I think it is really important to note that “sociopath” in the article does not necessarily mean literal-sociopath (and while I think it was useful-ish as a rhetorical trick to make the article stand out more, I don’t think it’s a good idea to discuss the problem in real, practical detail while continuing to use the sociopath label)
Sociopath here means “someone who’s trying to extract resources from the community, who doesn’t actually care about the community’s core value/creations.” (Or, “cares more about extracting resources than they do about the original value, enough so that they start subverting that value.”)
Yes, overloading the word sociopath is a bad idea. There are true sociopaths out there and knowing how to interact with them can be important. Prisons did raise recidivism rates of sociopaths by giving them the same “empathy for victims” training that works for the average prisoner to reduce recidivism rates.
Leecher might be a more appropriate word for a person who extracts resources without giving anything back. You might turn a leecher into a contributing member of a community by appealing to moral principles but the same approach is useless for a true sociopath.
I think it is really important to note that “sociopath” in the article does not necessarily mean literal-sociopath (and while I think it was useful-ish as a rhetorical trick to make the article stand out more, I don’t think it’s a good idea to discuss the problem in real, practical detail while continuing to use the sociopath label)
Sociopath here means “someone who’s trying to extract resources from the community, who doesn’t actually care about the community’s core value/creations.” (Or, “cares more about extracting resources than they do about the original value, enough so that they start subverting that value.”)
Yes, overloading the word sociopath is a bad idea. There are true sociopaths out there and knowing how to interact with them can be important. Prisons did raise recidivism rates of sociopaths by giving them the same “empathy for victims” training that works for the average prisoner to reduce recidivism rates.
Leecher might be a more appropriate word for a person who extracts resources without giving anything back. You might turn a leecher into a contributing member of a community by appealing to moral principles but the same approach is useless for a true sociopath.
“Leecher” cross-contaminates with lecher. In my neck of the woods the usual verb is “to mooch”.
Okay, moocher works well.