# Are Sociopaths Really "Charming"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543 "2010-01-03T21:18:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543/101 "2010-02-10T08:26:57Z")
> [@Uncertain](#): > > That may be how you see it, but it’s not how the mental health field sees it. > > So sociopaths are saner than the rest of us? I’m not sure what notion of sanity you’re using, or why you equate mental illness with insanity (I wouldn’t describe clinically depressed people as “insane”). I also don’t see how, for example, delusional disorder, schizoid personality disorder, or major depression is at the opposite end of a spectrum from sociopath. I define sanity as acting in a logical manner. Not doing something out of guilt, empathy or because it just feels “wrong” is, strictly speaking, not logical. To our credit, most humans are not purely logical creatures. Sociopaths are. > [@Uncertain](#): > > What is logical about killing strangers for the sake of killing them? How does this amount to looking after oneself? I admit that I cannot explain serial killers. But most sociopaths don’t kill for the sake of killing; they want what we all want: money, power, respect. It’s just that they’re not held back from achieving these things by the same psychological restrictions (“insanities”) that we are. > [@Uncertain](#): > > I’m not sure what “looking after itself” means for a computer program, but social interactions are an important part of human success. To the extent that emotions aid in this, they are part of mechanisms for looking after oneself. A sociopath is, in essence, a parasite on a functional human society - they take advantage of social interactions without taking part in them. A society consisting purely of sociopaths obviously wouldn’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543/102 "2010-02-10T08:42:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > A society consisting purely of sociopaths obviously wouldn’t last long. I wonder what Ayn Rand would say . . . ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543/103 "2010-02-10T09:20:54Z")
> [@Uncertain](#): > > Natural selection does not favor what is “good for the species”. The widespread belief that it does is probably the most serious misconception about evolution that’s out there. I think you may want to elaborate a little more. To me it seems that that is exactly what happens in a communal species. If the group is capable of looking out for one another, it becomes advantageous for the individual to join the group, and thus need to do things that are good for the group. Those that do not are more vulnerable, and become selected against. This would still seem to be a form of natural selection. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543/104 "2010-02-10T09:40:39Z")
Exactly. Individuals don’t evolve - populations do. ---
**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543/105 "2010-02-10T09:44:54Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Yeah, there has been a spate of ‘Obama is a narcissist sociopath’ articles recently. And my response to that has been, you have to be to think you are good enough to be President. Not sure about Clinton or Obama, but Tony Blair certainly seems to be somewhere on the spectrum of personality disorders, and he is superficially charming and a natural liar. See [this report](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/29/blair-iraq-inquiry-chilcot-911-terrorist-threat). Either he genuinely believes what he says (even if it is wrong) or is a blatant liar, I go with the latter myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-sociopaths-really-charming/523543.md?page=5)