Observations of a Near-Sociopath #1 Basics: Definition

To dispel further inquiries, I dub myself as a near-sociopath. Now what is this creature?

Given that nobody is prone to refer to actual book-bound tomes of definitions nowadays, I just picked up descriptions from easily-accessible sources. Sociopathy is defined by Google thus: "A person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience." On the other hand, an often more interesting source of definitions, urban dictionary, provides an alternate description: "A person with antisocial personality disorder. Probably the most widely recognized personality disorder. A sociopath is often well liked because of their charm and high charisma, but they do not usually care about other people. They think mainly of themselves and often blame others for the things that they do. They have a complete disregard for rules and lie constantly. They seldom feel guilt or learn from punishments. Though some sociopaths have become murders, most reveal their sociopathy through less deadly and sensational means."

Now, no well-liked sociopath would submit to such categorization without disclaimers. So, as most successful pathological antisocial creatures would do, I qualify that I am a near-sociopath. I agree, ‘near’ would appear to be quite a thoughtless term, denoting a certain lack of creativity. Allow me to elaborate in my defense. Nearness signifies being in such proximity to something that you might admit some sense of likeness. However, if both species are of essentially the same mold, then one or the other simply becomes a version of the other – like car models separated by year and a subtle difference in price range. In nearness, given that the object retains its being apart from the subject, one should agree that the object that is in proximity with the thing itself essentially retains its own unique composition. Connecting this to sociopaths, well, to simplify, near-sociopaths are within the same zip code – if not the same neighborhood. Therefore, there is likeness, commonality in beliefs and experience, and, for the untrained eye, obvious similarities. Of course, the disclaimer would be on the ‘pathological’ angle, given that it would put the near-sociopath in the best light. If near-sociopaths would be indulged with an approval of the said definition then the urban dictionary definition can be modified accordingly: 

Near-sociopath, noun ni(ə)r sōsēōˌpaTH/: “A person nearly with antisocial personality disorder. A near-sociopath is often well-liked because of their charm and charisma, but they usually do not care much about other people's opinions. They are concerned mainly of themselves. They have an inclination to disregard rules and modify the truth. They may consider guilt or learn from punishments, though to a lesser degree. Though near-sociopaths have interest in murders, most reveal their sociopathy through less deadly and sensational means."

Now, with the definitions ironed out, perhaps, in my next observation, I would be able to finally share acute observations on the human experiment. Till next time.

- in a perfect world this disclaimer is probably unnecessary: this is a first-person point of view of a fictitious character -