Reddit reviews The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson goes into length about the predatory tactics of psychopaths.

>he was projecting a warning to back off.

I immediately thought of one of the interviews Ronson did with a serial killer who was insistent on keeping specific boundaries.

No, you're cool - I understand the need to point out factual error.

I would have went into more detail about where I got my information and the specifics about it. I read The Psychopath Test and in it the author meets up with Bob Hare and talks to him about psychopaths, as well as some of Hare's research.

One example (where I was getting the fear response bit) is that two groups in a prison were given electric shocks. The setup was they were shown a countdown to the shock, and saw the level of the shock that was coming. They gave them some Painful shocks. One group, men whose crimes were related to passion or poverty or abuse would gird themselves for the coming pain, they were sweating, they were expressing fear or anxiety of the oncoming pain. Psychopaths did not. They reacted to the pain itself, but they were calm up until that point, and Hare was theorizing that their amygdala was not sending the 'anticipate pain' signal that it should have.

In addition, an example was given that if you are looking at a slide show or a movie and suddenly there's an image of a decapitated body on the screen, most normal people will jolt or at least be alarmed; the psychopath would instead pay more attention and become curious.

BTW, I also have a Masters in Psych, so it's nice to bump into someone in the field, even if I'm not using mine and you're doing something more interesting.

A bit off topic, but Jon Ronson's new book The Psychopath Test has a peculiar and amusing tale (but true) in which Douglas Hofstadter is one of the characters. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it.

I have always found Malcolm Gladwell's books to be immensely entertaining. He can be a bit repetitive in pounding his major theses home and I wouldn't advocate for treating any of his theories as the gospel but he is a gifted storyteller and many of his stories regard psychological research.

The Psychopath Test Fascinating look at psychopaths by one of my favorite journalists. Well researched as has some scientific depth but is certainly geared towards the layman.

The Invisible Gorilla Very readable tour through some of our cognitive flaws and blind spots by two psychologists.

Thinking, Fast and Slow Very comprehensive account of how people make decisions by the father of behavioral economics.

"Cultural authoritarianism"? What bullshit. Authoritarianism is political by definition.

I looked at the questions in your test and they make no sense, so I will not take that test.

On psychopathy I read Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, The Psychopath: Emotion and the Brain, and The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry. I can look for articles showing that psychopathy is increasing, if you are interested.

Mary Roach has a number of nonfiction books out about different scientific studies covering topics like sex, medical cadavers, Mars colonies, etc. She's very entertaining.

The Poisoner's Handbook by Deborah Blum is nominally about the chemistry of common poisons, but is more about Charles Norris and the development of forensic science.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson is a very quick read and a brief overview of studies and interviews with diagnosed sociopaths.