Lack of empathy can in fact be liberating

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I personally dont really experience empathy for others. However, I must emphasise that I am not* psychopathic in any way and in fact tend to have a stronger impulse for social justice than 99% of the NT's I have to deal with day to day. I have a sort of moral code which summarised goes something like "preserve all sentient life preserve all sentient life from pain and suffering" - rthis covers every possible scenario and informs all my social decisions and behaviours. The fact that I dont get entangled in emotionality means I can judge social situations with clarity and respond in the most utiliarian way possible. On the other hand as a child I got myself into alot* of profoundly embarrassing and innapropriate situations as a result. How do you guys deal with your lack of empathy - have any of you gone the other way and embraced the Ayn rand way

I don't think one can choose to be a psychopath, you either are one or you aren't. However, you are right in that empathy can often prevent people doing what's really best for people. An important thing to remember is, empathy only really works with people we can see/hear with out senses; suffering that is out of sight is usually out of mind, as they say. This is, in my opinion, the biggest reason we have such difficulty dealing with mental illness. It's much easier to empathize with someone who has a broken leg, compared to somebody who is depressed.

Uhm, for me personally I don't lack empathy at all. In fact I believe I have pretty high empathy.

I just either,

1) Display it in a strange way

2) Not display it at all (without my control)

or 3) Choose not to display it.


Typically I usually go with 3 unless they're close friends.

I have read somewhere that aspies can fall into two categories: have a lack of empathy or have hyper empathy (where you feel every emotion). Being the latter, sometimes I wish I had a lack of emapthy so I wouldn't get so emotional with arguments

I have known people on the spectrum who, after one too many setbacks, decided to embrace the dark side and haven't looked back.

I can sympathize.

Am I right in assuming that NT's & Aspies are only capable of empathising with experiences with which they have personal experience. Theres a live leak video of a woman cradling the decapitated head of her mother while the corpse lies on the ground beside her. Initially I was unmoved but I found myself able to relate on a personal level - what if it were my mother? From what ive seen thats how empathy works in normals.

Yup. Lack of morality can be more liberating. I don't see what there is to "deal with". I just do what I feel like doing or what is beneficial to me.

I don't think I've "embraced psychopathy". I don't fit the wider profile of a psychopath, even if I lack empathy and morality. Plus it wasn't a choice that could be "embraced", it's just how I am and always have been.