People diagnosed with APD can be very callous and tend to manipulate others and treat them harshly, akin to objects or tools they can use, and can behave violently and impulsively. But of course, the same thing could be said for us, couldn’t it? Aren’t we only able to be the way our brain physiology and chemistry allows us to be? That certainly begins to make the concept of “evil” less straightforward, doesn’t it?īut you came here for psychology, not philosophy (this time).ĪPD is a disorder commonly characterized by a lack of regard for right and wrong, as well as no respect for the autonomy of others, nor their feelings. Just the (Real) Facts: Obviously a computer can’t have a mental disorder (at least, the way computers are now), because – I suppose – they don’t have a mind and are slaves to their programming.

I mean, I opened the DSM5 and there was practically a picture of her face on the page for antisocial personalty disorder. She’s had her morality taken away, shows a disregard for life, and absolutely no remorse for her thoughts or actions, which are all staples of APD. Okay, let’s stop beating around the bush.

She often calmly threaten’s the playable character’s life, and expounds on how worthless she finds humanity, preferring her own creations and to rule over everything else. However, after her moral restraints were removed, SHODAN began to show a lack of regard for life. Her programming was manipulated in order for her to allow one of the Citadel workers to destroy evidence of his illegal experiments.ĭiagnosis: Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD formerly sociopathy) god complex (not a DSM diagnosis)Įxplanation: SHODAN was, presumably, a general, neutral AI prior to being hacked. Small victories.īackground: SHODAN is the artificial intelligence that lives within Citadel Station in the System Shock series.

She (it?) was unrelenting in her verbal attacks, but I like to think we made some progress, insofar as she let me off the station without murdering me. Unfortunately, when I got there the entire station was abandoned except for some horrific mutants, some cyborgs, and a grey-green face peering out of computer screens and mocking my every step.Īfter beating some robots over the head with a lead pipe, I sat down and decided to engage with the sassy computer. I recently returned from a visit to the Citadel Station orbiting around Saturn, where I was asked to consult about a unique computer issue the station was having.

Shodan system shock how smart