Friday, August 9, 2013

The Psychopath Test


Are you psychopathic enough to be the CEO of a large corporation or an important national politician? I’m not.

Jon Ronson is a deservedly popular non-fiction writer, known for the New Journalistic technique of immersing himself into his stories. In The Psychopath Test, Ronson explores the history of the most comprehensive test used to identify criminal psychopaths, those narcissistic personalities, lacking in empathy, who are determined to seize what they want. Ronson realizes early on that not just rapists and serial killers fit this profile, but that many titans of industry and politicians seem to fit it as well. He wonders if these powerful men (yes, nearly all are male) are, in fact, psychopaths.

The book begins with Ronson speculating, anxiously, that he has psychological disorders, which leads him to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Ronson interviews Dr. Robert Hare and later learns how to administer the test. During those conversations, as he thinks about the ruthless nature of psychopaths, Ronson begins to speculate that many of the most powerful men in the world seem to fit the checklist. A prime candidate, he concludes, is “Chainsaw” Al Dunlop, who literally delighted in firing hundreds of employees in order to increase short-term profits. Ronson’s decision to diagnose Dunlop as psychopathic, however, then leads him to wonder about the propensity of psychiatrists to classify people into such neat categories.

This book, a tasty look at a fascinating subject, is well worth your time.

P.S.: If you learn the Hare Checklist, please let me know if you spot any psychopaths in Dickinson. I’m keeping my eye on a few suspects!

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