5 ms·

the diary is not particularly well-written depends on your standards. He's not a professional author but I think he's probably better than your average college

by riggins 12y ago

the diary is not particularly well-written depends on your standards. He's not a professional author but I think he's probably better than your average college grad. studded with evidence of psychopathy genuinely interested. could you point to some of these. I've been skimming it and haven't really seen that. in fact, this struck me as empathetic James’s mother, Kim Ellis, had just passed away from breast cancer. I cried for a bit. Kim was a very kind-hearted person, and the mother of my best friend. She had been suffering from breast cancer for several years, but I never thought she would die from it. I immediately thought of how James must be feeling. He just lost his own mother!Annotate It made me think of how horrible I would feel if the same thing happened to my own mother, just the thought alone filled me with pain.

ewoodrich 12y ago
At various points, the author describes in detail how he wanted to torture and murder any loving couple because it offended him so much. Along with his bizarre descriptions of a sexless utopia where all women are enslaved and forced to be artificially inseminated to procreate.
- gohrt 12y ago
  FWIW, > bizarre descriptions of a sexless utopia where all women are enslaved and forced to be artificially inseminated to procreate. ...is required reading for millions of schoolchildren http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/study.html http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/study.html
  - jljljl 12y ago
    Yes, but not in the form of an endorsement.
    - thrillgore 12y ago
      Well policymakers do seem to like treating 1984 as an instruction manual as opposed to a satire.
tptacek 12y ago
Even if we stipulate that every paragraph in the diary should be taken at face value, psychopathy is not defined simply as the absence of empathy.
- fleitz 12y ago
  It's actually not really defined at all in terms of an actual medical illness. It's mostly an invention of the criminal justice system. Sociopathy/Psycopathy is about as real as Drapetomania or hysteria. It's the modern day blasphemy, if you question the state or authority you are 'anti-social'
  - tptacek 12y ago
    Uh huh.
  - gamblor956 12y ago
    Psycopathy is a defined condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The criminal justice system had nothing to do with the creation of the term. But you're right--it's not an "actual medical illness." Mental conditions are "disorders", not "medical illnesses" since they are chronic/permanent conditions.
    - fleitz 12y ago
      Really? Can you point me to where in the DSM it defines 'psychopathy', if you find an edition that old you may want to look up another disorder that stems from criminology commonly referred to as 'homosexuality', ironically homosexuality used to be part of 'sociopathy' which was closely related to 'psychopathy'.
      - gamblor956 12y ago
        You need the DSM V, the newest edition. In prior editions, psychopathy was not distinguished from sociopathy. I imagine that you could find it by looking through the index, however I do not have a copy of the DSM V. I'm not sure why you bring up the characterization of homosexuality in older, long-since discarded versions of the DSM. The DSM is merely a reflection of the current state of consensus regarding psychological diagnoses. It's not an authoritative guide. As consensus changes, so does the DSM.
tod222 12y ago
> in fact, this struck me as empathetic This really isn't empathy. Roger is not feeling his friend's pain—he's transferring his friend's situation to himself and feeling his own pain. He's crying in imagined self-pity. Roger describes crying in self-pity or frustration many times in the document, even into adulthood. A quick word count: 34 cried 10 cry 19 crying 9 tears I read (mostly) the first two thirds of the document and this is the closest Roger gets to empathy. Otherwise Roger's depiction of himself comes off as completely self-absorbed and often unaware or unconcerned with the feelings of others. The narcissism is overwhelming.
- meric 12y ago
  The narcissism is a defense mechanism for a badly wounded self, it's not especially unsurprising to see an individual who uses 63 variations of the word 'cry' in a document to exhibit narcissistic behavior.

by riggins 12y ago

ewoodrich 12y ago

At various points, the author describes in detail how he wanted to torture and murder any loving couple because it offended him so much. Along with his bizarre descriptions of a sexless utopia where all women are enslaved and forced to be artificially inseminated to procreate.

gohrt 12y ago
FWIW, > bizarre descriptions of a sexless utopia where all women are enslaved and forced to be artificially inseminated to procreate. ...is required reading for millions of schoolchildren http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/study.html http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/1984/study.html
- jljljl 12y ago
  Yes, but not in the form of an endorsement.
  - thrillgore 12y ago
    Well policymakers do seem to like treating 1984 as an instruction manual as opposed to a satire.

tptacek 12y ago

Even if we stipulate that every paragraph in the diary should be taken at face value, psychopathy is not defined simply as the absence of empathy.

fleitz 12y ago
It's actually not really defined at all in terms of an actual medical illness. It's mostly an invention of the criminal justice system. Sociopathy/Psycopathy is about as real as Drapetomania or hysteria. It's the modern day blasphemy, if you question the state or authority you are 'anti-social'
- tptacek 12y ago
  Uh huh.
- gamblor956 12y ago
  Psycopathy is a defined condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is published by the American Psychiatric Association. The criminal justice system had nothing to do with the creation of the term. But you're right--it's not an "actual medical illness." Mental conditions are "disorders", not "medical illnesses" since they are chronic/permanent conditions.
  - fleitz 12y ago
    Really? Can you point me to where in the DSM it defines 'psychopathy', if you find an edition that old you may want to look up another disorder that stems from criminology commonly referred to as 'homosexuality', ironically homosexuality used to be part of 'sociopathy' which was closely related to 'psychopathy'.
    - gamblor956 12y ago
      You need the DSM V, the newest edition. In prior editions, psychopathy was not distinguished from sociopathy. I imagine that you could find it by looking through the index, however I do not have a copy of the DSM V. I'm not sure why you bring up the characterization of homosexuality in older, long-since discarded versions of the DSM. The DSM is merely a reflection of the current state of consensus regarding psychological diagnoses. It's not an authoritative guide. As consensus changes, so does the DSM.

tod222 12y ago

> in fact, this struck me as empathetic This really isn't empathy. Roger is not feeling his friend's pain—he's transferring his friend's situation to himself and feeling his own pain. He's crying in imagined self-pity. Roger describes crying in self-pity or frustration many times in the document, even into adulthood. A quick word count: 34 cried 10 cry 19 crying 9 tears I read (mostly) the first two thirds of the document and this is the closest Roger gets to empathy. Otherwise Roger's depiction of himself comes off as completely self-absorbed and often unaware or unconcerned with the feelings of others. The narcissism is overwhelming.

meric 12y ago
The narcissism is a defense mechanism for a badly wounded self, it's not especially unsurprising to see an individual who uses 63 variations of the word 'cry' in a document to exhibit narcissistic behavior.