Loved the new Sherlock. I couldn't watch with the attention I would've liked as I was trying to do some housework while it played, but one thing nagged at me, a line Sherlock utters to Anderson, the forensics guy, while Lestrade and Scotland Yard toss 221B. Sherlock quips, "I'm a high-functioning sociopath, not a psychopath. Do your homework." (I'm quoting from memory, those may not be the exact words.)
What's the difference? Depends who you ask. Google "
sociopath vs psychopath" and see if you can find two answers that don't contradict one another. It wasn't very clear to me; if I'd been scoring the Sherlock character using the traits associated with each, I think it would have been a mix of both.
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| Holmes and Watson via BBC |
So, I'm curious what Sherlock ( and Moffat) have in mind as the definition of "high-functioning sociopath" (sounds a bit like they're associating the condition with autism, there's a whole 'nother spectrum of mental states it's not easy to get your arms around) because I'd like to understand whether Sherlock has an accurate self-diagnosis (in the context of the show's definition, as well as in the context of a real world definition) and whether the accuracy, or lack thereof, might be an indication of whether he's being deceptive or not.
If you are any kind of Holmes fan, I think you'll like it a quite a bit. The performances are strong and (I've studiously avoided spoilers) this first installment has set up an enjoyable new Holmesian universe.
Update: FriendFeed search is working again (yay!) so I can finally find and embed here the post where Soup added some insight:
