Voice; @the.boneless Can't hurt feelings when there's none there

[ragnarsson]

[It's the early morning, so early some might still consider it to technically be part of the night. Deal with it, people, he cares nothing about your sleeping schedules. The only reason he's up this early is his left leg is aching and won't stop. Ah, the thrills of having a disease that create brittle bones easily. So he's bored and this is what he's left to do: bug all of you until he can get back to sleep.]

Serious question time. What does a conscience feel like? In detail, if you don't mind. Or, if you're like me and don't have one, what does empathy feel like?

[This has been on his mind as of late. Blame talks with guilt-ridden ex-assassins he's had. Ivar's been thinking a lot about it. He can fake the latter to some degree, but the former has never much bothered him, which does explain why killing comes so easily to him.]

Comments

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

That's what I'm trying to explain to you. They're not always related. Some of the most effective sociopaths gain a lot of their high functioning ability from the strength of their empathy.

It's what allows them to successfully mimic what 'society' deems normal behavior.

[ragnarsson]

.....Sounds familiar.

[Technically, Ivar's behavior falls more under the psychopath category rather than pure sociopathy, but it's a close enough match. Granted, since he's come here, finding out what people deems normal behavior has been a challenge. Such is the switch after coming from a culture that revolved around violence and killing.]

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

Is there a reason why you're curious?

[ In Will's experience, those who suffered from their psychopath nature tended to question it. Those who didn't suffer from it, simply enjoyed themselves and gave no real damns beyond their own desires. ]

[ragnarsson]

[Ivar definitely falls into the former category. He's never much cared about anything but satisfying his own desires. But at the same time, he's highly intelligent. The idea that there may be some merit to another way of thinking is something he's always willing to explore.]

I recently had a talk with someone that led me to question my own methods for dealing with situations and people. I'm going to figure out how others do it and see if there's any point in trying to do otherwise.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

That's like trying to fit yourself in an off the rack suit and call it tailor made.

[ Will pointed out. It vaguely passed over his thoughts that he should be encouraging someone to 'better themselves' but he'd lost his own moral gauge for what 'bettering one's self' looked like anymore. ]

[ragnarsson]

I'm not sure I understand that analogy, but I'll take your word for it.

[He's still not entirely certain of some modern-day concepts. Clothing is one of them. But he gets generally what Will is getting at.]

If nothing else, learning how to fake it could be useful.

[A useful skill for any psychopath trying to function in normal society and not be on anyone's radar for not being normal.]