May 8, 2002

10:02 AM

Are you an identiopath?Do you know anyone who is? Deadpan satire from Hermenaut.
posted by darukaru (5 comments total)

Individuals with this disorder may perceive themselves as possessing superior intellectual powers and a vast capacity for empathy, causing them to have an unreasonable expectation of deference or automatic compliance with their values and beliefs (Criterion 5); they often appear haughty and arrogant, and believe they can only be understood by, or should only associate with, other "special people"

i KNEW it! mefi is a veritable den of IPD's!
posted by quonsar at 10:30 AM on May 8, 2002

I defer to quonsar on this...
posted by srboisvert at 11:40 AM on May 8, 2002

Indeed, the college campuses and coffee shops of America are rife with epidemic levels of IPD.
posted by me3dia at 1:02 PM on May 8, 2002

I go to Bard College, which is known for being "liberal" and "lefty" -- and though I'm pretty left-wing myself, I feel like it's in a completely different way from most of the kids around me, whose politics seem to stem primarily from the instinct to rebel. I wouldn't call it a "disorder" -- it's just a natural part of growing up mentally, in the same way puberty is physically. (I can see it now: "Pathological Boy-Craziness, often comorbid with Swelling Chest Syndrome and Mood-Swing Psychosis.") I find it irritating, but only because I wasn't so into "rebelling" -- it's just something that people will get past eventually. A related issue is the obsession among more intelligent high-school students (in my experience) of being obsessed with "conformity." It's just an idea that becomes important to people of that age.
posted by tweebiscuit at 2:19 PM on May 8, 2002

Hermenaut is one of the best publications around. Too bad they haven't had a new issue in over a year. Does anyone know if it's ever coming back?
posted by rex at 3:19 PM on May 8, 2002