I ran across this older than a year email and remembered again how there were some people who absolutely could not believe that the book was nonfiction. I never could understand why that was. I think this from a reader provides at least one plausible explanation (another reason why I actually like the premise of that iZombie tv show -- people really are living in such different brains from each other):
I was informed of your website and subsequently your book by a friend and former colleague. We worked together for almost 10 years and at some point realized we had a lot of common world views and didn't understand peoples emotional attachments to supposed negative actions.
As we peeled away layers of our friendship it became clear that we had both "cheated" on boyfriends and felt nothing that would constitute shame. That was only the tip of the iceberg. We kept so many of each other's secrets and still do. I get nothing out of gossip and know it serves me better to keep her secrets as much as it serves her to keep mine.
When people see us together they assume we are on our own planet. We are very well liked individually and collectively and are two of the smartest people I'm aware of. We often joked about how things would easier if certain people were dead. It wasn't that we would actually kill them, but just a logical fact that it would be easier if something killed them. What prevented us from any wrongdoing ever was not our moral bias but our awareness of the consequences.
We joked a lot about being sociopaths and started to really look into it. Well before I came across your book, I already knew. Here's the thing. I've read a lot of bad reviews of the book wherein people are shocked that someone would try to pass that off as nonfiction. I merely read it as written confirmation of everything I have ever known about the way I think. However, it messes with their construct of a functional person. It reads like a hoax to them when it is anything but.
Additionally, I have met others like my friend and I. It's something subtle that I can pick up on. Maybe they haven't figured out why they are different yet. They're always smarter and ask questions I would have asked. I'm drawn to them and after each and every meeting, I text that friend and say. "I've found another. So and so is one of us." I tell no one. I thrive more on keeping the secret to myself and I feel a little less alone.
You said you would tell me who you are. You know who I am. Feel free to use any of this on your website. For all I care, you can make me the face of non-violent sociopaths. I'll take everyone on because I like the challenge and no one is going to take me seriously anyway, much to their own demise.
I was informed of your website and subsequently your book by a friend and former colleague. We worked together for almost 10 years and at some point realized we had a lot of common world views and didn't understand peoples emotional attachments to supposed negative actions.
As we peeled away layers of our friendship it became clear that we had both "cheated" on boyfriends and felt nothing that would constitute shame. That was only the tip of the iceberg. We kept so many of each other's secrets and still do. I get nothing out of gossip and know it serves me better to keep her secrets as much as it serves her to keep mine.
When people see us together they assume we are on our own planet. We are very well liked individually and collectively and are two of the smartest people I'm aware of. We often joked about how things would easier if certain people were dead. It wasn't that we would actually kill them, but just a logical fact that it would be easier if something killed them. What prevented us from any wrongdoing ever was not our moral bias but our awareness of the consequences.
We joked a lot about being sociopaths and started to really look into it. Well before I came across your book, I already knew. Here's the thing. I've read a lot of bad reviews of the book wherein people are shocked that someone would try to pass that off as nonfiction. I merely read it as written confirmation of everything I have ever known about the way I think. However, it messes with their construct of a functional person. It reads like a hoax to them when it is anything but.
Additionally, I have met others like my friend and I. It's something subtle that I can pick up on. Maybe they haven't figured out why they are different yet. They're always smarter and ask questions I would have asked. I'm drawn to them and after each and every meeting, I text that friend and say. "I've found another. So and so is one of us." I tell no one. I thrive more on keeping the secret to myself and I feel a little less alone.
You said you would tell me who you are. You know who I am. Feel free to use any of this on your website. For all I care, you can make me the face of non-violent sociopaths. I'll take everyone on because I like the challenge and no one is going to take me seriously anyway, much to their own demise.