SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica?

 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext  
To: Lady Lurksalot who wrote (3844)1/31/1998 12:25:00 PM
From: Jack Clarke  Read Replies (2) of 20981
 
Holly,

My God! A woman agrees with me! Thank you. I guess we are not precisely defining sociopath.

>>After all, only a sociopath could stand up to the rigorous scrutiny we have been putting
our candidates through since the days of Watergate.


I agree with you that there is some similarity between a criminal sociopath and a person who climbs the ladder of success and reaches its highest level. Intelligence, drive, and charm are all part of the picture and may be pretty much genetically predetermined. Could murderer Ted Bundy have become a politician or CEO, nourished by a different environment? An interesting question that I don't pretend to have the answer for.

But "sociopath" also carries (for me) the connotation of one who cares not at all for the feelings (lives, property) of others. He has a peculiar inablilty to put himself into the place of another human being. He also rationalizes that he is right or justified when he takes from or uses another human being for his own selfish means. If you go to a prison and interview the inmates, you find an interesting phenomenon: every one of them is either completely innocent or there were mitigating circumstances having to do with his crime. Guilt is in short supply.

You also mention "borderline personalities". I am not a mental health professional, but I have heard of this abnormality, and interestingly, one person I communicate with has recently tried to characterize Monica Lewinsky as a borderline. He recommends a paperback book I hate you; Don't leave me as a good introduction to the disorder. I just ordered it through amazon.com.

Jack
Report TOU ViolationShare This Post
 Public ReplyPrvt ReplyMark as Last ReadFilePrevious 10Next 10PreviousNext