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SamAnderson · 08-17-2009, 01:21 PM

Well, I was referring specifically to the Elohim of Judgement not detecting any guilt, but actually, it's been observed that true sociopaths tend to feel little or no emotion. If you've ever seen the show 'Dexter' they do a very good job with that aspect of it. He's a purely rational creature incapable of feeling much of anything; he's simply trained himself to fake feelings for the benefit of his public persona.

This is apparently a pretty solid representation of the real world sociopath.

That said, I think rules based around cruelty would probably be unaffected. Not all sociopaths are cruel. Most are no more sadistic than anyone else. They don't feel sorry if they hurt someone, but they feel no particular urge to hurt people either. These are the stealth sociopaths, who rise to become CEOs of companies and politicians. The ones with sadistic urges are the ones who become serial killers.

One random thought that does occur to me -- sociopaths have been described as "subtly constructed reflex machines." As noted, they seem to feel little or no emotion, they can't really make moral decisions... I wonder if you could simply say that a certain number of humans are born as the corporeal equivalent of a Remnant. They have Corporeal and Ethereal Forces, but no Celestial. They can think, and they have biological drives, but there's no soul in there.

But unlike an angel or demon, they were born this way, and they can learn to fake it so well most people can't tell the difference.

08-17-2009, 01:21 PM	#5
SamAnderson Join Date: Sep 2006	Re: Sociopaths in In Nomine Well, I was referring specifically to the Elohim of Judgement not detecting any guilt, but actually, it's been observed that true sociopaths tend to feel little or no emotion. If you've ever seen the show 'Dexter' they do a very good job with that aspect of it. He's a purely rational creature incapable of feeling much of anything; he's simply trained himself to fake feelings for the benefit of his public persona. This is apparently a pretty solid representation of the real world sociopath. That said, I think rules based around cruelty would probably be unaffected. Not all sociopaths are cruel. Most are no more sadistic than anyone else. They don't feel sorry if they hurt someone, but they feel no particular urge to hurt people either. These are the stealth sociopaths, who rise to become CEOs of companies and politicians. The ones with sadistic urges are the ones who become serial killers. One random thought that does occur to me -- sociopaths have been described as "subtly constructed reflex machines." As noted, they seem to feel little or no emotion, they can't really make moral decisions... I wonder if you could simply say that a certain number of humans are born as the corporeal equivalent of a Remnant. They have Corporeal and Ethereal Forces, but no Celestial. They can think, and they have biological drives, but there's no soul in there. But unlike an angel or demon, they were born this way, and they can learn to fake it so well most people can't tell the difference.