Post by Arethusa on Nov 3, 2011 5:49:42 GMT -8
How to Spot a Psychopath - And Beware of What You Write in Social Media
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning, I spotted this piece that piqued my interest because it is about psychology and those who study it.
But, also being someone who does not use "social" media like Facebook and Twitter, et alia, when I got to the material posted below, my eyebrows shot up when finding another reason to be wary of it.
Anyone who's seen Tom Cruise's 2002 movie, "Minority Report", might correlate the use of social media with a trap for the unwary in the event that well-meaning, gung ho social engineers decide to use the methods employed in this study to identify the criminally insane - or those with the potential to commit such crimes - by looking at what millions of users have written on the internet.
As the bacteria living in bubbling vents in the deepest part of the oceans and at the bottom of Arctic ice have learned, there is no end to human curiosity - and eventual mining of the masses of data already provided by users of social media in plumbing the deepest recesses of the human psyche could surely become no exception.
In fact, with word that the HSD is plumbing Tweets for indicators of social unrest arising from our bad economy, it could even be happening as we speak.
How to Spot a Psychopath
By Wynne Parry
MSNBC - Live Science
October 23, 2011
". . .The researchers are interested in analyzing what people write on Facebook or in other social media, since our unconscious mind also holds sway over what we write.
By analyzing stories written by students from Cornell and the University of British Columbia, and looking at how the text people generate using social media relates to scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy scale. Unlike the checklist, which is based on an extensive review of the case file and an interview, the self report is completed by the person in question.
This sort of tool could be very useful for law enforcement investigations, such as in the case of the Long Island serial killer, who is being sought for the murders of at least four prostitutes and possibly others, since this killer used the online classified site Craigslist to contact victims, according to Hancock.
Text analysis software could be used to conduct a "first pass," focusing the work for human investigators, he said. "A lot of time analysts tell you they feel they are drinking from a fire hose." . . .
Link for more:
vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/23/8454714-how-to-spot-psychopaths-speech-patterns-give-them-away
*****
Nevertheless, I have something to add to show why observations from so called "expert" researchers sometimes need to be taken with a wary eye.
Having worked in the criminal courts, I've seen correspondence from prison inmates begging for parole at their next hearing because they had "found forgiveness in the arms of the Lord."
So it's important to be aware that talk of spirituality and family and higher values might be used as a manipulative tool by sociopaths for seducing the gullible as well.
A great Thursday and coming weekend to all!
Arethusa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This morning, I spotted this piece that piqued my interest because it is about psychology and those who study it.
But, also being someone who does not use "social" media like Facebook and Twitter, et alia, when I got to the material posted below, my eyebrows shot up when finding another reason to be wary of it.
Anyone who's seen Tom Cruise's 2002 movie, "Minority Report", might correlate the use of social media with a trap for the unwary in the event that well-meaning, gung ho social engineers decide to use the methods employed in this study to identify the criminally insane - or those with the potential to commit such crimes - by looking at what millions of users have written on the internet.
As the bacteria living in bubbling vents in the deepest part of the oceans and at the bottom of Arctic ice have learned, there is no end to human curiosity - and eventual mining of the masses of data already provided by users of social media in plumbing the deepest recesses of the human psyche could surely become no exception.
In fact, with word that the HSD is plumbing Tweets for indicators of social unrest arising from our bad economy, it could even be happening as we speak.
How to Spot a Psychopath
By Wynne Parry
MSNBC - Live Science
October 23, 2011
". . .The researchers are interested in analyzing what people write on Facebook or in other social media, since our unconscious mind also holds sway over what we write.
By analyzing stories written by students from Cornell and the University of British Columbia, and looking at how the text people generate using social media relates to scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy scale. Unlike the checklist, which is based on an extensive review of the case file and an interview, the self report is completed by the person in question.
This sort of tool could be very useful for law enforcement investigations, such as in the case of the Long Island serial killer, who is being sought for the murders of at least four prostitutes and possibly others, since this killer used the online classified site Craigslist to contact victims, according to Hancock.
Text analysis software could be used to conduct a "first pass," focusing the work for human investigators, he said. "A lot of time analysts tell you they feel they are drinking from a fire hose." . . .
Link for more:
vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/23/8454714-how-to-spot-psychopaths-speech-patterns-give-them-away
*****
Nevertheless, I have something to add to show why observations from so called "expert" researchers sometimes need to be taken with a wary eye.
Having worked in the criminal courts, I've seen correspondence from prison inmates begging for parole at their next hearing because they had "found forgiveness in the arms of the Lord."
So it's important to be aware that talk of spirituality and family and higher values might be used as a manipulative tool by sociopaths for seducing the gullible as well.
A great Thursday and coming weekend to all!
Arethusa
