Reddit reviews Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
We found 34 Reddit comments about Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
ReganBooks
Avoidance of responsibility is a primary characteristic of psychopathy. He ticks off all the other checkmarks, too. Only libel laws are protecting his ass from being called a psychopath openly. Educate yourselves about psychopaths -- I recommend these books I have read to understand my own lifelong contact with psychopaths, starting with my mother:
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Inner World of the Psychopath: A definitive primer on the psychopathic personality
He is commonly called a narcissist, but here's a handy rule of thumb. Not all narcissists are psychopaths, but all psychopaths are narcissistic. It's easy to understand why -- they don't see humans as humans, only objects to be manipulated for fun and profit. They, themselves, are the only conscious being, so nothing else matters. Their brains aren't wired to understand we have minds and memories, which is why they lie constantly to achieve their immediate needs. Strangely, the inability to experience emotions (and that includes fear, which is why Trump seems to never give a fuck about consequences) comes with no sense of past or future. There is only the "now."
1% of the population are psychopaths. You know more than one. Some say it's an evolutionary adaptation that exploits humans with emotions and morals, and that they are "intraspecies predators." There are professions that rely on psychopathic behavior, and you can draw your own opinions on them:
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
It is also commonly said that psychopaths are experts are reading people. This is false (because, to them, there is nothing to read). They are simply experts, from lifelong experience and practice, at putting people into situations with predictable reactions. For example, Trump likes to insult people because he knows it distracts them and takes them off their game as they try to defend themselves. Psychopaths like to do their manipulating in the background and behind peoples' backs (and in Trump's case, behind NDAs and hush money), thus Trump's biggest problem -- he's the world's most watched person and nothing goes unnoticed, so his previous tactics aren't working. He is thrashing more and more as he gets more desperate to deceive. He is not losing his mind or getting senile. He's a psychopath who can't understand why his old tricks are no longer working.
His apparent "humanness" is a practiced façade, as is true for all psychopaths. They learn, starting in childhood, how to fit in. Some learn how better than others. Trump is good enough at it to fool a large number of voters.
BTW, there's nothing saying a psychopath can't also be dumb as a brick or illiterate.
Not a doctor either, but he ticks most of the boxes for antisocial personality disorder (also known in layman's terms as psychopathy).
Remember, most psychopaths are not violent! They all leave a smoldering path of destruction everywhere they go, but most are not violent. The 'respectable' psychopaths are more common, and many of them have jobs that are held in very high regard in our society (surgeons, police officers, CEOs, etc). Look at the ten professions with the highest rates of ASPD. Intelligent psychopaths can do very well in a business environment - so much so that 1/10 CEOs met the criteria for ASPD, as opposed to 1/25 in the general population. This is because certain psychopathic traits, such as manipulativeness, lack of remorse, being a good liar, and being willing to take risks can pay off handsomely in the business world. Of course, it's a double-edged sword because their other traits (such as impulsivity and grandiosity) often catch up to them and lead to their downfall.
If you want to learn more about white-collar psychopaths, I highly recommend the book Snakes in Suits, written in part by Dr. Robert Hare, the "founding father" of psychopathy research and the creator of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (the most-used diagnostic tool for ASPD). Donald Drumpf -- and a ton of other politicias, for that matter -- will become much easier to understand.
He probably sees something of himself in the other guy, which is why they bonded and he got the position. That's just kinda what predatory people do. Especially manipulative, selfish, abusive people. I know it's a little bit of a stretch of the term, but I say abusive here to refers to the "willing to put others down to lift themselves up" destructive personality trait. Though less extreme than the standard clinical definition, "sociopath" fits fairly well too.
An example of this is specifically what you said: the boss tried to guilt trip you for leaving, but didn't ask you to stay. The only reason I can see here is to hurt your feelings, and use that demonstration of power and control for his own emotional well-being. But then... I'm an outside observer here and not a psychologist. I'm sure you could look back and find better examples. Yeah- you absolutely made the right decision, and I'd wholly encourage any friends still there to look elsewhere too.
Books like Snakes in Suits explore this topic, but there are probably better books available (that's just the one I'm familiar with, and it's mostly anecdotal).
I've had to deal with one of these vindictive jackasses for a decade now, but thankfully he's gone as of tomorrow. The guy replacing Evil VP is significantly more reasonable.
I can recommend 2
There are a number of books that I think you ought to read to get a better understanding of office politics and how to cope/deal with them. All offices have politicking going on, and any company that claims otherwise is lying to you. Any time more than 2 people get together, there will be some sort of jostling for power and attention. When that happens at work, we call it "office politics".
Your library may have these, and if you get them, read them at home. Don't ever bring them into the office.
Corporate Confidential. HR is your enemy, not your friend. Gives a number of examples of what will destroy your career with companies, many of which you (and I) probably do without realizing the consequences.
The Passionate Programmer. The first edition of this book was called "my job went to India". While aimed at programmers, the points are to keep your mind and skills up to date as technology and business move too rapidly to let things get rusty.
To Be or Not to Be Intimidated.
Looking out for number one.
Million Dollar Habits. I feel that these 3 by Robert Ringer are very important. If you think his first book was about to intimidate others, you only read the press coverage. If you think his books are about real estate, then you only skimmed them. There are a lot of people in the world who will try to intimidate you into giving up what is yours, and he shows you what some of them are like, and what countermeasures you can use.
The Art of Deception. Bad title - it is about arguments, how to make them, win them and tell if you're hearing a bad one. Used to be called "rhetoric" when Plato and Aristotle taught the subject.
Snakes in Suits. There are some evil people out there. You'll work for some of them. You will be stabbed in the back by some of them.
Bullies, Tyrants, and Impossible People. One book on office politics and dealing with some of the worse sort.
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work. Some folks are very good with verbal manipulation, this book and the others in the series, cover how to deal with such people.
Winning with People. Most of the books this author writes are about managers and leadership. This book is more about people skills. It will be focused more at managers, but I think it is a good one.
The 48 Laws of Power. They have it. You want some. Light read with anecdotes. I like his other books as well.
Games At Work. Office politics.
It's All Politics. Yes it is.
Moral Politics. Liberals and conservatives, why do they think that way? You'll work with some of the opposite persuasion some day, so understanding where they come from is a reasonable idea. Most books on this subject are insulting and degrading, but I think this one is pretty much judgement-free.
> When I walk by him going to the bathroom, he will stop talking until I walk by.
Do the same. When they come to your desk, always brush them aside with "I'm sorry, I can't talk now, I'm busy working".
They're called sociopaths and corporate culture accelerates them to power quickly. There's several books on this topic like Snakes in Suits.
http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397728316&sr=8-1&keywords=snakes+in+suits
It's an empowering line of action, @mangababe, but that's when he could start gaslighting her badly to cover his deeds. Serpents don't like being exposed to the light.
@OP, I strongly suggest you read Snakes in Suits ( http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893 ). The book talks about psychopaths in a work environment; surprisingly, though, you'll find that it applies in many ways to narcissists in at home. It's all about control.
Serious TW: maybe you'll want to see Myth #5: http://upsettingrapeculture.com/rape_myths.php
You should acquaint yourself with the concepts of gaslighting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting ) and general Victim Blaming ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victim_blaming ) and learn how to defend yourself if it happens.
Let's hope he simply backs off. Otherwise, you must know that we'll always be here, reachable, ready and resourceful. You can PM me anytime if need rises.
'Snakes In Suits' is another interesting book along similar lines.
Last year I became obsessed with the concept of psychopathy.
I read Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us which is more of a general look at psychopaths. It talks about what makes them tick, how devastating an encounter with them can be and psychopathic children. It showed the more horror-film version of psychopathy.
Without Conscience was a scary book but the next book on psychopathy I read, Snakes in Suits, had more terrifying implications by far. Snakes in Suits suggests that the vast majority of psychopaths are not like Dahmer or Hannibal Lectar but are actually in major positions of power in large corporations at a greatly disproportional rate to psychopaths in the general population.
In short, SiS suggests that the most intelligent psychopaths are drawn to white collar jobs with extremely high stakes, earnings, power and prestige. They excel in these jobs because they're extremely intelligent, utterly unscrupulous, manipulative, able to read people's body language and they're smart enough to hide any tracks of ill deeds to avoid trouble with the law.
I couldn't help but think of that book when I saw this article. Sure, he might have just been having a bad day and taken it out on his dog but maybe it's something more sinister.
Of course! I study Criminology and Psychology in university, but obviously that's not a valid source.
Doctor Robert Hare is the leading expert on Psychopaths. His book: Snakes in Suits Is what my profs recommend for further psychopath reading.
Here's a great article on the topic by the Correctional Service of Canada.
As for use as a risk assessment scale this(doi: 10.1177/0011128705281756) article outlines the pros and cons nicely.
This(doi: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2004.08.008)article also points out a lot of the use of application of the PCL-R.
The second article in particular has some awesome sources that allow for further reading.
I also recommend this article from Doctor Hare's website. It's not peer-reviewed but it's a great article.
I hope this helps!
I agree. I am looking forward to the post Trump analysis/movies/documentaries. I will especially like the world leading researchers in psychopathy to comment on where this guy fits on the spectrum of psychopathy. I think his rise to power is a bad thing for psychopaths. I'm hoping deep learning and inference in the AI field will be able to recognize the predictable patterns of these mutants. This shit needs to be eliminated from the species. It costs many people needless pain, suffering and financial loss. They are criminals on the loose. Great read or skim on the subject
Not sure how high quality the research is, but yes, there's at least some research as to the correlation between power and psychopathy.
http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893
Many sociopaths aren't obviously parasitic nor arrogant. Many are VERY controlled and deliberate.
Most would say a sociopath is simply someone without the ability to feel empathy nor remorse, someone who has no innate desire for "socializing" - except when they can use it to gain something from others, and someone who doesn't value other people for any other reason than what resources they can provide for the individual. Yes, many sociopaths lie to gain what they want, and often if they are in trouble they will shift the blame to fall on other people - and they have no difficulty in doing so because they don't feel empathy nor remorse.
An interesting book on sociopaths in the workplace: http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893
interesting you say this. The worlds most known expert on Psychopaths - Robert Hare, who literally wrote the book on them, "Without Conscience" (and the test to find them, the Hare PCL-R) co-wrote a book exactly about this point. He found that psychopaths are often VERY successful in business, and that many top level people in business have strong psychopathic tendencies. The book is called "Snakes In Suits - When psychopaths go to work" Its good, you should check it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255415645&sr=8-1
Is this fake news? Nope it's a book. https://www.amazon.ca/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1482118618&sr=1-1&keywords=snakes+in+suits
Company management/mismanagement is one of my favorite topics to read about! Solid article. Thanks! Some solid books if you enjoy similar:
https://veilofreality.com/2011/04/18/organic-portals-soulless-humans/
I think it's similar to pre-Adamic vs Adamic man: http://theunityprocess.com/a-gnostic-perspective-adamic-vs-pre-adamic-man/
Edit: And if this information is too "out-there" for you, you can start with something less deep like: Snakes in Suits. There are a lot of people who are still trapped in thinking our material existence is all there is.
The claim that psychopaths are over-represented in positions like CEO, etc, doesn't come from an external analysis (or outside looking in) of their decisions made in the pursuit of profits or maximising returns to shareholders, it comes from a clinical personality assessment conducted on them as individuals. The same kinds of tests that are used to determine how much of the prison population may have psychopathic traits, for instance. The tests have undergone all sorts of validation and refinement before being adopted, and are part of a rigorous field of research, not just someone looking on and thinking, "Oh, hey, they make decisions that seem like they don't care..they must be psychopaths!" That's not how psychology works. You don't diagnose someone at a distance.
The thing is, psychopaths aren't good for businesses in the long run. They can be incredibly damaging, in fact. But the kinds of conditions /u/Lord_dokodo is talking about are often conditions in which they thrive, at least for periods of time before they cause enough damage that the often have to move on to another company.
There's a great book on the topic called Snakes in Suits which is worth a read.
The Organization Man
The Corporation
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
Here are some links for the product in the above comment for different countries:
Link: Snakes in Suits
This bot is currently in testing so let me know what you think by voting (or commenting).
> The point, I think, is that office life is horrible for everyone, except psychopaths.
I don't think we can get that from the movie alone. That requires real-world experience! Though, I do agree that office life is, essentially, a breeding ground for psychopaths.
A case could be made that the Bob's are sociopaths, but I think a much darker film would need to be created in order to explore that angle. Their defining traits are laziness, incompetence, and callousness. Lumbergh certainly has a shallow affect, but zero superficial charm and his skills at manipulation are poor--relying mostly on exerting hierarchical power. Just going off what we see in the film, I'd say it's inconclusive.
Recommended reading
Let's look on the bright side: we don't have to live next to psychopaths anymore.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0061147893?pc_redir=1405314910&robot_redir=1
psychopaths make up 1 percent of the population-yeah that's scary stuff. I speculate that the only reason why you don't hear more about them in the media is because they disapporinately makeup the top one percent of society. In fact the guy wrote the first psychopath test wrote a book on the topic. People should be far more concerned about the fact that the people running our have a mental illness,especially this one rather then the fact they have a penis like feminists do. Yeah there are more ceo's then there are psychopaths however just take a look at north korea to see what a society run by a mentally ill looks like. I'd rather have all our ceo's be women then have even 1% of our leaders be psychopaths.
Don't cover your ass at all times. Instead, find a company to work for where you don't need to cover your ass at all times. They're out there.
Also, all Linked-In recommendations are moderated by the account owner, so you won't be able to post anything nasty about him - and I wouldn't try.
+1 for contacting the person above though, especially if you're letting him know that there is a problem without necessarily wanting your job back. You might also want to send them a gift wrapped copy of Snakes in Suits.
Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work
A book about this topic
https://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893
> here is no difference between a psychopath and a sociopath
Okay, thanks. For some reason, I always thought that a psychopath can't love because it is believed that there are a biological, psychological, social factors/history, and/or genetic differences.
And that sociopaths are made because of social issues and early environment. So, I always thought that sociopaths can at least have one or maybe two different people that the can feel something towards because they are at least (according to brain scans) like the rest of us.
Now, my understanding of this does come from this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497405119&sr=8-1&keywords=Snakes+in+Suits
> the individuals had character flaws that combined with their position of authority and access to information, allowed them to do some pretty big WTFs.
I'm sorry you had to deal with all that damage.
I can't even imagine the levels of stress and frustration that you experienced.
"position of authority and access to information" that sounds like dismal system design.
I'm familiar with SoD (Segregation of Duties) which is intended in business to design a system with appropriate risk management and dispersion of authority to prevent theft and collusion. For example, different people in charge of custody of assets, authorization and recording.
The system structure changes results.
> Discussing an open investigation with everyone who will listen, that's not what is supposed to happen. Charging an individual with no evidence of a crime, and only pieced together "maybes" is not supposed to happen, not on the level of the charges they brought forth.
If there was no channel for recourse, then there was nothing to prevent abuse.
> A good person is not good 24/7, and a bad person is not bad 24/7.
I don't disagree with this. This has been demonstrated in psychology experiments, too.
But there is a qualitative difference in motivation between the 2 molds (neuro-typical and sociopath/antisocial personality disorder).
I am not a psychology professional. But a good book is by expert Robert Hare Snakes in Suits
I'm not against "low empathy" per se-- people can believe what they want to believe-- I'm into cruelty prevention.
edit: maybe it seems ironic that I said "cruelty prevention" in a hacker thread, but taken at face value krage28's story is more foolish than malicious.
Frankly, e prea multa discutie ipotetica aici pentru o fiinta care nu cred ca exista (iar tu nu ai avea cum sa stii cum gandeste, ce presupui, presupui din Noul Testament ignorand Vechiul Testament), iar in ultimul paragraf faci niste presupuneri si extrapolari exagerate (sau total false, cum e treaba cu sociopatii, vezi Snakes in Suits).
Ce vrei sa dezbati cu mine concret, vrei sa discutam motivele pentru care nu cred in Dumnezeu? Ca atunci ar trebui intai sa astepti sa spun de ce nu cred exact, nu sa presupui ca un citat este parerea mea si unicul motiv pentru care nu cred si apoi sa faci presupuneri referitor la ce as crede doar pentru ca ai vazut ca-s atee. Nu de alta, dar e obositor sa-ti combat presupunerile si ne invartim in cerc.
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I've read them all; they've helped a ton^1000
Snakes in Suits
https://www.amazon.com/Snakes-Suits-When-Psychopaths-Work/dp/0061147893
And this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0061147893?pc_redir=1413675059&robot_redir=1