--- In [email protected], "curtisdeltablues" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "hugheshugo" > > <richardhughes103@> wrote: > > > > > > I have reached a conclusion on the Hitler conspiracies, I > > > think it's all caused by fear. Fear that if Hitler wasn't > > > possessed/in league with aliens/ the devil etc. then he > > > must have been closer to us than we like to admit. Just > > > a man. How close to his madness are we? That, I think, > > > is the fear that drives this. > > > > Bingo. > > > > The higher the "pedestal of evil" folks place Hitler > > up on, the less they have to deal with the possibility > > that he was Just Like Them. > > Although I agree with this point in general, in the specific > I think there are some people who are functioning outside the > social contract. Of course I am not going to need to invent > demons for this. But the book "The Sociopath Next Door" > opened my eyes to an interesting POV that there is a substantial > population of people who do cannot feel empathy, and have no > conscience as we know it Only a small percentage become criminal > and even smaller become murderous. But functioning in society > without the restraints of the social contract can unleash a > predatory behavior. Hitler was different from us in many > important ways.
I have no problem with you believing this, but I don't. The sociopath is *no different* than any of us; he's just pursued certain aspects of his normal, everyday humanity in non-everyday ways. *Everyone* has the potential to be a sociopath. *Everyone* has the potential to be a Gandhi. What determines which path they choose is as much a mystery to me as it is to anyone else, but I firmly believe that Hitler was no more essentially "evil" or a "sociopath" than Gandhi was. Bharitu and I share a kinda Tantric TV addiction. :-) We both like a series on Showtime called "Dexter." Dexter is pretty fascinating, because he's a nerdy guy who works during the day as a forensic scientist for the Miami police department, and who moonlights as a serial killer. In his way, he's a monster, yer classic sociopath. Yet *also* in his way, he's just a damaged kid, and pretty likable when he's not sawing people up into tiny pieces. It's a real exercise in *compassion* to watch the series. I'm pleasantly shocked that it's still on the air. I find that in every episode I find things to (damnit!) identify with and like in Dexter, and things to not identify with and dislike in the so- called "normal" people around him. It's a TV series about breaking down the boundaries of judgmentalism. Me, I kinda like breaking down those boundaries. Others here seem to thrive on them, and feel that they are clearly on the Good Guy side of the fence. Some seem to feel that I (and occasionally you) are on the Bad Guy side of the fence. :-) I think there aren't any fences. Being human is a continuum. It stretches from saint- hood to mass murderer, and IMO each of us has every point along the continuum within us. The sociopath isn't different than I am; he's just "acting out" at another point along the continuum. Hopefully I will never be tempted to act out in those ways, but I am perfectly willing to admit that because I am human, and so was every sociopath in history, it could happen. It's just up to me to ensure that it doesn't, and that my "creative juices" are expressed in a different way. So I don't buy any theory that paints the sociopath as "different" or "special" in any way except his behavior. JUST as I don't buy any theory that paints the *enlightened* as "different" or "special" in any way. For me, they're all Just Human.
