How do you view someone that spends all of their time tormenting others?

[The Stormbringer]

I view them as the President of the United States.

Badumpssh!

Oh wait... it's funny because it's true, and it's sad because it's true.

[CritFromAfar]

I view them as the President of the United States.

O-ho-ho, I see what you did there.
I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to push Grumpy Cat as president.
It's others that do the hard work, anyway, might as well have someone cute and fluffy to make the people care again.
At this point anyone would be better than Wiggy Mctruffalump.

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Plenty of torture devices throughout history...and I would condemn everyone using such things to a death penalty.

Or is this not exactly the topic?

The topic is in general so it can be about any situation you make it out to be.

Wouldn't that be kind of similiar to what they did, though?

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Well tormenting others just reflects how damaged the individual is in the first place.

So there's no time you've ever seen someone do something bad to someone else and felt it was justified?

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I don't think this is true in the slightest. This is something we tell young children as a defense mechanism to help them cope.

Plenty of adults believe it, too. How would you suggest they deal with it otherwise?

[Jonnusthegreat]

Plenty of adults believe it, too. How would you suggest they deal with it otherwise?

By not allowing it to affect them? Making things up because it makes life easier isn't a good strategy.

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

I view them as the President of the United States.

I came in here to say just that.

[Ooid]

I think that there’s something in their life or something more personal that’s causing them to lash out at others.

[CritFromAfar]

By not allowing it to affect them? Making things up because it makes life easier isn't a good strategy.

Sometimes it's not always that simple, even though a lot of times it can be. So not sure why you'd assume they would have to make it up. You make it sound like it's a common occurrence.

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"Hypothetical" so says the serial killer.

Lolwut. How am I a serial killer?

[Jonnusthegreat]

Sometimes it's not always that simple, even though a lot of times it can be. So not sure why you'd assume they would have to make it up. You make it sound like it's a common occurrence.

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Lolwut. How am I a serial killer?

You would have to make it up because it's not true. It's a lie you tell yourself to make you feel better. That's not good. Of course it's not simple but that's not the point.

[CritFromAfar]

I think that there’s something in their life or something more personal that’s causing them to lash out at others.

So, people aren't accountable for their own actions?

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You would have to make it up because it's not true. It's a lie you tell yourself to make you feel better. That's not good. Of course it's not simple but that's not the point.

So you're saying it's possible to torment someone justifiably, then?

[Doomislav]

I would say that person much have a lot of pain inside of them. Doesn't make them good people, but it does help to understand them.

[CritFromAfar]

I would say that person much have a lot of pain inside of them. Doesn't make them good people, but it does help to understand them.

So it's only possible to torment someone if you're in pain?

[Boricha]

It's something I've never seen outside of middle & high school, but it did suck at times then. I knew a really intelligent but petty rich kid who tried to scam others out of their money all the time, but would also break down crying and go screaming to the principle the moment you confronted him about anything. I viewed him very negatively.

[Sunseeker]

Not a stupid question just because you have a simple answer. You might think of more circumstances later on that might contradict your perception and make you rethink your stance.

No. Such a circumstance does not exist.

/10easyanswers

[CritFromAfar]

No. Such a circumstance does not exist.

/10easyanswers

Some people would disagree, and that's the point.

[Sunseeker]

Some people would disagree, and that's the point.

So what's the point in asking a question if the only answer you'll accept is "It depends."?

[CritFromAfar]

It's something I've never seen outside of middle & high school, but it did suck at times then. I knew a really intelligent but petty rich kid who tried to scam others out of their money all the time, but would also break down crying and go screaming to the principle the moment you confronted him about anything. I viewed him very negatively.

Why would he scam them for money if he's rich? Sounds odd.

I would like to say that most people don't do that when they're older, but I can't sincerely say that's true based on others' experiences, let alone my own. Some people never change.

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So what's the point in asking a question if the only answer you'll accept is "It depends."?

I'm not looking for "It depends", necessarily. I'm looking for how people think of my question from their own perspective, that doesn't mean I'm not going to challenge your perceptions, though. Sometimes people ignore things, or forget, or change their mind, or don't realize something. It happens. You're saying absolutely that you'll never change your mind as though you know the future, and I'm skeptical about your ability to foresee what hasn't happened yet to know that it won't or can't happen at all. You're simply saying it's one way or the other, and sometimes with a little clarification it makes sense why someone would believe that, but you were being unnecessarily combative with me as well as making absolute statements and acting like your opinion is the be-all-end-all of this thread and that there's no reason to be curious about others opinions, so I challenged your perception.

[Sunseeker]

I'm not looking for "It depends", necessarily. I'm looking for how people think of my question from their own perspective, that doesn't mean I'm not going to challenge your perceptions, though. Sometimes people ignore things, or forget, or change their mind, or don't realize something. It happens. You're saying absolutely that you'll never change your mind as though you know the future, and I'm skeptical about your ability to foresee what hasn't happened yet to know that it won't or can't happen at all. You're simply saying it's one way or the other, and sometimes with a little clarification it makes sense why someone would believe that, but you were being unnecessarily combative with me as well as making absolute statements and acting like your opinion is the be-all-end-all of this thread and that there's no reason to be curious about others opinions, so I challenged your perception.

But you haven't challenged my perception. You've only challenged me.

Challenging someone's perception or existing ideas requires something more than "You could be wrong!" Well no shit. Everyone could be wrong. You could be wrong. That's not challenging someone's opinion that's just challenging them. These are not the same.

If you want to challenge someone's opinion you need to put forth some kind of evidence or hypothetical situation which would force the person to reconsider their viewpoints. Maybe you've got an example of someone who was emotionally scarred as a child, so now they're a giant doucebag to everyone. Maybe you've got an example of a psychopath (in the medical sense) and empathy just doesn't work with them. You could frame these situations in a manner that I may consider that these people are the exception to my viewpoint, the damaged person I may pity instead of berate. The psychopath I may feel needs medication or rehabilitation.

But I would contest your assertion that these kinds of situations are exceptions because even though Person A has an 'excuse' and Person B has a 'condition' that does not make either of them incapable of choosing how they treat others. They may be more inclined to default to an abusive approach, but all that means is they have to try harder to not be abusive. It doesn't make them unable to be anything other than abusive.

THAT is how you challenge someone's stance on something. You don't just say "Well, you could be wrong!"

[Jonnusthegreat]

So you're saying it's possible to torment someone justifiably, then?

Yes, of course.

[Ooid]

So, people aren't accountable for their own actions?

Of course they are.

[Steelcryo]

Unless you're a dominatrix no-one should be tormenting anyone. Even if the person you're tormenting is an asshole themselves, who does it benefit to be an asshole?

[smityx]

Usually I view them via the Fox news