Do you only thank of yourself?

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I mention with a hurricane in the Atlantic "I hope it doesn't interfere with College." Dad then said I only think of myself. My thought is I hope it doesn't mess up college since I will only be going M/W and if you miss a week or two due to a hurricane that puts the class WAY behind not to mention the debri on roads (which might mean no bus and no way for me to get to college!! !!) I think this is a legitmate concern. IMO most people might think of damaged houses or others hurt but I focus/worry mainly about myself. Is that so wrong??

Most people focus on themselves, but they know it's not socially appropriate to admit it.

You admitted it, and committed a social faux pas.

I often secretly wish we would have a really severe hurricane, so I could see all the data and put it together, and watch the beauty of such a gigantic storm. Of course about two seconds later I realize that all the people caught in it wouldn't like it; and if I had the choice I wouldn't want it; but that doesn't stop me from thinking it would be really cool.

Socially, I'm not allowed to admit that, because I'm supposed to think more about the people who lost their houses and lives than the enjoyment I would get from studying a hurricane.

If you think about it, of course you wouldn't want a hurricane to hit other people any more than you want it to hit you. But your gut reaction, same as every other human, will always be about your own situation and the situation of those close to you, rather than what happens to people you don't know. That's why we learn to have more of a logical sort of compassion--the reasoning that says, "This person halfway across the world, whom I don't know, is as valuable as my best friend--even if, emotionally, I don't feel any sort of attachment to them at all."

I pretty much only think of myself. It's just the way I am and I see it as a neutral characteristic. Because of it, I'm able to get a lot done!

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I mostly think about myself but I don't think I do it more than other people do. I occasionally worry about other people, but I don't make a show of it. NTs place a high social capital on looking like nice people. I think it's more important to actually be a nice person. I could probably express more half-felt concern for other people, but it grates on me to do so. I don't know why. I should probably do it to look more normal, since it's an act when NTs do it, too.

I was always accused of being selfish as a kid. I was told that so much if someone calls me selfish, it's the same as being told my eyes are blue. Self fullfilling prophesy perhaps? Selfishness was ingrained in my idenity quite young.

I have to fein empathy and sympathy for people and often times I don't and I simply don't care if I come across as a cold hearted b***h. For people I don't know, I don't care and I don't even pretend too care. This disturbs my parents a great deal but if they wanted me to care, perhaps they shouldn't have constantaly told me I was selfish when I was a kid.

Just don't mistake "I don't automatically mirror others' emotions" for "I don't have compassion."

If you can see your friend crying and not feel any sadness yourself, that doesn't necessarily make you not a compassionate person. It just means you're not mirroring their sadness. If you take steps to help the person who's crying--bring them a tissue, hug them, try to solve the problem that made them cry, or even just stand there and wish you knew what to do--then that makes you as compassionate as any other person.

Ok I get the social faux-pas thing I guess I'm supposed to be NT and wait until the hurricane is knocking on my back door then think OMG! no college for 2 weeks!! ! NO THANKS! I like to think ahead and watch hurricanes to see where they will go just in case the college issue comes up.

It sounds like your parents aren't worth listening to. They sound like my parents. My parents tell me things like that just because they want someone to feel superior to. They told me I was spoiled for most of my teen years, and this despite the fact that I rarely ever asked for anything, because I never needed much to make me happy. They would just buy me a whole bunch of stuff and then say that's proof I'm spoiled.

My parents used to be the same way. They used to call me selfish and stubborn and they always told me that I only think of myself. I stopped listening to them when I was 20.

In those sorts of situations, yes, I always think for myself. But I have been trying not to.