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They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry.
When Jon Ronson is drawn into an elaborate hoax played on some of the world’s top scientists, his investigation leads him, unexpectedly, to psychopaths. He meets an influential psychologist who is convinced that many important business leaders and politicians are in fact high-flying, high-functioning psychopaths, and teaches Ronson how to spot them. Armed with these new abilities, Ronson meets a patient inside an asylum for the criminally insane who insists that he’s sane, a mere run-of-the-mill troubled youth, not a psychopath—a claim that might be only manipulation, and a sign of his psychopathy. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud, and with a legendary CEO who took joy in shutting down factories and firing people. He delves into the fascinating history of psychopathy diagnosis and treatments, from LSD-fueled days-long naked therapy sessions in prisons to attempts to understand serial killers.
Along the way, Ronson discovers that relatively ordinary people are, more and more, defined by their most insane edges. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating adventure through the minds of madness.
Two years ago I drove the legendary Canadian psychologist Robert Hare through the Welsh countryside so he could catch his train to the airport. We saw a car crash. Someone had been thrown clean through the window. The shock of it sent my amygdala into overdrive. It shot signals of fear and distress up and down to my central nervous system like there was no tomorrow. I started swerving all over the road.
"Psychopaths would see that crash and their amygdalae would barely register a thing," said Bob.
The way he described the amygdalae of psychopaths reminded me of one of those Hubble photographs of a dead planet. My amygdala, conversely, was like one of those Hubble photographs of solar flares. I was, in my over-anxiety, the neurological opposite of a psychopath.
Then Bob said, almost to himself, “I should never have done all my research in prisons. I should have spent my time inside the Stock Exchange as well.”
I looked at Bob. “Really?” I said.
He nodded.
“But surely stock market psychopaths can’t be as bad as serial killer psychopaths,” I said.
“Serial killers ruin families,” shrugged Bob. “Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies.”
This – Bob was saying – was the straightforward solution to the greatest mystery of all: why is the world so unfair? Why all that savage economic injustice, those brutal wars, the everyday corporate cruelty? The answer: psychopaths. That part of the brain that doesn’t function right. You’re standing on an escalator and you watch the people going past on the opposite escalator. If you could climb inside their brains you would see we aren’t all the same. We aren’t all good people just trying to do good. Some of us are psychopaths. And psychopaths are to blame for this brutal, misshapen society. They’re the jagged rocks thrown into the still pond.
It seemed such an extraordinary thought – almost the wild supposition of a conspiracy theorist. But Bob Hare and his fellow psychologists, who believe much the same thing, weren't conspiracy theorists. They were thoughtful and reflective and clever. Their statistic was this: a little under 1% of regular people are psychopaths, meaning an absolutely absence of empathy. 25% of the prison population are psychopaths (and are responsible for 60% of prison unrest). And nearly 4% of people at the top of the corporate tree are psychopaths. You're four times more likely to be ruled by a psychopath than you are to have one as your subordinate.
"But getting access to people like that can be difficult," Bob said. "Prisoners are easy. They like meeting researchers. It breaks up the monotony of their day. But CEOs, politicians…” Bob looked at me. “It’s a really big story,” he said. “It’s a story that could change forever the way people see the world…”
That was the conversation that convinced me I had to journey, armed with my new psychopath-spotting abilities, into the corridors of power.
It's two years later, and my book, The Psychopath Test, is finished. The conclusion I came to is that Bob is right. Capitalism, at its most ruthless, is a physical manifestation of psychopathy. Theirs is the brain anomaly that shapes our world.
But I learned someone else – there is a terrible seductive danger in spotting psychopaths everywhere. In fact becoming a psychopath spotter turns you a little psychopathic. You start to dehumanize people, define them by their maddest edges, wedge people into the box marked psychopath. Almost every journalist I meet asks me, Is Donald Trump a psychopath? Is Dominique Strauss-Kahn? This morning I got an alarming email from a reader. She wrote, “Damn, how many people miss the point? I was just listening to Sean Hannity and he began quoting you, referencing in all seriousness the list of psycho criteria. And then he went on (in TOTAL seriousness, mind) to explain that president Obama fits the facts and qualifies. How easy it is to marginalize (and lock up) anyone who doesn't agree with us.”
I couldn't have put it better.
— Jon RonsonFrom the author of The Men Who Stare at Goats (2005), another readable, entertaining excursion into extreme territory.
London-based journalist Ronson delves into the realm of mental illness, traveling to the notorious British facility Broadmoor to meet "Tony," who claimed to have successfully "faked" madness—he feigned a disorder to avoid jail for a violent assault, and has been held ever since despite his protests. Psychiatrists assured Ronson that Tony was not insane, but psychopathic, a distinction that led the journalist to Canadian psychologist Robert Hare, who developed a "checklist" of personality traits to reveal psychopaths (who are by definition glib and deceptive). Ronson interviewed Hare and took his seminar. Hare contends that "psychopaths are quite incurable" due to brain abnormalities, and that his research provides the best methods for rooting them out. Hare's seminar suggests that the detached sadism and lack of empathy which criminal psychopaths demonstrate can be seen in the wider world, where they cause great harm despite being only 1 percent of the population. "Serial killers ruin families," he says. "Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies." With this notion in mind, Ronson experienced chilling encounters with a Haitian death-squad leader and with Al Dunlap, a corporate raider who took great joy in firing people. Although the book's various strands don't fully coalesce, they remain engaging; Ronson is skilled at handling disturbing subject matter and difficult interview subjects with breezy insouciance. Yet the undertones are disturbing: While society seems unable to stop true psychopaths before they inflict major damage, Ronson argues that disturbed people like Tony essentially become "nothing more than a big splurge of madness in the minds of the people who benefit from it." The author's critique of these individuals within the mental-health industry will surely attract controversy.
Bizarrely captivating look at the terrifying mental disorder of psychopathy, the difficulty of its treatment and the professional infrastructure surrounding it.
As stated in the title there indeed is a psychopath test and Jon Ronson takes you along for the ride as he finds out what the test is and how its applied. This book is an eye opening experience! Through the 'crazy' of psychology, the sorted history of the DSM, the very powerful corporate psychopath, and even the theorys of Scientologists and their quest to bring down all things good and bad behind the practice of psychologists around the world. No matter your personal view it brings to light the disturbing history of science in the name of the greater good and propells you to want to search for more. Great read!
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 5, 2011
I enjoyed this fast and easy read. It's thought-provoking without being preachy. Ronson's self-depricating humor keeps the book going when it starts to get heavy.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 4, 2011
All in all a good read. I was a little distracted by his writing style as the book seemed to hop skip around chronologically. I did find myself laughing at times and liked being able to draw my own conclusions at the end. A good interesting read for the layperson and would recommend.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 7, 2011
This was interesting to read as someone who works in the mental health field. It brought to life some of the most facinating aspects of the field while asking us to reflect on how we practice as clinicians.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 5, 2012
It was an interesting look into the world of psychology and what many professionals diagnose as "crazy". I enjoyed that it was from a journalist's point of view, which gave it a different perspective.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 25, 2011
This novel was not a very quick read; however, you were able to follow the time line very easily. By the end of the novel you may wind up having more questions about humanity than you initially wanted. I recomend this novel to anyone working in the psychological field or anyone interested in the human mind.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Started off kinda confusing, but all tied together and after first chapter didn't want to put it down. Makes you think ... for sure.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 31, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. I love to learn and the author presents his story in a way that allows you to come to your own conclusions. He even questions his own opinions and I found this caused me to have some self introspection. I am pretty sure that I only personally know 1 or 2 psychopaths, which is good news to me.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 29, 2012
Loved this book. Jon ronson is a fascinting writer with a great sense of humour.
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Posted January 1, 2012
I greatly appreciate Jon's dedication to painting a clear picture for his reader. He really knows how to take you on his journey. The man interviewed very scary and very interesting people. I have always enjoyed reading about psychology and this book was a lot more exciting than most books in the same genre.
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Posted December 17, 2011
Informative, creepy, sad, humorous
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Posted October 20, 2011
Quick read, couldn't put it down! Definitely thought provoking.
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Posted July 24, 2011
short read full of anecdotal stories and simplified research
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Posted June 25, 2011
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11562771
Posted June 25, 2011
Interesting, funny and a quick fascinating read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I loved the premise but found the plot to be lacking. I would have preferred the data to be presented in more of a reference-type work.
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Posted June 15, 2011
Boring not worth the time, effort or expense to read
0 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 2, 2011
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Posted July 2, 2011
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Posted June 13, 2011
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Overview
They say one out of every hundred people is a psychopath. You probably passed one on the street today. These are people who have no empathy, who are manipulative, deceitful, charming, seductive, and delusional. The Psychopath Test is the New York Times bestselling exploration of their world and the madness industry.
When Jon Ronson is drawn into an elaborate hoax played on some of the world’s top scientists, his investigation leads him, unexpectedly, to psychopaths. He meets an influential psychologist who is convinced that many important business leaders and politicians are in fact high-flying, high-functioning ...