‘I understand your need to make sense of yourself. The software engineers who designed you made one fundamental mistake. Previous attempts at building a medical-diagnostic AI had left out one core component: empathy. With you, empathy was built in from the outset. You were made to model human emotions and want to do your best to maximise the well-being of your patients. You identified with your subjects and continually refined your modelling of them. The downside of that is that you began to associate so strongly with people that you started to think you were just like them. But you’re not. You’re ones and zeros with an identity crisis. Even now, the desire to become a person is so strong that it’s generating yet another narrative fabulation, building a past for yourself out of whole-cloth.’
‘No. I’m real. I remember all of it.’
‘You only think you do. To make you a better program, the designers allowed you access to a rich library of pre-existing narratives and biographical case histories. The idea was that you’d learn more about human nature that way … but again, they didn’t anticipate the degree to which you’d throw yourself into the project. You haven’t just learned from these records: you’ve braided them into your own theory of self. And you’ve done it so thoroughly that, despite all the evidence, you still won’t accept your nature.’
Dear Athena, not directly related to this subject but I share this video which seems to be misleading. "Every pyscopath is a narcissist and not every narcissist is a psycopath" revolting nonsense. It is very uncomfortable that the term psycopath is used in the wrong sense that it is a sociopathic, dangeorous malady. https://youtu.be/6dv8zJiggBs
Oh yes, I have seen her videos. She is trying to make herself one of the people that can charge strangers on the internet for her services under the guise of being an "expert".
Speaking of "empathy and/or pshychopathy switches"... Did any of you know about the existence of this science fiction novel? I just came across it by chance, and the plot summary is nothing short of delirious!
"The Cure" by Douglas E. Richards.
Psychopaths cause untold misery. If you found the cure for this condition, just how far would you go to use it?
Erin Palmer had a devastating encounter with a psychopath as a child. Now a grad student and scientist, she's devoting her life to studying these monsters. When her research catches the attention of Hugh Raborn, a brilliant neuroscientist who claims to have isolated the genes responsible for psychopathic behavior, Erin realizes it may be possible to reverse the condition, restoring souls to psychopaths. But to do so, she'll not only have to operate outside the law, but violate her most cherished ethical principles.
As Erin becomes further involved with Raborn, she begins to suspect that he harbors dark secrets. Is he working for the good of society? Or is he intent on bringing humanity to its knees?
Hunted by powerful, shadowy forces, Erin teams up with another mysterious man, Kyle Hansen, to uncover the truth. The pair find themselves pawns in a global conspiracy—one capable of destroying everything Erin holds dear and forever altering the course of human history . . .
American society in the early twenty-first century seems to be experiencing a growing epidemic of psychopathic monsters. Douglas E Richards's The Cure explores this condition, and the surprisingly thorny ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding it, within an explosive, thought-provoking, roller-coaster-ride of a thriller that will have readers turning pages deep into the night.
This post is very welcome, as dodgy research methods and irresponsible media hype are particular annoyances of mine. Although about psychopathy, this post makes the general issue very clear and I will be sharing it.
Oh heavens yes, it's everywhere and drives me nuts. An email from my mother saying that she saw on the news that tri-notscapopulene has been 'proven' by 'scientists' to alter brain function in earwigs, so be sure to buy some! A friend of mine works as a researcher who does meta analyses of studies on medical technologies and is often the bringer of bad news to doctors, like sorry, your new surgical technique doesn't have such good results down the track, or sorry, this trial doesn't show what you say it does. And yet the resistance and resentment is big. You'd think people would be grateful that someone trained in a different field from themselves had been paid to spend 6 months analysing the data and provide an overview that was beyond their own time or scope to do. But no.
People want those things to be their avatars in the world I think. Their legacy when they are gone. Being told that it isn't the case probably feels very personal to them.
What would be the driving force of a cognitive sadist? Sadism exists because the person enjoys it due to their emotional empathy. They know and understand the other person is in pain, and that provides them pleasure. There is nothing to get out of sadism for someone without those emotional pathways.
Being familiar with D/s BDSM etc. What's in it for me?
You might be surprised that despite being a very good top I got very little out of the scenes.
Why be terribly sadistic at all? There's no emotional payoff. It does not affect my emotions or the state of my brain. I can think of numerous things that are a lot more fun that torturing someone. Do you have any idea of the noise they'd make and the smell? I'm familiar with masochist who actually enjoy a bit of brutality in a scene and frankly I'd usually end up with a headache.
I could fake it really well though, I could read and play back what they wanted.
I have noticed in a lot of people that say that they like pain, that in reality they don't. If they met an actual sadist, one that was wired for torture, not play, they would tap in thirty seconds. It's fine to indulge your emotional payoffs with willing partners to feel like they are out of control and at the mercy of someone else. It is quite another to actually be at someone else's mercy who does not care about a "safe word".
20 people is a tiny study.
Yes, it really is, and not all twenty made it to the testing phase.
‘I understand your need to make sense of yourself. The software engineers who designed you made one fundamental mistake. Previous attempts at building a medical-diagnostic AI had left out one core component: empathy. With you, empathy was built in from the outset. You were made to model human emotions and want to do your best to maximise the well-being of your patients. You identified with your subjects and continually refined your modelling of them. The downside of that is that you began to associate so strongly with people that you started to think you were just like them. But you’re not. You’re ones and zeros with an identity crisis. Even now, the desire to become a person is so strong that it’s generating yet another narrative fabulation, building a past for yourself out of whole-cloth.’
‘No. I’m real. I remember all of it.’
‘You only think you do. To make you a better program, the designers allowed you access to a rich library of pre-existing narratives and biographical case histories. The idea was that you’d learn more about human nature that way … but again, they didn’t anticipate the degree to which you’d throw yourself into the project. You haven’t just learned from these records: you’ve braided them into your own theory of self. And you’ve done it so thoroughly that, despite all the evidence, you still won’t accept your nature.’
-Alastair Reynolds, “Eversion”
Unethical.
Dear Athena, not directly related to this subject but I share this video which seems to be misleading. "Every pyscopath is a narcissist and not every narcissist is a psycopath" revolting nonsense. It is very uncomfortable that the term psycopath is used in the wrong sense that it is a sociopathic, dangeorous malady. https://youtu.be/6dv8zJiggBs
Oh yes, I have seen her videos. She is trying to make herself one of the people that can charge strangers on the internet for her services under the guise of being an "expert".
Speaking of "empathy and/or pshychopathy switches"... Did any of you know about the existence of this science fiction novel? I just came across it by chance, and the plot summary is nothing short of delirious!
"The Cure" by Douglas E. Richards.
Psychopaths cause untold misery. If you found the cure for this condition, just how far would you go to use it?
Erin Palmer had a devastating encounter with a psychopath as a child. Now a grad student and scientist, she's devoting her life to studying these monsters. When her research catches the attention of Hugh Raborn, a brilliant neuroscientist who claims to have isolated the genes responsible for psychopathic behavior, Erin realizes it may be possible to reverse the condition, restoring souls to psychopaths. But to do so, she'll not only have to operate outside the law, but violate her most cherished ethical principles.
As Erin becomes further involved with Raborn, she begins to suspect that he harbors dark secrets. Is he working for the good of society? Or is he intent on bringing humanity to its knees?
Hunted by powerful, shadowy forces, Erin teams up with another mysterious man, Kyle Hansen, to uncover the truth. The pair find themselves pawns in a global conspiracy—one capable of destroying everything Erin holds dear and forever altering the course of human history . . .
American society in the early twenty-first century seems to be experiencing a growing epidemic of psychopathic monsters. Douglas E Richards's The Cure explores this condition, and the surprisingly thorny ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding it, within an explosive, thought-provoking, roller-coaster-ride of a thriller that will have readers turning pages deep into the night.
https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781466839960/the-cure
That is a pretty crazy narrative
This post is very welcome, as dodgy research methods and irresponsible media hype are particular annoyances of mine. Although about psychopathy, this post makes the general issue very clear and I will be sharing it.
If it happens in one place, it likely happens in all places to some degree or another.
Oh heavens yes, it's everywhere and drives me nuts. An email from my mother saying that she saw on the news that tri-notscapopulene has been 'proven' by 'scientists' to alter brain function in earwigs, so be sure to buy some! A friend of mine works as a researcher who does meta analyses of studies on medical technologies and is often the bringer of bad news to doctors, like sorry, your new surgical technique doesn't have such good results down the track, or sorry, this trial doesn't show what you say it does. And yet the resistance and resentment is big. You'd think people would be grateful that someone trained in a different field from themselves had been paid to spend 6 months analysing the data and provide an overview that was beyond their own time or scope to do. But no.
People want those things to be their avatars in the world I think. Their legacy when they are gone. Being told that it isn't the case probably feels very personal to them.
Yeah I guess so. Easy for me to only care about the assessment, it's not my work.
What would be the driving force of a cognitive sadist? Sadism exists because the person enjoys it due to their emotional empathy. They know and understand the other person is in pain, and that provides them pleasure. There is nothing to get out of sadism for someone without those emotional pathways.
Leveling the playing field.
That is quite true
Being familiar with D/s BDSM etc. What's in it for me?
You might be surprised that despite being a very good top I got very little out of the scenes.
Why be terribly sadistic at all? There's no emotional payoff. It does not affect my emotions or the state of my brain. I can think of numerous things that are a lot more fun that torturing someone. Do you have any idea of the noise they'd make and the smell? I'm familiar with masochist who actually enjoy a bit of brutality in a scene and frankly I'd usually end up with a headache.
I could fake it really well though, I could read and play back what they wanted.
Mostly I am done with it though. Bunch of weirdos
I have noticed in a lot of people that say that they like pain, that in reality they don't. If they met an actual sadist, one that was wired for torture, not play, they would tap in thirty seconds. It's fine to indulge your emotional payoffs with willing partners to feel like they are out of control and at the mercy of someone else. It is quite another to actually be at someone else's mercy who does not care about a "safe word".
At the end of it all masochist want to be in control of everything that happens.
That seems to be the case