>Would you accept the argument that someone who for whatever reason doesn't have empathy would also not be able to recognize it?

I don't bake cakes, so I of course can't recognize a cake. Everyone knows this. Magical thinking demands that it be true. You have an immaterial soul that connects you to the universe, Jeebus, and the ghost of Elvis Presley.

>watching someone cry over current events would be unrecognizable to a sociopathic person. They may even accuse the person of lying or putting on a performance.

Sure, they might do that if they were lying. Which in many cases they are. So much of the real world around you is inexplicable, isn't it? There are these secret sociopaths all around you, they look just like anyone else and they're all serial killers waiting to Hannibal Lecter you!

Or maybe, everyone's like this, but some large fraction of the population is engaged in this weird cultural phenomenon where you all compete to appear more virtuous to each other than you really are. But admitting it would just ruin the fun, eh? And what if you admit it, and then everyone else doubles down and insists it was real for them, outting you as the serial killer? Can't have that.

Empathy is only possible for people within your Dunbar number. Everyone beyond that only requires and only gets whatever civility is merited for diplomatic purposes. In your way of thinking, these so-called sociopaths... every single human is one. At least to the other 8 billion people who don't happen to be in their Dunbar circle. This explains how the cops can be so callous to the wrongly accused and to the victims alike. How soldiers are so quick to run off and commit war crimes (with or without sanctioning by superiors). Why those schoolteachers abuse the little kindergarten kids. And on and on and on. To you it's mysterious. Invisible monsters out there ready to pounce and eat you. It's why you can't fix any of this, why all those problems seem to grow out of control. Too busy trying to get everyone to pretend they have empathy which they don't.

>We feel someone else's pain.

You pretend you feel it. You don't. This isn't Star Trek, you don't have telepathy. This isn't Harry Potter, you don't have magic. But again, people will look at you weird if you admit you can't.

>Again, you have difficulty identifying real or not real empathy.

I don't at all. I have a superior talent for recognizing it. As in, you have no ability to recognize it, no potential to develop such a skill, and can't even think about it rationally enough to appreciate your shortcomings.

>You can just say I'm from environments where I couldn't figure out if anyone cared about me

"Please humiliate yourself so I can go back to competing in the Virtue Signaling World Championships! Your mama didn't love you nyah nyah nyah!"

Except she did. And I've had a few people in my life over the years who did care about me. I'd say instead it's people like yourself who have the confusion. Constantly complaining about narcissists that you somehow don't see coming a mile away. Constantly begging for updoots on reddit, your entire generation, for whining about how you might have to go no contact with your parents because they won't acknowledge your new puppy as just as important as their actual grandchildren. Hell, the most extreme of your sort have invented entire new crackpot pseudo-religions where you're not allowed to eat food because you're supposed to have empathy for it.

>Is there a universe where you can accept this diagnosis or are you pure?

Are you a licensed psychiatrist? Please private message me about the state you are licensed in, and which business name you practice under. I will accept your diagnosis if I have these details.