First thought on reading the title: You...Have...Got...To...Be...Kidding...Me.
From Smithsonian Magazine:
The Pros to Being a Psychopath
In a new book, Oxford research psychologist Kevin Dutton argues that psychopaths are poised to perform well under pressure
When most of us hear the word “psychopath,” we imagine Hannibal
Lecter. Kevin Dutton would prefer that we think of brain surgeons, CEOs
and Buddhist monks. In his new book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success,
the Oxford research psychologist argues that psychopathic personality
traits—charm, confidence, ruthlessness, coolness under pressure—can, in
the right doses, be a good thing. Not all psychopaths are violent, he
says, and some of them are just the sort of people society can count on
in a crisis.
To further his psychopathic studies, Dutton is seeking participants
for his Great American Psychopath Survey, which he says will reveal the
most psychopathic states, cities and professions in the United States.
Try it for yourself at wisdomofpsychopaths.com.
“Psychopath” is a term that gets thrown about a lot in our culture. Are psychopaths misunderstood?
It’s true, no sooner is the word “psychopath” out than images of your
classic psychopathic killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer and a
whole kind of discreditable raft of senior politicians come kind of
creeping across our minds. But actually, being a psychopath doesn’t mean
that you’re a criminal. Not by default, anyway. It doesn’t mean that
you’re a serial killer, either.
One of the reasons why I wrote the book in the first place was to
debunk two deep-seated myths that the general public have about
psychopaths. Firstly, that they’re either all “mad or bad.” And
secondly, that psychopathy is an all-or-nothing thing, that you’re
either a psychopath or you’re not.
What is a psychopath, anyway?
When psychologists talk about psychopaths, what we’re referring to
are people who have a distinct set of personality characteristics, which
include things like ruthlessness, fearlessness, mental toughness,
charm, persuasiveness and a lack of conscience and empathy. Imagine that
you tick the box for all of those characteristics. You also happen to
be violent and stupid. It’s not going to be long before you smack a
bottle over someone’s head in a bar and get locked up for a long time in
prison. But if you tick the box for all of those characteristics, and
you happen to be intelligent and not naturally violent, then it’s a
different story altogether. Then you’re more likely to make a killing in
the market rather than anywhere else....MORE
And on reading the review: I've served with psychopaths. I know psychopaths. Psychopaths were friends of mine. Dutton, you don't know psychopaths.
(apologies to the ghost of Senator Bentsen)
