Vaknin Talks

Full transcripts of Sam Vaknin's videos

How Technology Killed Empathy

Modern technology has had a devastating effect on empathy, which is the foundation of both altruism and collaboration. The emergence of modern technology has rendered empathy a tedious nuisance best avoided. With the introduction of modern, fast transportation and telecommunication,

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The Signs of the Narcissist

Narcissists are difficult to spot, but there are subtle signs that can be picked up on, such as entitlement markers, idealization and devaluation, and a lack of empathy. Narcissists are often perceived as anti-social and are unable to secure the

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Psychosis, Delusions, and Personality Disorders

Psychosis is a result of severely impaired reality tests, where the patient cannot tell inner fantasy from outside reality. Psychotic micro-episodes are common in certain personality disorders, most notably in borderline and schizotypal personality disorders, but also in narcissistic personality

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Types of of Abusive Behaviors: A Proposed Classification

Abusive conduct is not uniform and can be categorized in various ways. Overt versus covert abuse, explicit versus stealth or ambient abuse, projective versus directional abuse, cathartic versus functional abuse, pattern or structured abuse versus stochastic or random abuse, monovalent

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Bullying as Art, Abuse as Craftsmanship

Abuse is about control and is often a primitive and immature reaction to life’s circumstances. The abuser’s primary colors include unpredictability, disproportionality of reaction, dehumanization, objectification, and abuse by proxy. The abuser engineers situations in which he is solely needed

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Why Narcissists Laugh in Funerals?

Narcissists fake emotions to manipulate their environment and lack true feelings. They have emotional resonance tables but no real emotions, and they defensively distort facts and circumstances to preserve their delusions of grandeur. Narcissists use emotional delegation to defend themselves

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How Can I Trust Again?

Trust is an essential component of love and an important test of it. Mistrust or distrust are induced by life’s circumstances, and to continue to not trust is to reward the people who had wronged us and rendered us distrustful

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