Wednesday, May 18, 2011

How many psychopaths can you name?


Jon Stewart on Monday's show had the author of "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through The Madness Industry".  He is Jon Ronson who also wrote "The Men Who Stare at Goats".  He uses the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.  It assigns a score of 0 if an item doesn't apply, 1 if it applies somewhat, and 2 if it fully applies.  Some of the items are: superficial charm, grandiosity, need for stimulation, pathological lying, cunning and manipulation, lack of remorse, callousness, poor behavior control, impulsivity, denial, and failure to accept responsibility.  Ronson has found that many political and business leaders pass the test and meet the criteria for being psychopaths.  Ronson is a witty man and I'm sure some of what he says is tongue in cheek but not all of it.  The one personal lesson he found from his research is that he could not be a psychopath; he's too anxious.  Psychopaths don't get anxious.  Housing bubble, what housing bubble?

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