Friday, September 26, 2008

Tyra Banks: Sociopath?


Should Tyra Banks be added to our closet sociopath wishlist? According to one observer, yes:
Why do I think Tyra has no empathy? Well, for example, she often does rating stunts on her talk show wherein she’ll dress up as somebody she’s not (homeless person, stripper, a man) and she’ll be utterly astounded at how this new character she’s portraying sees the world. I mean, the closest I’ve ever been to being homeless is being locked out of my apartment for a few hours, but if you asked me whether or not being homeless sucks, I would vote yes. I can imagine how degrading it must be to beg for food, how difficult it must be to live on the streets or even in shelters, and how heart-wrenching it must be to have your world turned upside down and live by a whole new set of rules.

But T. Banks? She can’t imagine it. When she pretended to be homeless for a day (seriously, a day), she was utterly astounded by the whole experience. In other words, until she actually experienced homelessness, it wasn’t real for her.
An (incorrect?) distinction between narcissism vs. sociopathy:
She’s not just a narcissist; Tyra Banks has absolutely no sense of empathy. Having no ability to empathize is what (many websites tell me) catapults someone from simple narcissism to sociopathy.
And the unexpectedly tolerant conclusion:
I’m not saying that Tyra’s going to go out and do something awful (other than her talk show, boom, rim shot!) to anybody. She’s not dangerous at all. In fact, what I am saying, is that all of the behavior that people chalk up to a variety of unflattering causes, well, it’s not Tyra’s fault.
Kudos to this friendly young man for his open-mindedness regarding sociopaths and their potential for good in this society.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sociopaths in the news

Okay, not really. There's no reason to think that Clay Aiken is a sociopath, but one day sociopaths will be coming out on the cover of People Magazine. I'm sure there are just as many closet sociopaths running around in politics, business, and science as there are closet gays in the entertainment business. In fact, I have my own closet sociopath dream team (some deceased):

1. Harry Truman -- the bomb, of course.
2. Marie Curie -- science is more important than people?
3. Alan Greenspan -- I know he seems to be the opposite, but saying things like "material success is . . . far more satisfying when it comes without exploiting others” is just his beard. If you were a closet sociopath, wouldn't you say those things too? Me thinks he doth protest too much.
4. Sandra Day O'Connor -- no one with a moral compass could truly "swing" the vote as she did.
5. Tom Cruise -- for so many reasons.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

In which I clarify that I do not hate Aspies

So this post came across a little strongly against aspies. Maybe just a little. I was very careful not to advocate any sort of violence against aspies, but still...

It's not that I dislike aspies. I actually really like them for their loyalty and all of their other good traits. If it seems like I'm down on aspies, it's only because I'm jealous of their superior social position. The truth is that if the aspies asked me to join their club, i would say yes in a heartbeat. I'm like Lindsay Lohan's character in Mean Girls and the aspies are the cool crowd. I'll talk trash and pretend I'm better, but if I got invited to one of their parties I would stay up all night deciding what to wear. (Ah, Molly Ringwald... interested in being a sociopath spokesperson?)

Sometimes I even claim to be an aspie myself. Who wouldn't? If for nothing else, for the aspie pride t-shirts! I mean, I have some of the signs: inability to pick up social cues, weak sense of empathy, inability to conform to social norms. All I would have to do is tone down the charm. If I can pass amongst the empaths, certainly I can keep a low profile amongst the remarkably unaware aspies. And who knows, maybe all sociopaths are aspies. Just like the movie Underworld, where all the vampires and werewolves are long lost cousins, socios and aspies can finally realize that we're really just two sides of the same coin. What do you say, aspies? Ready to become one big family?

I can't wait! We could have family reunions or conventions. It could be as popular as Comic-Con! In fact, let's have all the socios dress as vampires and the aspies as werewolves and go to Comic-Con next year! It's going to be so great. Say you will, little aspies. Say you will.

Speciation and the Sociopath

This interesting argument about how sociopathy is a natural adaptation makes the mistake of discussing the "related disorders" of autism and, in a previous generation, homosexuality. As discussed in a previous post, no one wants to be associated with sociopathy.

But society is lucky to have sociopathy around. Sociopaths and smokers are about the only people we can safely marginalize anymore. And we all know how strong the urge to witch-hunt is.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Am I my Asperger brother's keeper?

Aspies and sociopaths have a unique relationship with one another. Asperger Syndrome is a personality disorder on the autism spectrum that is commonly described as or confused with high-functioning autism. Asperger syndrome is characterized by "a lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements." It was originally labeled "autistic psychopathy." Aspies are very similar to sociopaths, with the most obvious exception being that sociopaths are socially charming and aspies are socially awkward. Despite the lack of empathy, one of the core traits of a sociopath, aspies are treated as totally legitimate in our society. Even though aspies seem to be sociopath eunuchs, their childishness and naivete is what makes them palatable to the rest of society.

This is a Cain and Abel scenario. In Steinbeck's East of Eden, the Cain characters are all smart, cunning, and effective. Cathy is the prototypical sociopath. The Abel characters are clueless. Their redeeming values are their guilelessness and ineffectiveness. They are the absence of bad, rather than the presence of good. The flighty Abel characters would be nothing without the hard-working Cain characters. And yet everyone always loves the Abel characters and hates the Cain characters. And the Lord had no regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he was downcast.

There is a lot of aspie pride. "Celebrate neuro diversity" "Why be normal?" There is also quite a bit of aspie hate for sociopaths. Aspies villainize sociopaths and don't even want them discussed in the same breath, even though there are clear links between autism and "bad sociopath" behavior. The disparate treatment of these two classifications of individuals have some wondering, why? And how are sociopaths supposed to react to this unequal treatment? Not at all to endorse this type of behavior, but I know how one famous sociopath reacted:

Cain said to his brother Abel, "let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
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