Am I a sociopath?

[Nickel]

Maybe in "your world"-

No, in every world. Empathy is feeling for others. Karma is "what goes around comes around". So, karma in this situation would be Thor dying and you starting a thread about how you don't care. And I doubt he'd care if you did that.

 

[mv_princess]

Oh yeah I stand by those words. I didn't know any of them so why should I care?

I think there are two separate points here.

Then should I have cared when 9/11 happened? I wasn't there, there was nothing I could have done to stop it? Should I care about what happens in Iraq I'm not there to stop it? What about anything else that happens in the world? Or the hurricanes, should I not care about those?

 

[Fubar]

No, in every world. Empathy is feeling for others. Karma is "what goes around comes around". So, karma in this situation would be Thor dying and you starting a thread about how you don't care. And I doubt he'd care if you did that.

 

[kwillia]

Interesting study.... you are normal after all. LINK


People typically react very strongly to one death but their emotions fade as the number of victims increase, Slovic reported here yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"We go all out to save a single identified victim, be it a person or an animal, but as the numbers increase, we level off," Slovic said. "We don't feel any different to say 88 people dying than we do to 87. This is a disturbing model, because it means that lives are not equal, and that as problems become bigger we become insensitive to the prospect of additional deaths."

Human insensitivity to large-scale human suffering has been observed in the past century with genocides in Armenia, the Ukraine, Nazi Germany and Rwanda, among others.

 

[Thor]

Then should I have cared when 9/11 happened? I wasn't there, there was nothing I could have done to stop it? Should I care about what happens in Iraq I'm not there to stop it? What about anything else that happens in the world? Or the hurricanes, should I not care about those?

Hey that's on you darlin'. I can't tell you how to feel.

Oh and about the hurricane victims in New Orleans . . . f*ck em, they were warned.

 

[Thor]

Interesting study.... you are normal after all. LINK


People typically react very strongly to one death but their emotions fade as the number of victims increase, Slovic reported here yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"We go all out to save a single identified victim, be it a person or an animal, but as the numbers increase, we level off," Slovic said. "We don't feel any different to say 88 people dying than we do to 87. This is a disturbing model, because it means that lives are not equal, and that as problems become bigger we become insensitive to the prospect of additional deaths."

Human insensitivity to large-scale human suffering has been observed in the past century with genocides in Armenia, the Ukraine, Nazi Germany and Rwanda, among others.

I believe it was Stalin who said one death is a tragedy, millions of deaths are a statistic.

 

[mv_princess]

Hey that's on you darlin'. I can't tell you how to feel.

Oh and about the hurricane victims in New Orleans . . . f*ck em, they were warned.

Well then nevermind, you don't get it.

 

[Thor]

Well then nevermind, you don't get it.

Must have missed your point, perhaps you could be more clear.

 

[Coventry17]

This is not just a national tragedy, but it has garnered attention around the world. I have a friend who is currently in the Ukraine for work; she sent me an email asking about it, saying she had seen it on the local news there. People, the world is watching. The deaths at Texas A&M, while equally tragic, were not international headlines. The President and the country at large are very correct in their reactions to this. To sit by and do nothing would send the message to our allies and enemies alike that a major, senseless loss of life on our own soil means nothing. We live in a fish bowl, that's just a fact of life.

 

[2ndAmendment]

No, but he did say this, which is what I take issue with:



It's a grand assumption which is not universally true. I feel sympathy and empathy for the people in the situation, and I'm definitely not glued to the TV. I've read two articles relating to the shootings, and the extent of news coverage I've witnessed has been the thirty or so minutes of muted TV at the gym everyday which I glance at two or three times. My sympathy, and I'm sure the sympathy of some others, is not generated by the Hollywood machine. It's just the way some people are. :shrug:

But he said

collective tear jerking

which I took to mean media reaction, not the reaction of individuals. But I am interjecting myself into Thor's thoughts and should not. Guess I'll back out and let him post for himself.

Speaking for myself, I think the media overdoes every tragic event all in the name of profits. The public generally eats it up. Sad to think that people are ambulance chasers at heart. But then, if you look at the traffic tie-ups on the hi-ways due to a traffic accident and rubber necking, it is obvious the the general population is looking for blood.

 

[mv_princess]

Must have missed your point, perhaps you could be more clear.

You asked if not caring made you sociopath? I put it in different terms, asking about different things that you shouldn't care about, because really it doesn't effect you. Such as the last school shooting, or bombings, or anything else in the world. None of that should ever bother you in any sort of way.

Why, because it doesn't effect you.

 

[hvp05]

Oh and about the hurricane victims in New Orleans . . . f*ck em, they were warned.

Oh, did I get some red for exhibiting similar thinking when it happened.

 

[kwillia]

This is not just a national tragedy, but it has garnered attention around the world. I have a friend who is currently in the Ukraine for work; she sent me an email asking about it, saying she had seen it on the local news there. People, the world is watching. The deaths at Texas A&M, while equally tragic, were not international headlines. The President and the country at large are very correct in their reactions to this. To sit by and do nothing would send the message to our allies and enemies alike that a major, senseless loss of life on our own soil means nothing. We live in a fish bowl, that's just a fact of life.

Just as the world followed the horrific Beslan school hostage crisis back in 2004 and expressed their condolences.

 

[Nickel]

But I am interjecting myself into Thor's thoughts and should not.

As am I. It's just human nature to compare the behavior of others to your own. Most of us judge "normal" based on ourselves, when in fact no two people are going to have an equal reaction to a situation. The bottom line is, I don't think he's a sociopath because he doesn't feel sad. :shrug:

 

[hvp05]

it is obvious the the general population is looking for blood.

... and this we have known for several thousand years. The most advanced, "civilized" ancient societies even made sports to see who could draw the most blood.

 

[2ndAmendment]

... and this we have known for several thousand years. The most advanced, "civilized" ancient societies even made sports to see who could draw the most blood.

Sad that for all the social advances we proclaim, humans are generally the same as they were shortly after creation.

 

[Thor]

You asked if not caring made you sociopath? I put it in different terms, asking about different things that you shouldn't care about, because really it doesn't effect you. Such as the last school shooting, or bombings, or anything else in the world. None of that should ever bother you in any sort of way.

Why, because it doesn't effect you.

Oh I see, yeah you're correct, the Darfur thing . . . I could care less. Israelis killing Palestinians and vice versa . . . I sleep fine at night. Bunch of people drown from a big wave in the south pacific . . . meh.

 

[Coventry17]

creation

Don't think that you can slip that fairy tale in unnoticed.

 

[hvp05]

Oh I see, yeah you're correct, the Darfur thing . . . I could care less. Israelis killing Palestinians and vice versa . . . I sleep fine at night. Bunch of people drown from a big wave in the south pacific . . . meh.

You are good at what is known as "compartmentalizing".

As am I. After all, if all those things were to affect one too greatly life would be nothing but depression as one blast of sadness hit, and then another, then another.

 

[Thor]

You are good at what is known as "compartmentalizing".

As am I. After all, if all those things were to affect one too greatly life would be nothing but depression as one blast of sadness hit, and then another, then another.

I agree. Don't worry be happy.