Why are people more interested in psychopaths and sociopaths than empaths?

[Forever]

Could you imagine a world where they were not the minority

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

I think it's because psychopathy and sociopathy speak to unconscious and conscious fears. Fear gets attention. People want to master what they fear either by understanding or becoming it. That, and I also blame Ayn Rand.

I will say that sociopaths are not objective - hugely not objective. Lack of emotion does not result in clarify of thought. I think true sociopaths are some of the most irrational examples of human beings. Their choices and behaviors are destructive, self-centered (which is the ultimate subjectivity by classical definition), and their perceptions of reality are hugely distorted. Our society shares their distortions: use logic and emotional detachment to get from point A to B, but never consider the larger consequences. It's how the world works right now, so look around and try to say its objective or rational in the slightest.

Edit: I'm using the traditional, behavioral based definition of sociopathy. There needs to be a different term for people like James Fallon who has the physical brain attributes. However, he describes himself taking exceptional risks in his life. I'm not interested in arguing semantics of the confusion of the term. It has multiple definitions and is messy. I'm talking about the decisions and behaviors that are valued in society that reflect the traditional definition based on the DSM V ("diagnosis assigned to individuals who habitually and pervasively disregard or violate the rights and considerations of others without remorse.")

 

[Poki]

I mean I consider myself an empath (Which I think definitely a minority too).

If I were forced to go to a room were either it was full of sociopaths or full of empaths. I’m taking the latter for sure. We’d hug it out, achieve spiritual enlightenment, and then ascend ourselves into heaven/merge again with source energy/achieve nirvana/etc. all to just get back in time for dinner!

Here’s how it’d go with sociopaths:

So really in both cases no one is left standing!

Im a "mental" empath. I confuse the shit outta people because they dont generally know their own state of mind.

I actually scare people because of it

 

[Frosty]

Sociopaths feel more ‘different’/exotic to people. Empaths- well, I also think that empaths are less well known to the public than psychopaths/sociopaths.

Plus yes, the medias love of the portrayal of the functional- not quite psychopathic psychopath.

Psychopaths also yeah, get more attention because the results of their actions are just on a different spectrum from what normal- people with average or above average empathy- empaths- I guess- expect or even can understand.

We cant quite understand it ourselves- so we pay it more and more attention TRYING to.

Plus, empaths imo- I think people are reluctant to self identify as that- which would really be the only other way it would be talked about- since it doesnt involve any extreme functional impairments and does cause extreme specific impcts that MAKE people look at it- anyways, in our culture of calling ANYONE who self identifies as something like that a ‘special snowflake’ or whatever- well- discussion of this just gets shut down.

So you get more discussion over sociopaths. And less over empaths

 

[Forever]

Sociopaths feel more ‘different’/exotic to people. Empaths- well, I also think that empaths are less well known to the public than psychopaths/sociopaths.

Plus yes, the medias love of the portrayal of the functional- not quite psychopathic psychopath.

Psychopaths also yeah, get more attention because the results of their actions are just on a different spectrum from what normal- people with average or above average empathy- empaths- I guess- expect or even can understand.

We cant quite understand it ourselves- so we pay it more and more attention TRYING to.

Plus, empaths imo- I think people are reluctant to self identify as that- which would really be the only other way it would be talked about- since it doesnt involve any extreme functional impairments and does cause extreme specific impcts that MAKE people look at it- anyways, in our culture of calling ANYONE who self identifies as something like that a ‘special snowflake’ or whatever- well- discussion of this just gets shut down.

So you get more discussion over sociopaths. And less over empaths

Well some don’t even believe such thing as an empath exists.

”you can’t know what I’m feeling. You don’t know me”

 

[Forever]

Im a "mental" empath. I confuse the shit outta people because they dont generally know their own state of mind.

I actually scare people because of it

So you tell people what’s on their mind?

 

[Nomendei]

None of these traits have anything to do with empathy. Risk-taking and fearlessness in sociopathy & psychopathy is a result of lack of long-term consequence cognition. In the real world, ppl like that either become v. successful or go to jail. Intelligence is also a quotient that has nothing to do with sociopathy or psychopathy. And protagonists in media usually exhibit empathy.

I have to admit that I was wrong. Today I asked my psychiatrist about this question and he said that a study showed that psychopaths are below the average in intelligence. He explained that people find the Hannibal-like psychopath. If the character is a normal psychopath, he would certainly be disliked and seen as a jerk. And if you read my previous post with a stereotypical psychopath in mind, like most of the population has, I could be explained why. I also asked him why psychopaths are so popular and “admired”, and his answer was that the reasons are unknown, there are some theories but they are not official.
I still think that empathy in an excessive proportion could have an effect on intelligence. I am not talking about empathy, but what is beyond. A person who shows too much empathy would be self-destructive.

 

[Agent Washington]

I still think that empathy in an excessive proportion could have an effect on intelligence. I am not talking about empathy, but what is beyond. A person who shows too much empathy would be self-destructive.

Thank you for updating me.

I'm quoting this part because I'll respond to it more directly (I have nothing to add on the other parts). There are different kinds of empathy (I can't remember what now at the moment), but they are distinguished from one another. Eg. Someone has more empathy from another's feelings while being in the same room from nonverbal cues, vs. when someone "knows" what it is like to be in the other person's shoes from imagining that they are in the same situation.

You would be looking at pathology in the sense of excessive empathy (eg. In BPD individuals there are higher rates of affective empathy rather than cognitive empathy, plus a whole bunch of other traits). Pathology could be linked to intelligence and prognosis, but it depends on what. The main reason humans tend to have empathy (at least to some extent) is that humans are social creatures; i.e. meant to live in groups, like rats are. And of course there is such a thing as "too much". But there is also such a thing as "not enough" (i.e. in the case of psychopathy). Both are pathological, it's like saying "too much" or "too little" is better, when neither really is very good.

But then you have to look at other attributes as well. Like intelligence (i.e. are they aware that what they are doing could have negative effect, and what kind of negative effect? If they are aware, and choose to do something out of empathy, then it is qualitatively different from when they aren't aware, and do it blindly.

 

[Poki]

So you tell people what’s on their mind?

Yes, especially when they dont have the words to get it out or explain it. Or if they are in denial or confused. Most just see some detail...or the trees...not the state of mind. And its not mine because i am nothing like the person.scare shit out of our roommate. I answer unasked questions

I have this exacting nature to my words that explains things very intricately and accurate.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Deviance is interesting.

 

[Smilephantomhive]

They were intriguing. at first, but really they are boring. Im just not an impulsive person like them, and I've seen their usually nihilism too much to really interest me anymore.

 

[Ace_]

I didn't know people were more interested in psychopaths and sociopaths. Is there a study that confirms this?

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From personal experience I can tell you that emphatic people are usually quite popular in social circles.

 

[Amberiat]

Probably because they are chaotic. At the very least in media they are usually fast, unpredictable and ingenious which makes them highly entertaining to watch.

Our society is actually extremely boring and predictable, psychopaths/sociopaths are portrayed as naturally unpredictable which I believe to be the reason why people have an interest in them, I know it's the reason why I'm interested in them. Fictional psychopaths/sociopaths can be pretty fun but in real life I believe they would prove to be quite boring unless they happen to have some other "exceptional" trait such as a high level of intelligence or anything that would make them stand out from the crowd aside from their lack of empathy.

I think empaths are awesome though, being able to "feel" other people so well can be very useful, simply interacting with such a person might improve your well-being and it should be pretty fun to hang out with someone like that. Also this is just my speculation but I think in real life empaths are harder to come across than a sociopath would be which makes them look like unicorns in todays world.

 

[Lark]

I didn't know people were more interested in psychopaths and sociopaths. Is there a study that confirms this?

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From personal experience I can tell you that emphatic people are usually quite popular in social circles.

I see more books published on the one than the other.

 

[Kas]

Because they are more rare.

 

[Lady Lazarus]

I wish I were a sociopath or a psychopath instead of an empath. It would make everything so much easier. Maybe it will turn out that I was a sociopath all along though. Because sometimes that's how it goes.

 

[chubber]

Why do you think that people are more interested in psychopaths or sociopaths than empaths? Why does emoting, feeling and sensitivity get such a bad reputation while reason, thinking and cold indifference are highly thought of? Why is health and strength associated with the later and illness and weakness with the former?

Do you think that the internet culture favours high cognitive empathy and low affective empathy?

Is this in anyway related to disasters (like Katrina’s devastation) and how authority figures are seen as insufficient because they aren't cool under pressure and prone to burn out?

My opinion is, they don't deal with things fairly, because they prioritise emotional empathy related to the victim, and thus, those who scream the loudest gets more attention. How is that fair? What about the others? Just like MBTI is riddled with American Culture and non-objectivity, hence why certain types are so skewed in favour of certain types, making them unusually rare. (another debate, why I'm bringing it up, because the author of MBTI was a "Feeling" type).

But to answer your question, why do I think people are more interested in the "cold indifference" types? depends on where exactly. Do you see that in a school, no, so why would it be preferred there? Military, yes, business yes, but in general, especially most society, prefers "empaths".

 

[LightSun]

"We project reality at another human beings universe, not knowing we live in a duality of a Reality as indeed 7,000,000,000 different slant and view on what the fundamental makeup which is reality really is. We do not have the darndest clue. It is a needed reality in to give reality of my own self to an advising person: It's by the name phenomenological union; that is to enter another person's head. In this way true empathy can occur.

If one is outside; triggered by my honesty and react, they in fact are trying a lessening of their own anxiety and not dealing, certainly of a course not helping me. If anything they further my pain. It unfortunately can be learned: it isn't given credence in our school systems. Thus society has no awareness of how to deal with a person's pain. A few gifted one's are of awareness. In this way true empathy can occur. If one is outside; triggered by my honesty and react, they in fact are trying a lessening of their own anxiety and not dealing, certainly of a course not helping me.

Empathy is the gel of the human species. Without empathy and emotion, I do not know if the human species could work together. We are part of one. The empathy is the gel that binds us so that we can work together on mutually exclusive goals, yet get our independent needs met as well. Without it we would be at constant war with one another, and if you say that is the current state of affairs, it is because we have not learned the art and skill of empathy, yet, in our home life, school as well as professional environment (yet).

One day we will awaken and understand the profound nature of this fact, learning to work together in harmony as well understanding. A friend who does possess some living enlightenment does know this actual fact. If a person tries to lessen a person's pain-they keep poison in. There is a reason; a time; place; but a person has to make their own healing journey without well-wishers.

 

[Emotional Vulcan]

Empathy is essentially the amplification of sensitivity to normal, everyday feelings. Sociopathy and psychopathy, however, is defined by mutated feelings, whether they be positive or negative, or the lack of emotion. Empathy is something that virtually everyone can have on one level or another. Granted, true empathy is more difficult to find. This is not true for Sociopaths and Psychopaths. They have a viewpoint of the world that is in the minority to the extreme. The idea of having such an obscure outlook being normal is fascinating. It's something different, something unique. Empathy is certainly unique as well, but as humans, it is in our nature to be more drawn to the unexplored and the obscure.

 

[keer]

I think it's partly the entertainment value of sociopathy and psychopathy in tv shows, etc. The darker aspects of human nature are simply more exciting than the everyday work that goes into be a decent, functional human being. Some people fantasise about the prospect of being invulnerable to emotional pain, of being the aggressor rather than the wounded person. For people who self diagnose, it's also a sexy way of packaging the fact that they are emotionally numb and probably just jerks.

Genuinely, I think internet culture is more about what excites than what people's values are.