Are you crazy!!???

Yes to both.

Joe(what else?)Nation

I cannot agree, that one must be crazy to perpetrate an abominable crime. One can just be a sociopath. No conscience; that's all.

Go back to pre-Christian days, and the pagans thought it was a good sitcom to see a lion eat someone, I've read.

My comments above is not based on the Aurora, CO crime; it is just a general comment about abominable crimes. And, the standard question about whether Hitler was crazy? No, in my opinion; a sociopath towards those he had no use for. Quite caring to those he had a use for.

Thinking that someone must be crazy to commit an abominable crime is just medicalizing criminality in the wrong manner, in my opinion. Yes, abominable crimes reflect sociopathic behavior; and, sociopathic behavior can be argued to be a medical/mental health situation. But, the term "crazy" is just the "popular vernacular" to mean nothing nuanced, in my opinion.

Wouldent you agree that a sociopath was mentally deranged?

I think he might be unstable, hard to know at this point.

What I found the most puzzling is the fact that he told the investigators about his rigged apartment after killing twelve people and injuring others.

Official: Trap in Colorado suspect's home had 30 homemade grenades, gasoline

Um.... Foof ..... sociopaths are crazy.

That's why they are called sociopaths.

Joe(It's not a normal condition)Nation

You are adding apples to oranges. Apples being words with a nuanced (professional) definition. Oranges being words with a "popular culture" definition. Sort of like the word monkey, and then the Latin word for that type of monkey.

Background of Colorado shooting suspect full of contrasts

Crazy is just a word used in the vulgate of the English language. Sort of like "meshugina." It means everything that may not be mentally sane.

However, sociopath is a word that has a specific definition.

Like many people use the word "subconscious." That is just popular culture word. The word "unconscious" might be what is being referred to, which has specific definitions, when referring to what goes on in our brains, that we are not consciously aware of.

Highly likely.

I wonder at what level/point does political and/or religious radicalism can also be deemed as insanity by delusional thinking by an individual or collective groupthink when it pertains to mid to large scale acts of violence against noncombatants/civilian population as well, ex.: carrying out a campaign of terror against a group of unarmed civilians in order to persuade that and other civilian groups into submission, etc...?

Interesting. Where does one draw the line? Who does the line drawing?

BTW: With regard to previous posts. The second part of my question should underscore what I meant by "crazy"

Yes and no. A sociopath is a character disorder with a hopeless prognosis. They are usually the product of severe abuse and neglect or a talented and intelligent person. They are sad, but technically speaking, they're not crazy. Crazy is psychotic. That means that the person is hearing voices (hallucinations), has delusions or grandeur or percussion, lacks reality testing abilities, etc. Paranoid Schophrenics are not always dangerous. But when they are, obviously, they are extremely dangerous. More should be done to serve this very sick group of people. They are very hard to treat. They often won't take their medications and families have a huge burden in caring for them. I can't tell if this guy is psychotic or not. He has the look ok. He seems to be talking to someone in his head and the flat affect is definitely there. But he may be trying to fake it. Those eyes in the first photo we were shown and the insipid, inappropriate smile are signs that he is indeed nuts. We'll see once he's been referred for the psychiatric eval. In any case, he, his family, the victims and their loved ones all deserve our sympathy. It's a sad sad story.

Off topic a bit, but since you are here, do you see a lot of overlap between sociopath and narcissist personality disorder?

Okay, way off topic, but you don't often show up.

Hi Roger, nice to see you here. I just found how to get on, that's why I haven't been around. I don't think your question is off the subject. Sociopath is a much worse (poor prognosis) than narcissistic personality. Narcissistic personality, like everything else can be on a range of severity. I always think it's an important point out that we all have narcissism, without it we would be unmotivated. We want what we want and that is the motivator. It's called by some "healthy narcissism." It's the way we go about getting what we want that makes the huge difference. Pathological narcissism is, well pathological if a person in their efforts to get what they want hurts themselves or others, is unsuccessful in achieving enough gratification (masochism) or is sadistic, suffers from so much guilt that they disregard their feelings or others, etc. Character change is possible and narcissistic personality disorder is treatable. Sociopaths are usually so damaged, they are beyond hope. It's sad to say that a person can't be helped, but some people can't be.

<Waves to Lola while listening>

Thanks for helping with the distinction, and it's good to see you back.

What happened to the old avater?

It was cold out. . .

We should tell Nqyring (however you spell it, I beg your pardon, including for giving you a nickname when I've been so recently rattled by someone nicknaming everyone) - Lola is a longtime A2ker of much verve.

Yeah, but the original avatar radiated considerably more warmth.

Trust me, a parka's pretty warm.