re: #71 HappyWarrior

With some of these people it’s something other than a lack of empathy, perhaps a pleasure in inflicting punishment. It’s a little more complicated than pure sadism in that a sense of self-righteousness seems a necessary ingredient. That’s very different from difficulty in understanding other people’s feelings even when one is trying. These people seem to get something of a jolt from the idea of others being punished, even if the punishment is disproportionate. There’s no sense of gravity which would be there if they thought punishment was necessary but regrettable.