Do you see yourself as evil?

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I would suggest it is an alternative way of being ok.

That was a subtle way to drop all mention of "perfect" on me...but I think you are probably right.


M

We all have a potential to do evil deeds. That is a consequence of free will. But we are not bound to do evil deeds. Our biggest defect (probably) is an attention to the consequences of our actions or lack of action. We are sometimes lazy, sometimes forgetful and very often distracted by unimportant things. That is how it is here in The Monkey House.

ruveyn

Mu ha ha ha ha ha topic

I am not convinced that someone who is or does "evil" is actually aware of this "evilness", or would admit it. Psychopaths have no conscience and it seems no awareness that their negative actions (as defined by human rights in most countries), are evil. Hitler, Stalin, Dr Mengele, and Eichmann, to name a few, did not consider themselves evil. Neither does Paul Bernardo, and Ted Bundy thought he was "innocent." This, of course, does not mean they are not evil as we know the meaning of the word but that in some strange way they did/do not feel they broke any laws. No remorse, only that they were caught. This is the case also with torturers/child pornographers, pedophiles, financial criminals (like Bernie Madoff, a current example).

I was called "evil" as a child because I was (and still am) strong willed, had meltdowns and seemed unrepentant if I was convinced that my actions were/are correct. If I am mistaken about something, I will admit it (rarely, of course)!

Psychopathy isn't evil. Psychopaths as characterised by good old fashioned lack of remorse, lack of loving others and all that fancy stuff can be absolutely aware of their actions too.

It's when people who happen to be psychopaths also happen to be mad beyond my understanding that they are murderers and criminals. But there, I can definitely say it's not the psychopathic traits that make them do it. Edit: Maybe they're sadistic on top or another form of crazy, but a pure lack of remorse doesn't mean you will kill everything in sight.

Psychopathy as in a lack of conscience and a lack of compassion doesn't make you do anything. You can still act nice and pleasant to everyone, though it's just an act.

People get very confused about psychopathy...

Eichmann, Mengele, Rohm and Goebbels most certainly were clinical psychopaths. Ted Bundy almost certainly was, Paul Bernardo MAY have been, or equally he may have been enabling Karla Homolka...it is hard to tell which way round that worked. Bernie Madoff seems a probable too.

Hitler very probably was not a psychopath, as he had an highly developed conscience and a lot of interpersonal compassion...it was his belief system that was evil twisted and obsessive, he may well have been a lethal cocktail of AS and OCD. No idea about Stalin one way or the other.

It's usually a bad idea to try and figure out if a dictator is/was psychopathic. If only because of the simple truth that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But also remember that nobody gets to be a Dictator alone...




People also miss a key element in psychopathy which is lack of a sense of consequence (even to self), which means that a psychopath has an impaired ability to predict outcomes...and finds it even harder to grasp what difference it makes if he tells the truth or lies.

I think one key to identifying a psychopath is that they also tend to lack malice, and vindictiveness (they simply can't care enough about anything outside themselves to bear grudges effectively). They can be, quite genuinely, very pleasant and even tempered, EVEN when they see a need to do extremelly nasty things, and they do not usually do extremelly nasty things without a reason (the only difference is that they don't have a conscience to stop them, reason or no).

Apart from that they have likes, dislikes, preferences and personalities, just like anyone else.

Yes, it really DOES take some further disorder to turn them into raving serial killers...though any one of them could kill in cold blood if they thought it was best.

M.

(Aka the lady who first explained psychopathy to Mr Sam "I, Psychopath" Vaknin in 1999...and now rather wishes she hadn't, since he twisted it out of recognition to sell his appalling little online cult )

I like that, thanks. I can't explain anything even nearly that well but yours is so well-worded and dead-on.

So was yours, which is what sent me running back to an "ex special interest" there

M.

Yeah, your garden-variety psychopath doesn't go out killing people. He's probably not really interested in it, and if it isn't fun for him he won't do it. He might kill someone impulsively, when angry and feeling as though that person has wronged him, but the serial killer or torturer--the kind that enjoys causing harm--is not very common at all.

Never i regard myself as friendly not evil.

No.

Pointed topic

This is my point. Whether someone is a psychopath (and this is determined externally) or not, that person does not see him/herself as evil. This is a label/judgment imparted from without. A person has no awareness of him/herself as evil. In other words, if you think you are evil, you are not.

I try not to be wilfully evil, even though I
cannot not sin. Hmm, on the other hand,
I sometimes wonder what traits that are
stereotypically "evil" but not actually wrongful
(such as hurting the innocent) or unethical
(such as defrauding investors, lying on my
tax return, and so on) should become part
of my personality.

That's a very interesting and valid point...

Though I definately have come across undeniable psychopaths who technically "think of themselves as evil", it is more to revel in it, as a kind of glamour...it certainly isn't any kind of moral judgement.

M.

I have your common variety Antisocial Personality Disorder (they said I had it, but they never bothered putting it down, as I had enough "serious" stuff already listed); which translates into sociopathy or psychopathy, but they changed the name, like how they're changing the name "Mental Retardation" to "Learning Difficulties". There's various symptoms, like ASDs, and one doesn't need them all (I didn't have echolalia as a child).

I have insight into who and what I am, which doesn't mean I can change who and what I am, kinda like the whole ASD thingy (there's people who have no insight into their ASD, and there's many others that do); when I was younger I didn't (<12 or so).

So yes, killing animals/pets to "feel" isn't exactly "good" personified. I've got many skeletons in my closet, it's just that they aren't simian shaped. I have no remorse for this, but I can speak of it easily enough.

ASPD is a much broader spectrum that INCLUDES Psychopathy/Sociopathy (which are essentially, two names for the same condition, Sociopathy being the newer term that never fully caught on). It is also not necessarily untreatable, or even incureable.

M.