The word "expert" was put in quotes because it has too many definitions to count. A expert to one person is a fool to another, both for seemingly good reasons.
The point I was trying to make, obviously not very well, is that one does not have to be an accredited expert to understand a great many things. Indeed I would suggest that there are many ordinary people in the world that put experts to shame. Just because one have an accreditation, does not mean that one is an expert these days.
You are doing the very thing for which you are castigating others. You dismiss the comment of another as "armchair diagnosis" which is a judgement that you may not make even if you are an expert in that particular subject. You have already noted that it takes many sessions etc, yet you jump to a conclusion of another at the drop of a hat. Is that not the very definition of hypocrisy?
As for the things you rightly mention in your post, yes I agree and in the first case I personally have encountered the things you mention and know some of the subtleties, from first hand experience, that differentiate them from drunkenness. Nevertheless I am not an expert but in this particular case if I judge someone to be drunk then the odds are very good that they are. But I am not accredited. Is my experience or anyone else's to be dismissed because a certificate is not held? I think not. In some places and in some subjects holding a certificate is usually in indicator that the person is going to be useless in that subject, but that's a discussion for another time.
Be that as it may, the statement raised by Drew to which you originally replied, still stands. "Interestingly, an inability to empathize with another person's feelings is indicative of a sociopathic pathology." is correct whether stated by an accredited expert or not. It is one of the gross symptoms of a sociopath. Whether it applies or not is another matter. Do you have a certificate in psychiatric diagnosis? Or medicine? You have after all, posted about a number of medical conditions. If you do not then you are as guilty of the things you accuse others.
My word, such deep philosophical discussions for a Saturday morning and I've not even had my first cup of coffee! wonders will never cease!
Isn't that a clinical diagnosis of personality disorders and psychiatric illness after reading a few sentences in a forum post?
