2007-12-14 02:53:44 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
Ted Bundy , The Iceman, BTK, Gacy.... these are fine examples of people without a conscience- also called Sociopaths.
It is possible to not have a conscience... the definition of the word makes that clear:
Conscience is an ability or faculty or sense that leads to feelings of remorse when we do things that go against our moral values, or which informs our moral judgment before performing such an action.
2007-12-14 05:01:31 · answer #1 · answered by terrellmingus 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well we have just studied this in my Psychology class and the extent to which to not having a conscience is possible, is unclear. A guy named Bowlby did research into this and believed that extreme maternal neglect could develop into Affection less Psychopathy. Some traits of this are the ability to not feel guilt and to be, effectively in a state of lovelessness.
E.g. A boy shot a girl in the head at a young age (they were both young). When they questioned the boy on how he felt he said "I have said sorry". He showed no remorse or large degree of guilt that we would experience.
2007-12-14 03:57:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most definitely, YES!
As many responders ahead of me have explained, that is what a "sociopath" is - someone who does not have a conscience.
Some have said that it is not possible - that everyone has a conscience, but some ignore it. I do not believe that's true. I DO know people like what they are describing, but they are very different from a socioppath. I call them "emotional ostriches" because they figuratively "hide their heads in the sand" to avoid admitting guilt (even to themselves - or should I say, ESPECIALLY to themselves?) when they do something wrong.
There is no question that BOTH are capable of doing great harm because they feel no guilt, but I have known people of BOTH types and there is CLEARLY a VAST difference between them.
The difference lies in HOW they deal with guilt. The "emotional ostrich" avoids, evades and hides from it, but the total sociopath has no need to hide from something that does not exist for him/her.
When an "emotional ostrich" hurts someone, he/she instantly convinces themself that they really did no damage. When a sociopath hurts someone, he/she couldn't care less because they really feel NOTHING.
Their mental monologues would go something like this:
Emotional Ostrich: "He/she's not REALLY hurt that much. They're just dramatizing. No real harm - no foul."
Sociopath: "Yeah, I hurt someone. So what if I did? Why shouold that matter to ME, anyway?"
To the "emotional ostrich", guilt is a terrible, scary monster to be avoided, evaded sub-consciously fled from at ANY and ALL costs.
To the sociopath, it makes no difference because he/she never feels it - it is totally non-existent to him/her.
BOTH of these types are equally dangerous, though, because they are both equally capable of harming others and feeling nothing for doing it. Like extreme heat and extreme cold can BOTH cause burns, but they are two very different things - exact opposites!
2007-12-14 06:31:28 · answer #3 · answered by monarch butterfly 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, your conscience is what you automatically think/feel when your doing something. it makes you think about what youre doing- whether youve done wrong etc. it usually works so quickly that we dont even realise its happening- it just relates back to what has happened to you in your life, what youve done, and it tries to sort out whether you shoulod think what your doing is a good or a bad thing. it is usually just an instinct- a gut feeling that you get when you do something which stops you or lets you carry on doing whatever youre about to do, and you usually dont even know its happened.
it is impossible not to have a conscience, but some people have been brought up not to care/ know what they are doin is wrong. they have a conscience still, but theirs just doesnt alert your emotions, whatever, for the normal things that everybody elses does.
2007-12-14 03:02:27 · answer #4 · answered by eden.minx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The person above is correct it is impossible not to have a conscience, but it is possible it can be affected by certain mental health disoders such as Borderline Personality Disorder etc
2007-12-14 03:04:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is always there.
Only thing majority (99.99%) of people are not just aware of it.
It is AWARENESS which brings back towards the conscience
2007-12-14 03:04:33 · answer #6 · answered by mayankshahinsure 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, theyre called females!!! lol!!!
no but seriously,.most people dont have a conscience
2007-12-14 03:04:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe the technical term for that is Psychopathy--also known as Sociopathy
2007-12-14 02:58:09 · answer #8 · answered by Pi 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes indeed for those people who just dont care about shlt, it is very rare but there are some people out there that is like that.
2007-12-15 03:32:45 · answer #9 · answered by cupkeasy 2000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're called sociopaths.
2007-12-14 03:01:38 · answer #10 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋