"Pedophiles are just deceptive liars" to go, please.I didn't get the impression that the caller actually believes minors can consent. I think he was lying. I think Max was right about him getting off on the power differential itself. Him switching frameworks every time Max refuted something he said reinforces my belief on that. He doesn't really believe any of that stuff, he's just wriggling out of direct confrontation.
Close. Very close.The closest he got to breaking through his web of delusions was when he asked what would happen if intercourse with women were outlawed. That’s the closest he got to saying “I didn’t behave, but you hypocrites would have done the exact same thing in my position, I despise all of you and you are no better than me.” You can tell that’s what he believes deep down. He can’t even fully own that, let alone think that he might have done something horrible.
And then a recent post from Max:
His willingness to universalize certain traits is one thing I like about him. I don't agree with his conclusions or his exact characterization here. But it looks like I did help shake him out of a bit of a false binary he had set up. He's stuck on the "predator" label, but perhaps I helped him move a bit beyond "adults that engage sexually with minors lack a conscience".Yeah, this interview kind of blurred the lines for me between rationalization and lack of a conscience--I think they might be the same thing.
I always thought of predators as pure psychopaths who know they are hurting people, but now I think maybe all rationalization is psychopathic, and some people just do it more than others.
