The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson
June 10, 2011 1 Comment
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book.
I’ve started applying the “Robert Hare Checklist” to all the people who have pissed me off in my life (Item #7 Shallow Affect), and plotting strategies for getting them locked up permanently (Item #6 Lack of remorse or guilt & Item #5 Cunning/manipulative).
In truth, I did start thinking of people in my life who fit the psychopathic mold. It’s somewhat frightening to imagine that there are really people out there who simply cannot feel empathy – ever.
I think Ronson’s writing style and (lack of) organization made this experience all the more enjoyable for me. It was kind of genius to mix Ronson’s schizophrenic tendencies with the much darker and dangerous psychopaths. Kind of like a Woody Allen interview with Hannibal Lecter. I half expected one of the psychopaths to bite Ronson’s ear off, or something.
But what I really appreciated was how Ronson addressed our tendencies to over-diagnose and to allow both simplistic solutions and outside entities with questionable motives (profit) to influence how we define normal.
Good. Stuff.
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