Sociopathy

It's very clear that some individuals don't go through life with the same outlook as most people. They either don't feel the same way about the consequences of their actions or simply don't care. This is sociopathy. A sociopathic individual is one who sees the world from a very self centered perspective. All of their actions only go to further themselves and their own gratification. I'm not sure about what specific factors go into the making of a sociopath, whether they're genetic, environmental, or a combination, but one thing is for certain, they exist and they're more common than most of the general public realize. Now, not every sociopath is a cold blooded killer, many are simply very selfish individuals. I read that there are over 200,000 individuals in the US alone that are formally diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder on an average yearly basis. If every single one of them was a murderer the world would be absolute unhinged chaos, so we can safely say that isn't the case. However, it's definitely still a societal problem. I believe that I've met a handful of people that might fit the description of "sociopath". They're not necessarily evil, but they are certainly very cold and self serving. They don't feel much remorse for bringing harm upon others in order to benefit themselves and they don't tend to learn from their mistakes, or at least they don't bother to. It's not that they're unaware that their actions are wrong or that they're completely devoid of a conscience, it's that it doesn't really bother them and their moral compass doesn't have as much of an influence on their actions as it does with most people. From what I know, antisocial personality disorder is a classified as a chronic behavioral condition meaning that those who have it, have it for life. Therapy can help them come to a better understanding of the need for the wellbeing of others but they'll never really care as much as most people. From my own experience, telling someone who shows the signs of sociopathy that they should care about others more does little to change their outlook and they'll typically just shrug it off. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean one shouldn't do everything in their power to spread the radical idea that we should care about others, it just means that you should understand that not everyone sees the world through the same lens and might be more difficult to convince. Sociopathy is a strange and unnerving condition. As someone who has always had a strong conscience, it was difficult to come to terms with the fact that there are people out there that can be so cold and callous, but that's an unfortunate reality that we all have to face at some point. Mental and behavioral conditions affect a huge portion of the general population which is why they'll always be something that should be discussed and analyzed. Antisocial Personality Disorder (sociopathy) is simply one of many.