LONGPOST ON EMPATHY - WARNING FOR MENTIONS OF MURDER - THIS IS OKAY TO REBLOG
I want to talk about low empathy or lack of empathy because I have it as a result of trauma/mental illness and have many times in my life faced stigma from just mentioning it to doctors, even though iâm not some sort of murderer people assume I am. iâm using the term âsociopathâ even though itâs outdated just because itâs the term people are most familiar with. nowâŠiâm going to go over some common misconceptions.
the reason this post isnât currently sourced is because iâm on mobile and it would take a ridiculous amount of time, so feel free to ask for specific sources if you need them.
1) âlack of empathy is why ceos carelessly let their employees sufferâ
empathy is complex, selective, and manipulated by someoneâs view of the world. most of the ceos you assume are sociopaths actually arenât. letâs take nikeâs ceo phil knight for example. nike has been under fire multiple times for relying on sweatshop labor, in which workers are physically and emotionally abused, suffering in dangerous working conditions, and paid next to nothing. when approached about this use of sweatshops in a documentary called âthe new rulers of the worldâ, phil knight refused an offer to visit these sweatshops himself and see whatâs happening after hearing about all the issues with them. he didnât seem bothered. watching this, one would assume he shows no interest in investigating because heâs some sort of sociopathâŠbut thatâs not the case. his refusal to go is more defensiveâhe knows that as long as this stays out of his sight, it wonât bother him as much. people are more upset by suffering in the world when witnessing it or experiencing it themselves. so, is it surprising you donât see these ceos sadistically monitoring the suffering of their workers all the time for pleasure? they purposely remove themselves from it as much as possible. theyâre not stupid. this is a lack of compassion and a selfish mindset encouraged by capitalism, not sociopathy. remember, capitalism has its own moral compassâsome suffering is seen as necessary or even a good thing. in the case of sweatshops, theyâre often justified in the media as stepping stones to economic development (iâve explained in other posts why this is a lie), so diehard capitalists defending them are entirely capable of feeling empathy, theyâve just been raised in a society with certain ethical standpoints that donât necessarily reflect reality. of course, itâs possible for someone to reject capitalist ideology, but propaganda is a bit strong there.
2) âserial killers/mass murderers wouldnât kill if they were empatheticâ
even in modern psychology where mental illness is stigmatized and falsely defined, not every serial killer is classified as a sociopath, or even diagnosed with a mental illness at all. many simply go to jail and arenât considered âinsaneâ. instead, mass murder is often influenced by ideological beliefs or revenge. for example, in the united states, most terrorists hold far-right viewpointsâso, like the nike ceo, ideologically influenced. they donât wake up one day and think âiâm going to kill people because iâm evilâ, their attacks specifically reflect their own beliefs and what they see as right in the world. blaming this on mental illness (which is often done in the media to defend the most common right-wing terrorists, white men) directs attention away from the actual reason for the attacks (a culture of white supremacy) and so long as this is done, nothing will improve.
3) âlots of criminals are psychopaths, so if you lack empathy, you should be locked upâ
psychopathy is assessed using a test called the PCL-R, which contains 20 items. it consists of the most stereotypical horror movie traits of a psychopath and correlates them to cluster b personality disorders (borderline, antisocial, narcissistic). not only is this test essentially as âscientificâ as silence of the lambs, we already know that prison populations consist mostly of people who are marginalized in society, and often get bigger sentences or even falsely prosecuted. furthermore, certain diagnoses have been used in favor of white supremacyâclaiming civil rights activists were schizophrenic, dangerous, etc, generally to deny their experiences. this still happens !! oppositional defiant disorder, for example, is often falsely diagnosed in people who reject authorityâiâd argue it shouldnât even be classified as a disorder, but thatâs another topic. also, why is it that people committing the biggest crimes right now are not in jail, respected by many people, and not seen as mentally ill ? henry kissingerâs actions seem to meet a definition of psychopath, but heâs not classified that way. can you see the bias and lies here?
now, some important information:
- people with ~scary~ mental illnesses like schizophrenia and personality disorders are more of a threat to themselves than others. suicide is common, as well as self harm and drug addiction.
- prolonged abuse is a common factor in âantisocialâ behavior.
- everyone is capable of compassion, showing compassion towards someone is a choice.
iâm not being 100% specific on what disorders and issues I personally have beyond low empathy because people have dumb bitch disorder, thanks!
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