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Ray Wilson, M.A., Ph.
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Why a "Ph" & no "D")
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About The SocialPath © Copyright 2004 by Ray Wilson A Newspaper and Internet Column by Ray Wilson |
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That's "SocialPath" -- not "sociopath"
Oh sure.. you might know the dictionary says something else. Consequently, you might also suspect that, in the interests of full diversification, journalism is now adding the illiterate to its ranks. Don't worry. I ain't illiterate. As someone said, I don't even know the meaning of the word. I do have a way of looking at things that some might say is pathological. I prefer to think of it as off the beaten path. It's the reason that when I first saw that bumper sticker which says "Question Authority", my immediate response was, "Says who?" So that's the kind of path this column will take now and in the future, not restrained much by conventional perspectives or even language. My invented term, "SocialPath" is a less-than-subtle spin on the terms, "sociopath" and "psychopath," both describing people we might say miss the "social" path -- i.e., the one traveled by mainstream society and in society's best interest. They each go their own way for very different reasons. That difference gives us a pair of reference points we can use to create an absurdity scale to measure our own occasional wanderings. "Psychopaths" may have every intention of staying on the path of righteousness, but they have the pathfinding ability of Mr. Magoo. They may posses strong social values, a genuine commitment to doing what is "right", but their sense of right and wrong is deluded. They are -- well -- just plain nuts. Examples might be David Koresh, Tim McVeigh, and Ted Kazinski. By contrast, "sociopaths" have no social values. They're just plain evil. Some examples are Ted Bundy, Hannibal Lector, and Satan. They know right from wrong but just don't care. Psychopath. Sociopath. Delusion. Selfishness. Been there. Done that. Who hasn't? We can get selfish and we can get stupid, even without reaching the extent of blatant evil or psychosis. The "socialpath" is the conceptual path of ultimate righteousness -- i.e., the path of most social good, of the greatest value to the well-being of society. It's the "right" path. The authority for that definition is unimpeachable. It's me. I made up the term. It is the path that psychopaths cannot find and sociopaths do not seek. Let's talk more about paths. Paths don't merely "go" -- they weave! They twist and turn around obstacles, avoiding cliffs, fangs, and stenches. Good paths become well-worn, the so-called "beaten paths." Good paths are social, for people travel them, widen them to roads and highways, and leave the rest for the earth to reclaim. I've been on the planet awhile and gone down many paths that have put me in a lot of places where history was taking place. In that sense, I'm sort of like Forrest Gump. For those who didn't see the movie, Forrest Gump just happened to be in the right place at the right time to play an integral role in every history making event in this country in the last few decades. One difference between Forrest Gump and me is that he actually accomplished things. It has been suggested that he was also smarter than me.
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