I have but one question, have any of you ever met Al Hodges? One more for the road, which one of you are a good judge of character when you are face to face with an individual and converse with him or her?
I'll say from the get-go, human behavior observations [especially by me] are seldom 100% convincing; I will continue to learn from experience. As for Al, I've never met the man and spent quality time at length in face to face interaction; I know you've had that experience numerous times. Watching from a distance, my vision is limited. I want to believe what is most convincing and positive, because all of what absolutely matters to most of us is otherwise threatened. Our beliefs harden to cement a foundation for reality. Although bias tends to petrify over time, it remains solid only until the melting point. Thus, [our] matter will change states once the candles of hope sufficiently intensify in the struggle to gain closure. Might this dark night of the soul have the ending we need, but not want? Yes, that's the risky nature of para-unusual situations that lucky folks like us regret to love to hate.
All anyone can do is continue to investigate until we discover peace of mind in having found reality standing tall without any shadow of a doubt. In this puzzle, to that end, many are committed. Of course, should massive funds suddenly appear in our hands, I could easily let bygones be bygones... admitting I've learned nothing from the entire experience. Thinking from one extreme to the other, the door of possibilities swings both ways.
We are now in a calm and silent phase of withdrawal from the public reports and private whispers that sustained life. We gather to share our soup of mixed feelings in the calm after a prolonged storm of 'the effort'. But a winding down is difficult when curiosity is saturated. The persistent pecking sound from within the thick-shelled golden egg that Al laid continues to annoy me and others with the ears to hear.
I am strangled by my patience; approaching 'soon' is an irrational journey to reach a distant point of gratification, always moving beyond reach.
-3bid
Here is some commentary on sociopaths.
People can "say" whatever they want, but you have to take the entire context into consideration, including body language, etc.
A true sociopath can fool even the most experienced psychologists and psychiatrists, at least for a short time. I have once heard it said, and I believe it to be true that sociopaths and narcissists are identified by the trail of victims that they leave in their wake.
I can't answer as to the full reason for this, although I believe a big part of it is that they fully believe their own lies and manipulations. It's either that, or they are so experienced at lying that lying comes more naturally to them than telling the truth.
I will say, however, that over the long term, you may start to notice either large inconsistencies in their stories, or even huge gaps that defy logic, and this is when anyone, especially psychologists and psychiatrists will start to pay attention. Even then, the average layperson may take longer to figure it out.
Sociopaths and narcissists can indeed fool even the most talented of psychologist and psychiatrists. Depending on how much of a sociopath the person is and how fully they believe the lies they are saying, they can fool the most talented and alert of professionals. Studies have indicated that for a sociopath lying becomes their reality, thus their lies become their truth, thus negating the validity of otherwise true statements. Sociopaths have the ability of truly making their lies seem like veridical truthful facts. The way on which they relate those lies and how convincing they seem is even more of an attribute of such individuals. They can make even the most talented of psychologists believe that what they are saying is the absolute unquestionable truth.
However soon gaps on their stories, diverse sides to it, opposite arguments and lack of consistency will give sociopath away; this can take a while to develop, so even if the psychologist has had multiple sessions with the sociopath they might not be able to pick up such flaws till well in to the therapy sections. Some even take years to start showing inconsistencies in their statements. Therefore if the sociopath only goes to visit a psychologist or psychiatrist for one or just a few sections that psychologist will most likely be fooled by the sociopath convincing stories; few are those professionals who can differentiate between truth and lies from a sociopath in the very first section.
As long as psychologists and psychiatrists are human, they will be prone to errors, even when it comes to the seriously mentally ill individual. The news is full of reports of violent individuals who were deemed safe to re-enter society, only to reoffend in even more gruesome fashion.
Sociopaths are manipulative. It's not that they believe their own lies; they lack the moral compass and conscience to care about the effect of those lies on others. That makes it much easier for them to manipulate those around them -- even the experts.
A person can't fool an IQ test. Faking intelligence won't give you the ability to solve the spatial relationship questions or number sequences that require intellect. However, if you've taken the MMPI a few times, or any other personality inventory, you can learn which questions are indicative of which illnesses. An intelligent histrionic, for example, can easily say, "Gee, histrionic people are overly dramatic and love to draw attention to themselves constantly; I don't want them thinking that of me, so I'll answer very unemotionally," and fake it. Suppose they've been accused of histrionics a few times -- if they've analyzed the situation, they can likely structure their answers accordingly. The people around them may recognize the person's destructive tendencies, but the test -- especially if it is not new material to the individual taking it -- can be manipulated, just like the expert giving it.
After taking a pre-hire MMPI and having my follow-up interview with the PD psychologist, I asked him, "So, if a mentally ill person knows that having black and tarry stools is indicative of a certain disorder, can't they simply answer that question in a way to avoid being diagnosed?" Rather than give me a straight answer, the psychologist gave me a piercing stare and said, "Did you do that?" (By the way, no, I didn't.) I believe a person CAN indeed do that, but what psychologist who is being paid to administer tests and base their professional opinions and careers on such tests is going to tell you so?
I went to the academy with a fellow who passed all the same tests I do, including the interviews. He, too, was hired (by another agency). He is currently serving a life sentence for raping, murdering, and dismembering a young teenager he met while still employed as a police officer. You be the judge: were those tests accurate? He passed them again and again as he department-hopped every time he was fired for inappropriate conduct with young boys.
While studying criminal behavioral profiling, the instructor I had told a compelling story about a case she'd profiled. The serial killer had murdered some individuals in such a horrific manner I won't share the details. The profiler met with the psychologist who deemed the murderer "safe" and "sane" and testified on his behalf. The profiler was so furious about this killer being defended in such a way, she told the psychologist specifically what the murderer had done with the body -- and the psychologist was equally furious, insisting that she did NOT want to know, and that it was irrelevant to her exam of the individual. Get this: the killer had proven that he was a deranged murderer, but the psychologist felt that it would corrupt her study to know this; it was only the test she relied on. Was THAT test valid?
So, although the average garden-variety sociopath can't outmaneuver a psych eval, a highly-intelligent or well-educated sociopath who has keen powers of observation and analysis can certainly do so. That's why con artists are so very good at what they do: they are keenly perceptive of those around them and know what makes them tick. They can influence people with great skill -- even experts. Just as an experienced doctor can misdiagnose a medical ailment (which happens all the time) despite the tests that are much more precise than a battery of psychological tests, so can a psychologist or psychiatrist. No human is immune from human error.
www.webanswers.com/social-sciences/psychology/can-a-sociopath-out-maneuver-or-fool-an-experienced-psychologist-or-psychiatrist-when-doing-a-7889c0