Friday, October 29, 2010

Detection, prevention, isolation of the threat

I thought this had fun parallels. Under the headline, "Scientists Find 'Liberal Gene,'" studies done by the University of California at San Diego and Harvard indicate that if a person has a certain gene (DRD4, a seratonin receptor gene associated with novelty seeking) AND if one that person had many friends in adolescence, that person will become politically liberal/left leaning.

This means a couple things. First that leftists/liberals cannot be blamed for any of their more extreme actions. Unfortunately for them and for society, there is no hope of curing them. By the time they have reached adolescence, the damage has already been done.

Second, what should we be doing about prevention? Society cannot tolerate a significant portion of the population being genetically predisposed to hate and persecute half the rest of the population. An extreme situation such as this one requires extreme measures to correct it. The first step would be to start screening and aborting fetuses that test positive for DRD4. For the existing children with the DRD4 gene, they should immediately be shipped off to camps where they are kept in solitary confinement. In the alternative, they should be given really bad haircuts, bad taste in music, a dead tooth or other facial disfigurement, and be force fed junk food until they become morbidly obese and incur skin problems. Either that or be home schooled. Anything to prevent them from having that threshold number of friends. It may sound horrifying to some, but the payoff would be big. And after they have suffered a humiliating adolescence, we can consider them "reclaimed" and integrate them back into society under a careful, watchful eye.

As for the adults who test positive for DRD4, we should institutionalize them indefinitely until they become to burdensome on society at which point we should start talking "final solution."

Just a thought.

45 comments:

  1. Assuming this is tongue-in-cheek, clap clap.

    Otherwise, a much different kind of funny.

    ReplyDelete
  2. studies done by the University of California at San Diego and Harvard indicate that if a person has a certain gene (DRD4, a seratonin receptor gene associated with novelty seeking) AND if one that person had many friends in adolescence, that person will become politically liberal/left leaning.

    What utter, utter bullshit. What a waste of scientists, money and time.

    As if some dumb gene would trump the influence of growing up in a liberal household, environment, and community.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Only value I see in this is the connection between having a lot of friend of friends and being liberal.

    If you have a lot of friends, then on a surface level it might seem like common sense that society would matter to you more.

    But even that is circumstantial and specious.

    I love how the media makes it even worse by jumping to conclusions just to make a catchy headline. This happens so much.

    A smoking gun does not a shooter make.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Genocide seems a bit extreme. I think we can borrow from the past here to come to a compromise with those pesky leftist children.

    I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jonathan Swift, actually. However, were it not for the age difference (~170 years) Twain would be an awfully convenient target as the esteemed American acquaintance.

    ReplyDelete
  6. As a recent self diagnosed sociopath, I was amazed to learn from your blogs the human side of this factor and not just the clinical factors. As psychologists only list facts and studies it's nice to hear a human voice on the subject. For years I always wondered what was right with me and why everyone else was different and could not understand my way of thinking.

    ReplyDelete
  7. To all you folks who have recently showed up here in the past week, may I ask what lead you to this blog and how you found it?

    Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was searching for information about sociopaths, I got tired of reading all the clinical bull**** and wanted some real life in depth info. I finally found it here. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  9. Medusa - to answer your question most simply, I had to go to the dark side to become enlightened.

    Came across the blog while googling sociopaths (a new answer to an old question for me). The blog has given me some insight to a confusing relationship spanning over 10 years.
    - Jayne

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am a father of a 17 year old sociopath. I am desperately seeking solutions.

    ReplyDelete
  11. don't believe a word,take nothing for granted.

    ReplyDelete
  12. "I am a father of a 17 year old sociopath. I am desperately seeking solutions."

    Get your kid checked out by a dr first and even a medical checkup too. A good school, a job, demand honesty, teach him/her how to solve problems without harming others. You can't be nicey nicey with them either and they don't need that..what she/he needs to know is that you refuse to put up with bullshit. What else can you do..he/she is only 17. Get professional help for yourself because you will need patience and understanding. There is a program called the total transformation...my friend used it on her kid and it helped. She was about to kick him out. Look it up on the internet. Good luck.

    Grace

    ReplyDelete
  13. "I am a father of a 17 year old sociopath. I am desperately seeking solutions."

    While this blog may not be particularly comforting to you, it does seem relevant.

    http://raising-a-psychopath.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-11-15T05%3A46%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

    ReplyDelete
  14. I've been entertaining you all, with the exception of PM, with my BS & nonsense opinions for two weeks now. I'm not a blogger by any means, so this is my first blog experience. I really saw no point to communicate with the opinions of others until discovering this site. I'm just here for the like-mindedness. Not quite a sociopath, not quite an aspie, but I enjoy you better than I do sheep. Don't mind me if I keep posting :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Forgive me...random question:

    Has anyone heard of sociopaths having certain physical traits, such as sloping forhead or attached ear lobes?

    Personally, I think this is ridiculous, but a friend of mine said she'd seen some show on this subject & now blabbers on like this is some sort of fact. She cannot site any study or research done & I'm inclined to think it's an urban legend of sorts.

    Anyone heard of this?

    ReplyDelete
  16. BizyLizy:

    That has been quite a quest, and the only thing I came across was a "scientific?" study that said:

    - usually the left or right side of the brain (can't recall it) is more developed in sociopaths;

    - as so, they speculate, that some facial features would be affected, causing bilateral asymmetry.

    It's perfect nonsense, in my humble opinion.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Is not bilateral symmetry the "scientific" definition of beauty?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anon @ 1:55 - agreed. Thanks for the info.

    Anon @ 2:32 - bilateral symmetry is one artistic definition of beauty (also called plane symmetry), also referred to as Classicism, which is often contrasted to Romanticism. But I believe Anon @ 1:55 was referring to "asymmetry."

    So if we follow the logic here - and subscribe to socio's having a bilaterial asymmetrical brain...we could say that they have the brains of the Romantic persuasion.

    Can you tell I'm a Liberal Arts dork?

    ReplyDelete
  19. I am the mother of a 26 year old diagnosd child. I have been reading this blog for about a year. It has helped me in relating to my child. I was told to just abandon this child and never open my house to them. I refuse as this child is still my child and I love this child completely. I am learning how to set much stronger boundries and how not to be played. We have a much stronger relationship in this past year.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I don't know where to start.....

    ReplyDelete
  21. I could come at this from a completely different angle, just not sure I want to.........Acutally, yes, I do, probably because I'm not sociopathic and realise that a lot of people who post on here aren't either. Still don't know where to start.............

    ReplyDelete
  22. No worries, I'm sure most people here have a long story that might take a while to articulate fully.

    Thanks to everyone for humoring my curiosity.

    ReplyDelete
  23. <3 Medusa eventually even you will believe there's a difference between a psychopath and a sociopath.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Well, Anon, everyone has a different definition. There are no universally accepted delineations between the two. Sometimes they are used interchangeably. Sometime they are not. Some say psychopaths are the result of nature, and sociopaths the result of nurture. Some say that psychopaths are just crazier than sociopaths. Some say sociopaths have more control over their impulses. Some could care less.

    I don't really have my own set definitions, but really I'm not too interested in the semantics anyway.

    I only differentiate between smart and dumb, aware and blind.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  27. To the concerned father of the 17 year old son:

    Your boy is not a monster. He is not half the garbage spewed on the internet about sociopaths, as many of the data collected on them is from convicted felons and anecdotes from angered Exs. Not even all the points of view on this website are universal among sociopaths (though most are).

    He has a different brain, in the way it developed. He has a limited emotional pool, and an astronomical observational ability. Sociopaths are often labeled Inter-Species Predators, but this is from poor parenting (usually).

    Sociopaths are Inter-Species Sentinels. We're keen observers of humans, as if somehow detached from them, thanks to our off-scale latent inhibition and little to no emotional life filter. Whether your child becomes a Monster is purely in both of your hands.

    I've told my father about my condition, and instead of treating me any different, he loves me for who I am, because he knows that although I have my dark-side, I at least attempt to not be a total bastard. It's a very simple concept. Ingrain manners and help him develop an emotional mask to not be spotted out due to his lack of emotions. If he needs it, help him become 'more human'.

    You may know better, but the world doesn't need to know. If you somehow caught onto this at such a young age, what he needs is discretion, not 'treatment'. This is not an ailment, and do not treat it as such. There is no cure, and I'm willing to bet that most who are wouldn't want it in the first place if there was one.

    Love your boy, help him, be a good father.

    If you want some simple, down to basic info from our point of view, you can check out my blog TheNotable'Path. I suggest you check on "Myths about 'Paths", "Introduction to 'Paths and ASPD", and even "Heroes and Villains".

    Best of luck.

    @Strugglingmother: Thank you so much for being a good mom!


    PS: My apologies for the delete spam, screwed up with the link, TWICE! Ugh.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey,

    So I am either a sociopath or have heaps of sociopathic traits. I find it really tough to describe how I am feeling because it's like the emotion (if that's what you could call it) is gone so fast I can't identify what it was. Make sense?

    Anyway, there are other traits but I'm sure you can imagine and that's all I can be bothered explaining. This is my question. I have come across a person I am completely baffled by. They get one over on me, or so it seems, every time.

    I think they're a sociopath. They lie and use emotion ie crying to win other people in their favor - usually against me, superficially charming etc etc. I am surprised because I have not come across someone who I have not been able to manipulate others against. I think I find it irritating.

    I just want to win. And it seems like I can't this time and it's fucked basically. It's like an itch I can't scratch. Oh btw...I would never be able to beat this person at their own crying game - I just can't do the croc tears.

    I dunno - any ideas? I know it's not really on topic but oh well.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yep. That's a tough one at first glance.

    Have you tried detachment from the person? As in, if they are in your family/friends, have you simply acted like they weren't there, simply outwardly ignoring them and only conversing with others?

    I'm sure that'd drive her up the wall. We all want attention, our ego demands it.

    I'd be interested to hear how this works out. If you wanna talk about your tendencies/personality, you can hit me up with an email.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Medusa, I was referred by a friend who thought I'd find it interesting. I was pleasantly surprised.

    To the parents here, I'm impressed. Your kids are lucky to have you whether they know it or not.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thanks Notable. At first I played the detached game and you're right it did drive them crazy. So they lied and cried some more and got more friggin sympathy. Sure a few people hated me for a bit - didn't matter I didn't give a shit about them in the first place and managed to charm them back eventually.
    The people starting wanting to know what the story was i.e. did you really do x. I started up with things like "oh you know I don't really talk about this but....I guess I can trust you - and then went on to describe bizarre behavior and mental issues (real and made up)." Some people bought into it but for others it just bought her more sympathy which was frustrating.
    Overall I find her pretty pathetic but it bothers me because she was able to make people in high places who did trust me, not trust me. And accused me of doing things to her that I didn't which is annoying because if I am going to be accused of bad behavior then I at least want the pleasure of having acted it out!! Anyone, end message is if it can be done once it can be done again and I just haven't come across this before me. Every time I see this person I have this urge to reduce them to a puddle of tears. I don;t like any of it. Bothered. Maybe I can get empath AND sociopath advice.

    ReplyDelete
  32. You're going to need to elaborate on the situation here if you ant help, and I don't see much harm as you're Anonymous...

    ReplyDelete
  33. It's not the details that are important - it's just the usual rubbish that you might get in a workplace and really not that interesting. The interesting part is coming across another possible socio (I don't know that this is right though) who does her version of sociopathy excellently and I guess I just wanted tips on how to manage someone who plays victim so well.

    That's probably a better question - how have people dealt with victims in their lives who called them victimizer even if they had not really done anything at all. That's something both sides should be able to answer. Ta!

    ReplyDelete
  34. Kanin, I just figured out why I recognized your name. You were on that other site, which spawned yet another site.

    I quit going there because so much of the conversation was self-congratulatory juvenile drivel.

    The Narc forum is sometimes good, though.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I quit going there because so much of the conversation was self-congratulatory juvenile drivel.

    The Narc forum is sometimes good, though.


    Irony.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hah. I didn't even notice that.

    ReplyDelete
  37. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  38. I have a question. I have never told my son his diagnosis; which was from a top psychiatrist in our state. His father, whom I divorced when my son was 5 and my daughter was 3, is no question a sociopathic personality. He disappeared from my children's lives when they were very young. I remarried about 7 years ago to a wonderful man who has helped me get my son and I on a better relationship level.
    The question is, should I tell my son, who is now 26, what his diagnosis' is? It is like the elephant in the room. I believe he knows what his personality is, as well as the fact that I feel he knows I know. We have never spoken of any of this.

    His sister lives in another state and has very little interaction with him. She is very much like me, an empath. I have spoken very very lightly to her about her brother just so he can not take advantage of her. She makes a terrific living and my son dropped out of college and waits tables as well as bar tends.

    Would it help him for me to discuss this with him? I sort of know, based on past behavior, he will become very angry, accusatory, as well as manipulative and full of denial.

    Is it better to keep my counsel to myself, be there for him quietly and try to continue to work on a relationship with him with very strong borders.

    Thank you all

    ReplyDelete
  39. Strugglingmommy, keep your own counsel. What do you have to gain from confronting him with this ‘diagnosis’? What does he have to gain? You’ve already said that you can predict that this conversation wouldn’t go well, so why bother? It’s not like you think he’ll melt into your arms, shedding tears of gratitude because you’ve finally pointed out to him what’s ‘wrong’ with him and why he should get help, right? Do the best you can to love him from where you both are and keep those boundaries clear and firm.

    Besides, how can be so sure he’s a sociopath/psychopath/whateverpath? Did he receive this diagnosis as a minor? I would assume so, otherwise why would you know and not your son? He couldn’t have gone thru a version of the PCL-R I take it.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Dainiel,

    He received this diagnosis about a year ago. What he was told I do not have privy too since he has been an adult for a few years now. I went to the same psychiatrist as he knows my husband very well from helping my husband deal with the effects of MS and has known my husband for almost 20 years. I was having massive problems with my son, i.e. stealing thousands of dollars from us and when caught his only reaction was he thought that it was only my account, not also his step-father's. There were many more problems, such as lying about attending classes at his very expensive private college ( he wound up going for 6 years and then dropping out).
    I no longer expect him to express remorse, love etc toward me, but am trying for a workable relationship as he is still a human being and in some ways still a worthwhile person.
    I no longer bail him out of his financial problems, but I do help him brainstorm on how to fix some problems. I have allowed him to use my car ( a Jag.) since I now have a new car. He is not allowed to own it and it must be parked at our house ( he lives about 2 blocks away).

    I do not look at him as something is wrong per say. This is who he is. Why I am not sure. Gene pool has a lot to do with it as his father was/is a sociopath and my mother would be classified as an extreme narssistic personality disorder if she was to be diagnosed. This of course would never happen.

    The doctor was the one to tell me in so many words that my son is a classic ASPD and to basically run from him. As I have said before, this I will not do. He lost his father, my family never had much to do with him as he was a boy and the other grandchildren were all girls....much preferred by my parents as they had 4 girls themselves. He was never a bully, rather the one picked on.

    He is extremely handsome, very well spoken, and grew up in very high social status with country clubs etc. He has been able to float through a great deal of life on his looks and charm. My daughter was a professional runway model for a while, also drop dead beautiful and charming, but she is aware that that only goes so far in life and has developed a very kind, wonderful depth to her.

    ReplyDelete
  41. I made an unwarranted assumption on the diagnosis thing. UGH. I’m trying to wean myself off of those.

    The rest of my thoughts though are still germane. What would you expect to gain from said conversation? Do you think your son really would appreciate this openness in the long run? Perhaps you would, but maybe he wouldn’t. Would this be more about what you want and less about what he wants? Can you continue to be there for him, to love him as best you can, firm boundaries and realistic point of view still in place, all without having the ‘you are a sociopath’ conversation?

    ReplyDelete
  42. I could, and should, but I have become a very open person after years of struggling with the very closed "never a problem in my perfect family" upbringing.
    The assumption is easy to make. My husband and I would not have been told anything normally except for the very close bond between the doc. and my husband.

    I do love him and we do try to help him. Right now, he is working for my husband as he lost his job (the place wanted a female behind the bar). He is doing a great job but we have to be very careful never to leave any financial information around, less much any money. Thanks for you help. It is a tough road with very little help out there outside of abandoning my son.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I was curious if you ever considered changing the page layout of your
    site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
    But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it
    better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or 2 images.

    Maybe you could space it out better?

    Also visit my web-site; kitchen in northern virginia

    ReplyDelete

Comments on posts over 14 days are SPAM filtered and may not show up right away or at all.

Join Amazon Prime - Watch Over 40,000 Movies

.

Comments are unmoderated. Blog owner is not responsible for third party content. By leaving comments on the blog, commenters give license to the blog owner to reprint attributed comments in any form.