overcome with a rational commitment to adhere to a personal system of ethics. If a sociopath doesn't actually care what happens to other people, they can still formulate a list of rules to follow that prevents them from appearing to be a sociopath. I recall reading about a brain researcher who was studying the measurable physiological differences in PET scans between the brains of serial killers and the control group brains when he discovered a brain scan that matched the psychopathic pattern in some other scans done for Alzheimer's screening research. It was his own brain. [0] Surprise! You have a serial killer brain! Why don't you act like one? Maybe you just have better impulse control. Maybe you prefer to amass your wealth as adoration from fans and acquaintances. Maybe you prefer to humiliate others in video game arenas than to get any real blood on your hands. So a smirking asshole like Shkreli isn't just a matter of sociopathy. It's being a sociopath so incredibly careless and stupid that he just couldn't avoid inciting the torches-and-pitchforks mob against him. If you make enough people hate you, you're going down for something, even if you have been careful about following all the laws to the letter, or at least covering your tracks. If Shkreli really is a sociopath, he won't care about getting caught or going to jail. The burr up his butt will be that other people are better at his lifestyle than he is, and can prove it. (You lose! Good day, sir!) [0] http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscientist-who-discovered-he-was-a-psychopath-180947814/?no-ist http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-neuroscient...

kbenson 11y ago
James Fallon (the researcher) gave a good TED talk[1] regarding this. What was interesting is that everyone around him (including his wife and children) weren't totally surprised by his findings that he was less empathetic, and that, as you note, he found that he could be a better person (and he wanted to be) by making an effort to do the things that come naturally to others. 1: http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer http://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_...