Phil Osborn wrote:
>The sociopath often develops a very high capacity for analyzing other
>people's states of mind, in order to manipulate them, sometimes for what
>they believe to be their benefit,
Everyone does this. The sociopath is better capable of it because (s)he is more intellegent usualy. Aren't sociopaths usualy more intellegent than the average person?
>The manipulation itself is a kind of symbolic substitute for real
>interaction. The sociopath plays a role and finds satisfaction in the
>results in terms of the other persons' behavior. But the sociopath himself
>still needs real interaction just like anyone else.
I still see the sociopath as a normal person because everyone does this. You do try to please your friends, right? Why? Because your manipulating them to feel good makes you feel good. I'm not saying everyone tries to please their friends but the same scenario works for everyone.
>Thus, sociopaths learn to allow their victims to see who they really are at
>some point, usually when the victim is totally ruined or at their mercy.
Only for violent (physical or mental) sociopaths with dissociative and/or identity disorders.
>Alternatively, for your violent sociopaths - the "psychopaths" - the
>violence is the only situation in which they feel safe to be visable. They
>have to have total control.
All people have to have control. I rarely feel stressed because I know what causes stress. Stress is caused by stimulation in an uncontrolled environment. I make it a habit to be in control of everything I do. When working in a supposedly high stress environment I'm always calm because I know I choose to come to work, I can survive without working and there are plenty of other companies, I don't care what happens if I don't get a report in on time or complete some other task in a timely manner for there are plenty of other things to do. This, I don't care attitude allows me to function when others can't and I perform better than everyone else.