Avoiding Sociopaths

Zero Sum is a term which basically means if I throw something at you, you throw something at me. One point for me, One point for you… 1 minus 1 equals Zero.

Most people play ‘zero sum’.

They look at the situation and see if throwing something is wise, what they can lose, what they can gain. Hence, if my attack against you would cost me my job, and I would gain nothing, I won’t do it.

But there are people who will sacrifice almost anything to ‘fix’ another person.

These are people who don’t play ‘Zero Sum’.

When you meet them you might wonder why they will go out of their way to hurt someone else, especially when it grants them nothing. You may wonder why they deny themselves a benefit in the belief it will hurt someone else.

These are sociopaths.

They have a twisted view of reality in which they see themselves as the centre of the universe. What pleases their twisted purvey is the belief that they are hurting other people.

As a sadist gains pleasure by inflicting pain, these persons like to inflict pain. They have a skewered view of how people actually feel or what they actually care about. If they think a person on their ‘hate list’ likes or wants something, they hate it and will destroy it.

When one recognises a sociopath, avoidance is the wisest method.

Aunt & Uncle decided to appropriate a piece of property left to Paul. Paul’s father saw this and informed Paul. As Paul hated his Father, when told of he machinations of Aunt & Uncle, Paul took no action to regain the property. This is because he hated his father.

The more his father tried to assist,the pleasure in ‘thwarting’ his father had Paul lose the property.

Standing from a distance, it seems unbelievable that someone would make decisions against his own interest. But Paul, being a sociopath, knowing his inaction would ‘hurt’ his father, was exhilarated by his choice.

To think of his father struggling to help him save the property, struggling for nothing gave him pleasure.

Perhaps years from now, if Paul gets the therapy he needs, he might regret losing that property, but until such time, his joy is in ‘hurting’ others, even when the true victim is himself.

This is why, if one finds someone like Paul, avoidance is the best choice.