A conversation with a sociopath (with M.E. Thomas)

Read the full transcript here. (https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/236/#transcript) • Are the terms "psychopath" and "sociopath" interchangeable? Are people suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) naturally violent? Are people usually born with these psychopathy, sociopathy, ASPD, or other similar personality disorders; or are they caused by environmental factors? To what extent do sociopaths have a sense of self or relatively fixed personality? Are sociopaths easily manipulated? How do shame and guilt differ? What is "gray rage"? To what extent do the primary "dark" personality traits (narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism) overlap? From an evolutionary perspective, why might these traits appear in a population? Can (and should) people cooperate altruistically with sociopaths? Why do we treat crimes of passion less harshly than premeditated crimes? (For example, why do people found guilty of sudden, impulsive murder usually receive lighter sentences than people found guilty of premeditated murder?) Are sociopaths more or less impulsive than the average person? How prevalent are antisocial personality disorders? Are sociopaths more likely to commit crimes than the average person? What factors motivate the average person to avoid unethical behaviors, and which of these factors do sociopaths lack? Do sociopaths lie about the same kinds of things as "normies"? Do sociopaths naturally enjoy hurting other people? Are sociopaths able to feel happiness? How do sociopaths' sexual behaviors and orientations differ from normies'? Since the majority of violent crime in the world is perpetrated by young men, is the average young man basically a sociopath or psychopath? How easily can sociopaths identify one another? If someone thinks they might be a sociopath (or have any of the other "dark" personality traits), what should they do? How should sociopaths be integrated into society? • M.E. Thomas is a practicing attorney who has advocated for equal rights and a better understanding of psychopaths since being diagnosed with psychopathy in 2010. She is the author of the book Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight (https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Sociopath-Spent-Hiding-Plain/dp/0307956652). You can find her at sociopathworld.com (http://sociopathworld.com). • Further reading • PsychopathyIs (https://psychopathyis.org/) • Staff • Spencer Greenberg (https://www.spencergreenberg.com/) — Host / Director • Josh Castle (mailto:joshrcastle@gmail.com) — Producer • Ryan Kessler (https://tone.support/) — Audio Engineer • Uri Bram (https://uribram.com/) — Factotum • WeAmplify (https://www.weamplify.info/) — Transcriptionists • Music • Broke for Free (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Something_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Something_EP_-_05_Something_Elated) • Josh Woodward (https://www.joshwoodward.com/song/AlreadyThere) • Lee Rosevere (https://archive.org/details/MusicForPodcasts04/Lee+Rosevere+-+Music+for+Podcasts+4+-+11+Keeping+Stuff+Together.flac) • Quiet Music for Tiny Robots (https://www.freemusicarchive.org/music/Quiet_Music_for_Tiny_Robots/The_February_Album/05_Tiny_Robot_Armies) • wowamusic (https://gamesounds.xyz/?dir=wowamusic) • zapsplat.com (https://www.zapsplat.com/music/summer-haze-slow-chill-out-house-track-with-a-modern-pop-feel-warm-piano-chords-underpin-the-track-with-warm-pads-and-a-repetitive-synth-arpeggio/) • Affiliates • Clearer Thinking (https://www.clearerthinking.org/) • GuidedTrack (https://guidedtrack.com/) • Mind Ease (https://mindease.io/) • Positly (https://positly.com/) • UpLift (https://www.uplift.app/) [Read more: https://podcast.clearerthinking.org/episode/236/m-e-thomas-a-conversation-with-a-sociopath]

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Clearer Thinking is a podcast about ideas that truly matter. If you enjoy learning about powerful, practical concepts and frameworks, wish you had more deep, intellectual conversations in your life, or are looking for non-BS self-improvement, then we think you'll love this podcast! Each week we invite a brilliant guest to bring four important ideas to discuss for an in-depth conversation. Topics include psychology, society, behavior change, philosophy, science, artificial intelligence, math, economics, self-help, mental health, and technology. We focus on ideas that can be applied right now to make your life better or to help you better understand yourself and the world, aiming to teach you the best mental tools to enhance your learning, self-improvement efforts, and decision-making. • We take on important, thorny questions like: • What's the best way to help a friend or loved one going through a difficult time? How can we make our worldviews more accurate? How can we hone the accuracy of our thinking? What are the advantages of using our "gut" to make decisions? And when should we expect careful, analytical reflection to be more effective? Why do societies sometimes collapse? And what can we do to reduce the chance that ours collapses? Why is the world today so much worse than it could be? And what can we do to make it better? What are the good and bad parts of tradition? And are there more meaningful and ethical ways of carrying out important rituals, such as honoring the dead? How can we move beyond zero-sum, adversarial negotiations and create more positive-sum interactions?