A Psychopath Walks Into A Room. Can You Tell? - NPR

[BridgeTheGap]

For the past few years, scientists all over the world have been receiving a mysterious package. It's a beautifully made book, and it's filled with seemingly unsolvable puzzles with only one clue: a postmark from Gothenburg, Sweden. Now, no one could figure out who was behind them, so that's when journalist Jon Ronson got involved.

Mr. JON RONSON (Journalist, Author): So I flew to Scotland, and what I discovered, in a nutshell, is that the person who had sent out this book was nuts. And the reason why nobody could solve the puzzles was because there was no solution. It was just randomness. It was just a crackpot.

RAZ: Now somehow, this got Jon Ronson fascinated with the possibility that the man behind the books was a psychopath. So he decided to explore more, and he wrote a book about it. It's called "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry." And when he stopped by our studios, Jon Ronson told me the mystery of the mad puzzle maker reminded him of something he'd heard about before.
>
RAZ: Lots of anchors wear pinstripe suits.

Mr. RONSON: They most certainly do. And Robert Hare, the eminent Canadian psychologist who invented the psychopath checklist, has done research and has recently announced that you're four times more likely to find a psychopath at the top of the corporate ladder than you are walking around in the janitor's office.

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=136462824

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. More on Ronson's meetigns with 'Tony': extract from his book here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/21/jon-ronson-how-to-spot-a-psychopath

[kickysnana]

2. Most kids can. n/t

[supernova]

3. More to the point

how to you create a society that doesn't let psychopaths reach the top of their fields... in government, in business or technology?

Does true leadership necessarily mean not caring about people?

[MedicalAdmin]

4. Not at all. Some of the most humane places to work...

... are also companies that choose to do a lot of good in the world. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Its a byproduct of physchopaths seeking power.

[supernova]

5. That's what I mean

Some companies do care about their employees, their customers and the way they act in the world. Right now, they are the rarity. Others do not (cf. "chainsaw Al at sunbeam)

My point is how do you create a society that does not tolerate psychopaths in positions of leadership so that the majority of us who aren't psychopaths can go on about our lives without having to be impacted by these amoral self serving delinquents?

[Mopar151]

6. Make sure that HR managers are trained in spotting psychos

And screened as well. A lot of bullies will score up there, too.

[MedicalAdmin]

8. Thanks for the clarification.

And for the trip down memory lane. Chainsaw Al - I forgot about that asshat. ANd what was the name of that idiot who used to run GE by cutting workforce?

[Prophet 451]

9. It's more complicated than that

It's not that true leadership requires psychopathy but that the kind of person likely to disregard all other considerations in their life and pursue power with that sort of single-minded zeal is likely to be a psychopath.

How you prevent psychopaths from reaching that level is complicated. Partly that's because the form of capitalism our society currently employs emphasises profits while disregarding all other considerations. Psychopaths are, by definition, devoid of conscience, remorse, empathy or guilt so they're entirely willing to pursue inhumane actions which others would balk at. Psychopaths single-mindedness tends to make them bad at balancing multiple considerations so one possible avenue is to ensure that businesses are forced to make considerations other than profit.

Granted, that's partly spitballing. I'm studying Criminology but my specialism is Criminal Psychology i.e. I'm specialised in catching the bastards. Preventing them from prospering is the preserve of my collegues in the Social Policy specialism.

[groovedaddy]

7. There is a scene in the documentary "The Corporation" where a shrink who used to work in the

corporate world, makes a statement that: corporate entities are inherantly psychopathic, or something pretty close to that. He may have used the term "sociopathic." I'm not sure on the distinction between the two, if there is any.

[Prophet 451]

10. The difference is very minor

There used to be a distinction between those who are born without empathy (psychopaths) and those who, for various reasons, never develop empathy (sociopaths) but with more time and research, it's become obvious that we can't really make such a clear distinction so the modern term is Anti-Social Personality Disorder which covers both.

[chalky]

12. That's been my signature for the past year.

[rooboy]

11. check out the online documentary, "I, Psychopath"

to see a psychopath in action:

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/i-psychopath/