How to be a Psychopath - chapter 4 - gaslighting

                                                                 ***gaslighting***

 

How is it, in the face of the laws governing the physical universe, that psychopaths can manipulate reality and appear to change the fabric of time and space? Welcome to the peculiar tendency for psychopaths to gaslight; to wrangle reality like herding cats. Beginning psychopaths must learn this skill but ignore the ultimate pointlessness and self-destructive nature of it. First you must have a working understanding of the laws of nature; do not fear, you can choose to ignore these relative to the fraudulence of your conspiracy theories. Once you know the texture of reality you can begin to stain it. To answer the question stated above, psychopaths are not required to change the fabric of time and space, when gaslighting they need only to make it waggle a bit. Yes, the psychopath must see the world around them as if the tail is wagging the dog. Or in terms of gaslighting, they must convince their victims to take the tail for a walk.

Do not read: We all tell white lies. Sometimes it is to protect feelings or to avoid extraneous tensions, or for efficacy. The psychopath may have white lied in a similar way then realised the social viability boosting potential of subtly augmenting reality. Gaslighting is plausible misrepresentation. The plausibility is essential.

New psychopaths must also learn to become committed conspiracy theorists. Your understanding of the laws of the physical universe will help you. However, they will need to be ‘corrected’. This is problematic, your lies will be exposed ultimately. Most reasonably well-adjusted people are gaslighting literate; this is also a problem. Be warned, being called-out for your fakery will have major consequences for your social viability. Try to make your misrepresentations of reality as plausible as possible. They will be unsustainable and lead to ostracization however, the gaslight can only burn if the fuel includes large amounts of plausibility. Too much plausibility and your augmentations will be inconsequential; you must avoid the truth unless you are pretending to want to be a psychopath and secretly desire authentic relationships and reciprocating love.

Do not read: effective gaslighting happens when the manipulator can make their victim say the lie. Remember chapter 2, every utterance you make is heard by you, or your-self towards its own substantiation; in other words, when you talk to yourself be kind. If the psychopath can get you to say the lie, they have successfully made you change your own sense of self. Be aware of relentless questioning that is trying to illicit a specific response from you. Also, understand psychopaths who are not hearing from you what they are coercing you to say will find a way to put your words in their mouth. Statements such as, ‘I thought you were the type of person that would see your friends for what they really are’, or ‘I imagined you’d have the strength to say, screw you dad!’ are red flags. Phrases such as ‘type of person’ and ‘I imagined’ are image prompting. They force the mind to recognise images of your-self; because of the dexterity of the imagination these mind-pictures powerfully influence self-definition. In other words, this kind of emotional blackmail evokes a strong image in the mind of the victim of themselves, whereby they conceive their self as weak or imperceptive. If you are being over-exposed to phraseology that encourages you to conceive ‘pictures’ of yourself that are inconsistent with a ‘balanced’ perception you have of yourself, be aware. In this way, fashion magazines and Instagram influencers have a kind of gaslighting effect; they are powerful image evokers, planting pictures of your-self into your own head that are inconsistent with the innate beauty nature has gifted you with.

Becoming a conspiracy theorist requires the ability to edit reality. But it’s something like editing a document by putting whiteout on the computer screen. So long as no one scrolls down or changes apps the edit will maintain integrity. In other words, so long as you restrict the subject of your theories to anything that is difficult to disprove by casual observation, you will be safe. The earth is flat is a good example; the curvature of the planet is difficult to discern with the naked eye. But if you try to convince everyone at the dinner party that ice is not frozen water but is a tasteless mind control substance, put into ice trays by government robots when the fridge door is closed. Be prepared to be challenged by physics when the ice cube returns to a liquid state in your glass without the intervention of robots.

Do not read: How not to be gaslit? Learn some of the laws of the physical universe. This dabbling in a bit of science will help you spot conspiracy theorists and truth revisionists. Tune in to the emotional blackmail. The reason why you didn’t tell your father to go screw him self probably has nothing to do with the strength of your character, the gaslighter will want you to believe otherwise. Finally, flip their assertions; for any argument they pitch consider the alternative. This is a trick satirists and comedians use; impartially consider the opposite of everything. This can be difficult when the subject matter is confronting or personal. Try to remember, a good gaslighter is trying to coat the lie with as many layers of plausibility as possible. By simply asking yourself, what if the opposite was true, you will begin to see through those layers of plausibility. For example, 'I find it hard to believe that Sarah would tell Jane that she wants to sleep with my husband, Sarah was my maid-of-honour, what if the opposite is true, Sarah didn’t say that, Jane made it up because she is jealous of the friendship I have with Sarah?'

The skinny: Trainee psychopaths, should try to ignore the fact that gaslighting is lying. It’s a kind of lie that attempts to restrict the flow of another person’s life. It is something like keeping a bird in a cage, except the cage must be replaced by words that create the image of a cage; talking a bird into believing it is surrounded by a cage may be possible for a period. However, it is not sustainable.

How to be a psychopath lesson 4: Don’t let the truth get in the way of your self-destruction.