Is the Pharma Bro a Pick Up Artist? Is this the apotheosis of the culture we deserve?

[daredtowork]

Shortly before the infamous price-gouging pharma bro, Martin Shkreli, was arrested on fraud charges, he declared from his Martin the God twitter account: "50-100 date solicitations a day for me, the world's most eligible bachelor. Sorry, but you have to be a shareholder to meet me." After he made bail, Shkreli spent the day browsing OK Cupid. He also had a profile on Tinder, and his interchanges on dating platforms are quite revealing.

Several of the recent massive shooting incidents invoked a "beta uprising". The grievance of "betas" is that they aren't successful at being "pick up artists" (PUAs). PUAs are the ultimate men's rights activists, who gauge their masculinity according to their success in manipulating and "scoring" women.

The case of Shkreli suggests that the PUA is not merely a misogynist: he's a sociopath. A few years ago there was some hand-wringing about the fact the business world seems to be structured to favor sociopaths. Contenders for the best compensated positions are often described as "rock stars", alluding to their sexual capture of a large audience of women. I'm wondering if this is the outcome of a process that started in the 1980s when Newt Gingrich's "Angry White Men" raged that the dismantling of their privilege meant there was no more "center" or top of the mountain for the king to seize. It seems like in lieu of enjoying White Supremacy, sociopathic men decided to mark their territory with Gender Supremacy instead.

Was this inevitable or did the broader consensus of American culture miss some chance at promoting equality on moral as well as social grounds?

[Javaman]

1. You're link "favor sociopaths" actually talks about psychopaths...

two different animals.

Just saying.

sociopaths are usually the result of a really poor upbringing: e.g. no affection, disinterested parents, history of abuse, etc.

psychopaths are mainly the result of a genetic anomaly. they are born without the ability to empathize.

while both display many of the same traits, the are very different in methodology.

sociopaths tend to be more chaotic and have a truly screwed up concept of right and wrong. And their idea and concept of empathy, while does exist in them, is also greatly skewed.

psychopaths tend to be planners, goal oriented and very methodical. The understand what right and wrong means but they have no 'governing mechanism" within themselves to properly employ it. Since they have no empathy to speak of, their outlook regarding right and wrong has no basis in emotion, so if they not of the violent type, they employ the concept of right and wrong via the most efficient solution.

I just felt the need to clear this up. the terms sociopaths and psychopaths, in society, seem to be interchangeable when they are not.

back to the main question, is Martin Shkreli a sociopath or psychopath? hard to say, without him taking any number of verbal tests. He's showing qualities of both, but then again we are all only getting a "profile" of him via the media.

if in fact he does have sexual predator overtones, then that would certainly tip the scales into the psychopath area, given what little else that has been fed to us regarding his personal life. while both sociopaths and psychopaths do have sexual issues, his being more of the methodical type, would show more of a tendency toward psychopathy.

[daredtowork]

2. Both terms were used interchangeably in describing CEOs

Thank you for clarifying the technical differences between psychopaths and sociopaths.

When this was a hot topic around a decade ago, both terms seemed to be used interchangeably when referring to CEOs. I think there might have been a split between the British and US lines of inquiry on the topic. Can one be both a sociopath and a psychopath?

[Javaman]

3. can one be a sociopath and a psychopath...

Last edited Mon Dec 21, 2015, 05:49 PM - Edit history (1)

it's kind of one or the other. One is nature (psychopath): genetic; the other is nurture (sociopath): abusive home life.

there are extremes of both on both ends. As there are also mild versions of both.

If one were genetically predisposed to being a psychopath (testing on the high end), then brought up in an very abusive home, it would certainly exacerbate the issue for sure. I guess that could be a combination of the two.

The ordinarily methodical psychopath would have a further skewed sense of reality; perhaps resulting in a more chaotic outcome of personality. That would be terrifying.