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SamAnderson · 08-17-2009, 10:02 AM

So I've been thinking about sociopaths and how they relate to Heaven and Hell. (For the purposes of conversation I picked the term sociopath; I don't feel like a terminology argument, so feel free to substitute psychopath, or antisocial-personality disorder, or whatever you feel like.)

Specifically, the question of a sociopath as something distinct from merely an evil person. There are tons of people who are selfish bastards and happy to hurt others for their own gain, but they're not sociopaths. It's been pretty well established at this point that some percentage of people are actually born neurologically different, that from birth they are incapable of any empathy for their fellow man, and that although they can understand morality in a disconnected, abstract way, they can't feel things like guilt or remorse if they behave in a way considered 'immoral'.

This first popped into my head in relation to a character playing a Shedite. What if you had the bad fortune to jump into a person like this? You can't corrupt them. There's no act that will inspire a sense of moral revulsion for you to overcome; it's an automatic dissonance trap.

It's problematic for other celestials, too. An Elohite of Judgement could presumably look H. H. Holmes or Ted Bundy in the face and see nothing, because they don't feel guilt that they've justified to themselves. They have no conscience whatsoever, and can murder an innocent as carelessly as you or I eat a bowl of cereal, and with as much lasting guilt.

What about Destiny? This is actually a bit less problematic; my understanding is that Destiny is based on your potential. So perhaps a sociopath would simply have a very, very low potential. But I'd love to see the look on the face of a Servitor of Yves who resonates someone and finds out that his Fate is to murder and mutilate 19 people before he's caught and executed, while his Destiny is to stick to stealing and torturing neighborhood pets...

Or I could see an argument that since they can't really make moral choices, that sociopaths can't achieve Fate or Destiny; they always reincarnate, hopefully into a normal brain the next time around.

08-17-2009, 10:02 AM	#1
SamAnderson Join Date: Sep 2006	Sociopaths in In Nomine So I've been thinking about sociopaths and how they relate to Heaven and Hell. (For the purposes of conversation I picked the term sociopath; I don't feel like a terminology argument, so feel free to substitute psychopath, or antisocial-personality disorder, or whatever you feel like.) Specifically, the question of a sociopath as something distinct from merely an evil person. There are tons of people who are selfish bastards and happy to hurt others for their own gain, but they're not sociopaths. It's been pretty well established at this point that some percentage of people are actually born neurologically different, that from birth they are incapable of any empathy for their fellow man, and that although they can understand morality in a disconnected, abstract way, they can't feel things like guilt or remorse if they behave in a way considered 'immoral'. This first popped into my head in relation to a character playing a Shedite. What if you had the bad fortune to jump into a person like this? You can't corrupt them. There's no act that will inspire a sense of moral revulsion for you to overcome; it's an automatic dissonance trap. It's problematic for other celestials, too. An Elohite of Judgement could presumably look H. H. Holmes or Ted Bundy in the face and see nothing, because they don't feel guilt that they've justified to themselves. They have no conscience whatsoever, and can murder an innocent as carelessly as you or I eat a bowl of cereal, and with as much lasting guilt. What about Destiny? This is actually a bit less problematic; my understanding is that Destiny is based on your potential. So perhaps a sociopath would simply have a very, very low potential. But I'd love to see the look on the face of a Servitor of Yves who resonates someone and finds out that his Fate is to murder and mutilate 19 people before he's caught and executed, while his Destiny is to stick to stealing and torturing neighborhood pets... Or I could see an argument that since they can't really make moral choices, that sociopaths can't achieve Fate or Destiny; they always reincarnate, hopefully into a normal brain the next time around.