[seven]

Actually, if Polestar were a true psychopath, he wouldn't ask about how to become desensitized, because he would have been born that way. It is possible that he simply has psychopathic tendencies, however - which would allow for some sensitivity to the pain of others.

What an unusual thread - it's adding a quirky flavor to my morning coffee, to say the least...

To answer your question, Polestar, a good way to desensitize yourself to violence is too simply pretend that anything unpleasant you see in real life is actually being viewed on your internal television - you separate yourself from what is happening thereby. (similar to how photojournalists 'distance' themselves from what they are photographing war or famine, etc.) We in America who watch violence on tv or in video games are already partly desensitized - we just don't normally realize it.

One problem with picking off the inhabitants of an ecovillage or whatnot is that once you kill the 'producers' off, the entire reason that you attacked the settlement will disappear - it will stop producing, and its supplies will eventually be exhausted. You would have to keep moving in your parasitic quest, killing off more people to sustain yourself by taking what they have. Eventually, luck would turn against you and you would be killed in turn, especially if there is any communication between areas whereby villagers could warn each other of marauders in the general area.
Sure, you might succeed for awhile, but the odds would be against you in the long run.

You say you are homeless - what are you doing, sitting around in the public library on their computers to talk about this stuff? A cyber cafe? If you want real life experience of desensitizing yourself to violence, why don't you spend some time in the nearest gang-controlled neighborhood and watch what goes on there?

[PolestaR]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seven', 'A')ctually, if Polestar were a true psychopath, he wouldn't ask about how to become desensitized, because he would have been born that way. It is possible that he simply has psychopathic tendencies, however - which would allow for some sensitivity to the pain of others.

What an unusual thread - it's adding a quirky flavor to my morning coffee, to say the least...

[pedalling_faster]

when i moved to SF i got tired of a friend yelling at me for printing paper on the laser printer & drinking bottled water.

so i spent 5 weeks sleeping in my truck while i was apartment hunting. i went to the gym every morning and developed some favorite restaurants.

it was like a vacation.

anyway, i think that's a good preparation technique. there's kind of a stigma about sleeping in your car, but, if it saves you $100 a night, it's worth it, learning to get a good night's sleep in that situation.

so i guess i got de-sensitized to the stigma of sleeping in a car. i know i could do it for longer if i had to.

as far as becoming de-sensitized to pictures of Iraqi civilian casualties, no thanks. i'd rather feel the full horror of it.

Image of child killed in the ME
{Image replaced by link to image in order to avoid Code of Conduct violation - TheTurtle}

since 9-11 i spent about 3 years living & working with people who think that is just peachy-keen and AOK, people i would share the Smith Press with and their response to such matters is, "well, there's pro's and there's cons" (the statement of a woman who was on the Repub. committee in San Diego & immersed in the evangelical Christian thing).

as far as i can tell, a lot of the people that i lived with in San Diego were and are de-sensitized. they cheered the b*mbing of Baghdad, and some of them welcomed it as a sign of the conflagration which will precede the second coming of their designated savior.

granted, the horrors were halfway around the world, and would very rarely be shown on American TV.

- - -

if, by "desensitising", you mean accepting the gap between available resources & current population, and an associated die-off (hundreds of millions of people a year), so that after seeing the grim news you still have the stamina to go out and pump the water and fire up the generator and water the food plants, i agree, it's necessary to accept the grim news and still get your own work done.

[Chaparral]

If one wishes to get desensitized to human suffering, one might own and manage Los Angeles rent controlled housing for a few years.

The scenario where this desensitization you speak of might come in handy when TSHTF and you are in the middle of a megalopolis undergoing an overshoot holocaust and you need to either get out of town without getting butchered or survive the die off.

Stalingrad comes to mind, as does Rwanda.

What many on this forum who speak of sociopaths and psychopaths fail to realize is that many of them seem very compassionate and very normal. That is what makes them so deadly; they look and act and give off vibes just like the rest of us who are "normal". Ted Bundy anyone? A sociopath who cannot conceal his sociopathy is no more problematic than a rattlesnake. It rattles when you step near and you deal with it.

My personal strategy is similar to that of Pops and Ludi and Oowolf and Heineken: just get out to where the night sky is dark, the trees are concealing and the ground is fertile. Rather than chop my way through a desperate wall of humanity, I'd rather let miles of harsh terrain be my barrier. Nonetheless, having lived through the 92 riots, i fully grok your position.

[PolestaR]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Chaparral', 'W')hat many on this forum who speak of sociopaths and psychopaths fail to realize is that many of them seem very compassionate and very normal. That is what makes them so deadly; they look and act and give off vibes just like the rest of us who are "normal". Ted Bundy anyone? A sociopath who cannot conceal his sociopathy is no more problematic than a rattlesnake. It rattles when you step near and you deal with it.

[IgnoranceIsBliss]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'P')ersonally, I think it is a stupid and unnecessary action to take.

I wouldn't want you anywhere near me knowing you have desensitized yourself to the misfortunes of others.

[katkinkate]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('IgnoranceIsBliss', '.')..Some kind of TSHTF event occurs. You and your family flee your home and try to go to your pre-arranged safe haven out of state (maybe grandma's house or something) Along the way, you see another family with kids getting beaten, shot, killed, etc on the side of the road. You must make an instant decision: stop and try to help or keep driving.
My point is that you have to be mentally prepared to keep driving.
{Edited to include: Let me clarify by saying that if I were a single woman, or a single man, or driving with just my husband and we didn't have kids, I would most likely stop, even if it meant getting myself killed. ...

[Pops]

What a stupid, do nothing thread.

Crap, makes me wonder who are the sheep and who are the wise cows getting tangled in the barbed wire escaping from a shadow.

Quit bolting at meadow muffins and get your shit together.

[HEADER_RACK]

Interesting topic. Worried about having post traumatic stress syndrome before ever being exposed to horrible stress.
I believe age is your best asset when dealing with stresses like death.Someone that is 40 or so can deal with the stresses of death better than a person of say 15.
I believe I read somewhere long ago a study was done on troops and PTSS from the average ages in wars from WWI to Vietnam. I think the average age in WWI was higher than the age of Vietnam and they did have a lower percentage rate of PTSS among soldiers.

[Narz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')eakoil: Getting ready by desensitising