‘The Wisdom of Psychopaths’
What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers can teach us
about Success
In this engrossing journey into the lives
of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, the renowned psychologist
Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a scale of “madness” along which we
all sit. Incorporating the latest advances in brain scanning and
neuroscience, Dutton demonstrates that the brilliant neurosurgeon who lacks
empathy has more in common with a Ted Bundy who kills for pleasure than we may
wish to admit, and that a mugger in a dimly lit parking lot may well, in fact,
have the same nerveless poise as a titan of industry.
Dutton argues that there are indeed
“functional psychopaths” among us—different from their murderous
counterparts—who use their detached, unflinching, and charismatic personalities
to succeed in mainstream society, and that shockingly, in some fields, the more
“psychopathic” people are, the more likely they are to succeed.
Dutton deconstructs this often misunderstood diagnosis through bold
on-the-ground reporting and original scientific research as he mingles with the
criminally insane in a high-security ward, shares a drink with one of the
world’s most successful con artists, and undergoes transcranial magnetic
stimulation to discover firsthand exactly how it feels to see through the eyes
of a psychopath.
As Dutton develops his theory that we all
possess psychopathic tendencies, he puts forward the argument that society
as a whole is more psychopathic than ever: after all, psychopaths tend
to be fearless, confident, charming, ruthless, and focused—qualities that are tailor-made
for success in the twenty-first century. Provocative at every turn, The
Wisdom of Psychopaths is a riveting adventure that reveals that
it’s our much-maligned dark side that often conceals the trump cards of success.
Source
– A book review in Scientific American
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