I also wanted to get confirmation that other people have similar problems with sociopaths
One data point for you—I don’t.
Given the base rate for these things, it appears that you’re choosing to ignore information so you don’t feel obligated to deal with it.
Isn’t that the same sort of data-ignoring that you’re complaining that he does? You just asked for some data, he gave it to you (he told you he doesn’t have such problems) and you refused to believe it. What’s the point of even asking people to confirm something if you won’t accept “no, I confirm the opposite” as an answer?
I read his comment as “I don’t want to know about other people having problems with sociopaths”, not as “I don’t have problems with sociopaths”.
That makes sense...his comment isn’t quite as bad then. To put it in another context (poverty instead of sociopathy), he meant something like “I’m not poor, hahah!” and I thought he meant “I like to ignore the poor, haha!” He’s just saying he’s high-status, and I thought he was saying he enjoys enjoying laughing at low-status people.
I think even that is being unfair to him. “I don’t have problems with sociopaths and I think it’s because I’m not the kind of person who sociopaths bother” may be a claim of high status, but “I don’t have problems with sociopaths and I think that’s because people in general don’t have problems with sociopaths, and you’re biased or unlucky” is not. (It can’t be a claim of high status—if it is, that would mean that your question is a catch-22, where anyone who actively fails to confirm you is automatically claiming high status.)
people in general don’t have problems with sociopaths
I agree it sounds like he’s claiming the above. I don’t see how this is useful or accurate, because it fits the pattern of “people in general don’t have problems with (X widely known problem)”.
I agree, someone who does not notice sociopaths likely has higher status than someone who does.
I can believe he genuinely doesn’t see sociopaths in his community. Given the base rate for sociopathy is ~1% and that he has probably met, very roughly, 4,000 people, the probability that he has never met a sociopath in his community is (.99)^(4,000)=3.47*10^-18. In other words, the probability that he has met a sociopath and didn’t realize it is ~100%.
This conversation becomes pointless. As Thucydides said: questions of justice only exist between equal powers.
In other words, the probability that he has met a sociopath and didn’t realize it is ~100%.
“I don’t have problems with sociopaths” doesn’t mean that he has met absolutely zero sociopaths, so this calculation is meaningless.
I agree, someone who does not notice sociopaths likely has higher status than someone who does.
The point is that it’s not higher status. What you basically did was a catch-22 where you “asked for information”, but set it up so that everyone would either have to agree with you, or be interpreted as making a status grab.
Isn’t that the same sort of data-ignoring that you’re complaining that he does? You just asked for some data, he gave it to you (he told you he doesn’t have such problems) and you refused to believe it. What’s the point of even asking people to confirm something if you won’t accept “no, I confirm the opposite” as an answer?
I read his comment as “I don’t want to know about other people having problems with sociopaths”, not as “I don’t have problems with sociopaths”.
That makes sense...his comment isn’t quite as bad then. To put it in another context (poverty instead of sociopathy), he meant something like “I’m not poor, hahah!” and I thought he meant “I like to ignore the poor, haha!” He’s just saying he’s high-status, and I thought he was saying he enjoys enjoying laughing at low-status people.
I think even that is being unfair to him. “I don’t have problems with sociopaths and I think it’s because I’m not the kind of person who sociopaths bother” may be a claim of high status, but “I don’t have problems with sociopaths and I think that’s because people in general don’t have problems with sociopaths, and you’re biased or unlucky” is not. (It can’t be a claim of high status—if it is, that would mean that your question is a catch-22, where anyone who actively fails to confirm you is automatically claiming high status.)
I agree it sounds like he’s claiming the above. I don’t see how this is useful or accurate, because it fits the pattern of “people in general don’t have problems with (X widely known problem)”.
I agree, someone who does not notice sociopaths likely has higher status than someone who does.
I can believe he genuinely doesn’t see sociopaths in his community. Given the base rate for sociopathy is ~1% and that he has probably met, very roughly, 4,000 people, the probability that he has never met a sociopath in his community is (.99)^(4,000)=3.47*10^-18. In other words, the probability that he has met a sociopath and didn’t realize it is ~100%.
This conversation becomes pointless. As Thucydides said: questions of justice only exist between equal powers.
“I don’t have problems with sociopaths” doesn’t mean that he has met absolutely zero sociopaths, so this calculation is meaningless.
The point is that it’s not higher status. What you basically did was a catch-22 where you “asked for information”, but set it up so that everyone would either have to agree with you, or be interpreted as making a status grab.