# Let's play "Spot the Sociopath" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892 "2012-05-04T17:03:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/1 "2012-05-04T17:03:35Z")
Simply put: Are there any people who are currently alive and have some degree of fame who you think are sociopaths or psychopaths? I’m not talking so much about convicted murderers or the like. More about people who blend in successfully and manage to stay out of prison. I was inspired a little by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=575356) and [this one](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650354). I’ve seen Dick Cheney casually described as a sociopath on more than one occasion. While I’m sure that’s not been clinically diagnosed, I do wonder what other current “famous” people might be seen as sociopaths. Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney both strike me as possibilities, for different reasons. What about you? Who do you think might be a sociopath just playing the game well? _(Note to mods: I wasn’t entirely sure which forum this was best suited to, so feel free to move it if you think it needs to be moved)_ ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/2 "2012-05-04T17:07:49Z")
I think we should play Spot the Well-Poisoner. I see one now. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/3 "2012-05-04T17:10:58Z")
Of course, only republicans can be psycho/sociopaths. ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/4 "2012-05-04T17:12:10Z")
That was neither what I said nor what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/5 "2012-05-04T17:14:01Z")
You probably shouldn’t have mentioned Chaney then, especially without some sort of cite showing that people seriously think he’s a ‘sociopath’. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/6 "2012-05-04T17:16:11Z")
> [@XT](#): > > You probably shouldn’t have mentioned Chaney then, especially without some sort of cite showing that people seriously think he’s a ‘sociopath’. > > -XT I did provide links to threads where it was casually thrown in. From the 1st thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12831807&postcount=30](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12831807&postcount=30) From the 2nd thread: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15029054&postcount=25](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15029054&postcount=25) ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/7 "2012-05-04T17:17:48Z")
The name of the first thread you linked to is “_Who are some famous psychopaths/sociopaths_” How is your thread any different?? ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/8 "2012-05-04T17:18:13Z")
Additionally, a quick Google search returns over 1.5 million hits for _Dick Cheney sociopath_. [dick cheney sociopath - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=dick+cheney+sociopath) ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/9 "2012-05-04T17:19:13Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > The name of the first thread you linked to is “_Who are some famous psychopaths/sociopaths_” > > How is your thread any different?? That’s in General Questions and is looking for factual information about famous ones. I’m asking people for _speculation_ based on _currently_-famous people. ---
**Author:** ![poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dc4da7/32.png) [@poker\_in\_the\_rear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poker_in_the_rear)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/10 "2012-05-04T17:19:59Z")
Mel Gibson ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/11 "2012-05-04T17:21:19Z")
[QUOTE=Sacrilegium] I did provide links to threads where it was casually thrown in. [/QUOTE] I’m sorry, I meant ‘serious people’, not ‘people seriously’. 😛 Look at who is responding there. If you wanted this discussion to be serious, then you should have left out the bit about Chaney and just asked your question…given some of the more radical folks on this board I’m sure you’d have gotten the answer you wanted to hear anyway. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/12 "2012-05-04T17:22:23Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I’m sorry, I meant ‘serious people’, not ‘people seriously’. 😛 Look at who is responding there. If you wanted this discussion to be serious, then you should have left out the bit about Chaney and just asked your question…given some of the more radical folks on this board I’m sure you’d have gotten the answer you wanted to hear anyway. > > -XT What answer do you think I want to hear? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/13 "2012-05-04T17:24:36Z")
[QUOTE=Sacrilegium] What answer do you think I want to hear? [/QUOTE] That Kari Byron from Mythbusters is a nymphomaniac who likes older, over weight and balding Hispanics and will be coming over to my house later tonight, obviously. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/14 "2012-05-04T17:26:07Z")
> [@XT](#): > > That Kari Byron from Mythbusters is a nymphomaniac who likes older, over weight and balding Hispanics and will be coming over to my house later tonight, obviously. > > -XT Hmmm. I’m halfway there. I just need to learn Spanish and carve out a bald spot. It’s worth it for Kari! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/15 "2012-05-04T17:26:30Z")
Mitt Romney? Based on what? Just the fact that he has been really successful in business and has remarkably few examples of sin or vice in his personal life. He must be hiding something. If he is a sociopath who just puts on an act to manipulate people, he has been plotting his entire life. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/16 "2012-05-04T17:27:04Z")
Well, just to help you out a little, here are some posts where: [Larry David is called a sociopath](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14217295&postcount=7) [Ayn Rand is called a sociopath](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14676288&postcount=7) [Richard Hatch is called a sociopath](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13569009&postcount=68) (OK, technically he is accused of “acting like” a sociopath.) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/17 "2012-05-04T17:33:14Z")
All right, I’ll name names. Mary Lou Retton. There. ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/18 "2012-05-04T17:33:49Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Mitt Romney? Based on what? Just the fact that he has been really successful in business and has remarkably few examples of sin or vice in his personal life. Mmm, no, not that. I do think being a sociopath can _help_ if you’re looking to be really successful in business, but I don’t think it’s a necessary component. And I don’t think in terms of “sin” or “vice,” so that’s got nothing to do with it. It’s more an unspecified vibe I get from him. He seems to say whatever is convenient at the time. He comes off like a person emulating human emotions and affectations, but not quite getting them right at times. He’s said several things which struck me as being callous in a way where he didn’t realize he was being callous. I get the feeling that what goes on in his head is vastly different from what he projects to other people. I’m not saying he _definitely_ is. I’m just saying he strikes me that way. Might be one, might not. There are definitely alternate explanations possible for everything I’ve seen in Mitt that point me in this direction. Just a vibe I get from him. (I realize much of that could be applied to practically all politicians. Hey, I never said Mitt was the only one ;)) > [@](#): > > He must be hiding something. If he is a sociopath who just puts on an act to manipulate people, he has been plotting his entire life. Well, that’s kinda what sociopaths _do_ their entire life, innit? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/19 "2012-05-04T17:47:35Z")
I agree with both Cheney and Gingrich. And yes, it is inherently less likely that a psychopath would choose the Democratic party, as the attention to social justice and welfare would have no appeal to them. However, a psychopath would switch parties in a second if the Dems offered more money/support/likelihood of reelection. Jim Baker (The former Preacher) in fact, I think that the ranks of evangelical preacherhood are rife with charming psychopaths. Now a sociopath, as I understand it, is far less likely to show up in any of these places. Socipaths are less organzied in their thought processes, and less likely to achieve any long-term goals. Or have the definitions changed again? LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Sacrilegium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f05b48/32.png) [@Sacrilegium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sacrilegium)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892/20 "2012-05-04T17:58:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > All right, I’ll name names. Mary Lou Retton. There. **This** is the kind of answer I’m looking for. Especially if you’re serious and can explain your thinking about it. I’m all ears! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-play-spot-the-sociopath/620892.md?page=2)