is everyone essentially a sociopath

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EVERYONE is basically a psychopath. The ones most people regard as psychopaths are the ones that have either made it to the top, so their psychopathy is obvious, or the ones at the bottom, whose psychopathy is obvious because they hate the society in which they live, so they rebel against it.

The funny thing is that when someone snaps and goes on a killing rampage, the media blames autism, manic depression, etc for what happened. They never blame themselves.

Oh, how grim.

yes, the world we live in is pretty grim indeed.

Yes, I believe most people are basically psychopaths although some have learnt not to act on their psychopathic instincts. It seems that psychopathic behaviors are more acceptable in the united states. I think this is the main reason why I don't have any friends. I can't trust anyone here.

Well I cannot trust anyone in Panama either, and I definitely couldn't trust anyone in the US either.

I'll leave you with this gem

I'm a bit off topic, but I tho jught it might be important (to you and to others) to highlight this sentence in your original post

because I was once accused of something (nothing criminal, basically accused of having an attitude), and taken into a room to tell my side of the story. I was not believed despite my innocence in the situation. When I demanded a "higher court" (talking to the boss) I was shown a video tape of the original telling/room and at the point where I ducked my head to collect my thoughts, they paused it and said "that is body language for lying" - and I was fired because - according to them - dropping my head and shaking it once meant I was being willfully deceitful / guilty...

So note to all, ducking of head = you just lost your case with the NT.

And for sociopath... I think the diehard definition states that you must be willing to tread on other people in order to advance yourself... and "feeling neutral at a funeral" is not anywhere near that - so don't use those experiences as indicators.

As for "is the world full of sociopaths?" I honestly have asked myself the same question. Sometimes it feels that way. In continued consideration though, I have begun to think that a good deal of the "people in charge" get there because they have at least sociopath-like skills. Not all of them, mind you, but they are the ones you and I notice the most - because who notices the good guys?

Also, there tend to be a lot of "stuck in high school vying for attention/position" immature people in low wage jobs - which, at least in my case, has been where I spend (spent) most of my working time. And this thinly veiled (sometimes outright) 'teen competition' BS in these low end jobs very much mimics sociopathic behaviour, so that might be where some of us get that impression, too.

This reminds me of my favorite quote from Lily Tomlin: "What is reality except a collective hunch?"

No, all people are not sociopaths. I have had the misfortune of having a few real sociopaths in my life and they behave differently to other people. A couple of the main signs are:

Taken from How to detect a sociopath Though I'd say this article is over-simplistic.


Taken from How to determine if someone is a sociopath

I'm too busy to look for better articles.

A sociopath lacks morality. They get off on aweing others with their tall tales and deny their lies when found out. When you show a sociopath up, that's when they get nasty and they use their clever manipulative brain to lie their way out of looking bad. Heaven forbid you be on the wrong side of them. They will tear you down to make themselves appear shiny and squeaky clean at your expense.

Being positive when describing yourself at an interview isn't sociopathy. I have never lied in an interview and I have only ever been unemployed for a total of 5 months of my adult life.

Being tactful when telling somebody something is not sociopathy. Taking other people's feelings into account isn't sociopathy, it is just kindness.

A lot of Americans fit #2, 3, 6, and 7. Only 3 out of those 7 traits are required to be considered antisocial. Most of them probably didn't have Conduct Disorder before the age of 15 though, so they probably don't meet the DSM IV criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder.

I personally think the DSM is total crap though. Practically everyone fits the criteria for at least one disorder on there. Some people want lists to be made of people with disorders, like sex offenders. Anyone who is disliked for any reason could be categorized as having some disorder, so that the government could put them on their s***list. Maybe someday the government will send everyone with a diagnosed disorder to labor camps where they'll make cheap goods for the "more deserving, well-liked" people. Society has a tendency to become more abusive towards people with any form of disadvantage, whether it be social, economical, genetic, neurological, psychological, physical etc. Only people as individuals can force society in the opposite direction.

I also don't think it's a very good idea for people on the spectrum to try to be enemies with sociopaths. Since the Sandy Hook tragedy, a lot of people think that people with ASDs and people with AsPD are the same, so we're kind of in the same boat now. Any legislation against people with AsPD would set a precedent that would lead towards legislation against people with ASDs, and vice versa. We should be strategic allies with them, as well as people with other disorders, to decrease the likelihood of having our rights taken away.

Milgran Experiment

While most people are not sociopaths, it is clear that most people are probably 50% sociopathic.

And then this restores faith in humanity

I wished somebody would have studied the right stuff that the few test subjects who resisted the white coat authority.

At heart, I don't think so. Not naturally.

But I think that sociopathic culture is growing. I think for most it is a learned behavior.
But there are very few natural, born sociopaths.

We just need to become more aware of our behaviors and nurture the compassionate empathic soul that resides within us.
(yes we aspies do have empathy, we just have to look deep enough)