⇒ PDF The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry Jon Ronson 9781594485756 Books

The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry Jon Ronson 9781594485756 Books

Download As PDF : The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry Jon Ronson 9781594485756 Books

The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry Jon Ronson 9781594485756 Books

This is my first reading on this topic. I am in the middle of the book at the moment, but couldn't resist to write the review! The book is just AMAZING: easy reading (almost like a fiction), full of fascinating facts and exciting stories. It's doesn't go too much in a details, but whenever I am interesting I just google more (and even already put on my reading list several more detailed books). The author doesn't over-complicate it (since he is a journalist, not a psychiatrist), no crazy terminology. FANTASTIC book!


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The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry Jon Ronson 9781594485756 Books Reviews

Review The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry By Jon Ronson

"This is a story about madness. It begins with a curious encounter at a Costa Coffee in Bloomsbury, Central London," and from this meeting the crazy journey takes-off for Jon Ronson, and for us. Ronson takes us with him as he tackles some serious topics with just the right mixture of seriousness and "Monty Python-like" British humor . The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson is a real page turner, and extremely well researched. I loved every minute of it. I hated for the adventure to end.

When I read nonfiction, I am always looking for the takeaway! I ask myself, what did I learn from having spent hours reading this book? Well, there are so many takeaways to be found within the pages of The Psychopath Test. From Ronon's encounter with the Scientologists, where we learn their views on psychiatry, to his interviews with Tony (not his real name); an inmate classified as a psychopath at Broadmoor Wellness Centre, a prison for the criminally insane in England, to his travels abroad where the plot thickens, and more and more is revealed about the pharmaceutical industry, psychology, and of course, psychopaths.

Did you know, out of every hundred people, one is a psychopath? Did you know that there is a real psychopath test or checklist called the PCL-R Checklist? The checklist has twenty items to tick-off, but not all necessarily have to apply for one to be a psychopath. Interestingly enough, the checklist is employed by such agencies as the FBI. What type of items are on this test? Well, checkout the first eight

Item 1 Glibness/Superficial Charm

Item 2 Grandiose sense of self-worth

Item 3 Ned for stimulation/proneness to boredom

Item 4 Pathological lying

Item 5 Conning/manipulative

Item 6 Lack of remorse or guilt

Item 7 Shallow affect

Item 8 Callous/Lack of empathy

Ronson doesn't just present the list, he goes on to share real case studies where the checklist was applied. These were each fascinating reads, in and of themselves, but after reading them I began to think about the folks that have walked through my life, some which I've known well, others who were just on the periphery, and then some others who were walk-ons, important for only a brief amount of time. Two immediately came to mind that scored off the charts on this test. Each individual was practically a twenty out of twenty. You can't help, but be on the "Psychopath Patrol" after finishing this book.

Another one of the many fascinating chapters was entitled "Night of the Living Dead." It was here that the reader learns the history of Sunbeam's demise and the corporate psychopath who brought this company to its knees. Interestingly enough, psychopathic CEOs, as well as, psychopathic politicians are not uncommon. In fact, "a disproportionate number of psychopaths can be found in high places." Which makes them quiet common. According to Robert Hare, PhD, the creator of the PCL-R Checklist, "'Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies.'" To take it a step further Mr. Hare suggested that, "Why is the world so unfair? Why all that savage economic injustice, those brutal wars, the everyday corporate cruelty? The answer psychopaths." Mr. Hare is not alone in these conclusions Martha Stout, a professor at Harvard Medical School and author of The Sociopath Next Door, stated

"They are everywhere...They are in the crowded restaurant where you have your lunch. They are in your open-plan office. As a group they tend to be more charming than most people...They have no warm emotions of t heir own but will study the rest of us. They're the boss or the coworker who likes to make other people jump just for the pleasure of seeing them jump. They're the spouse who marries to look socially normal but inside the marriage show no love after the initial charm wears off."

After reading The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson you too will be on the "Psychopath Lookout". In case you are unfamiliar with Jon Ronson, he is the author who gave us The Men Who Stare at Goats, and I can't wait to read that one too. Needless to say, Jon Ronson has a new fan.

Final Thoughts for those of you out there who don't plan on reading this one

"People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get what they want. The symptoms of psychopathy include lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others."
- Robert Hare, Ph.D
The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry
Upon finishing The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson, the overall message being portrayed would be that psychology is not without its mistakes. The field should not be declared invalid, but rather improved upon. The goal of Jon Ronson in this novel is to present the readers with an analysis on different cases of what psychopathy could be and have them come to the realization that it exists everywhere, hiding in plain sight. What crosses the line of normalcy into the depths of insanity? Ronson aims at anyone with an interest in the field of psychology. This book describes the complications of psychology, and the intended audience would want to better it. In abnormal psychology, I’ve learned that psychologists have made mistakes before, and the science is difficult to exact because it can be used subjectively. Ronson provides examples for this claim with one of the cases described Tony from Broadmoor. Tony is a seemingly normal man, except he has a high score on Bob Hare’s checklist for psychopathy. Because of this score, he is trapped in a mental hospital for years. As mentioned multiple times in the novel, Ronson examines himself for many of the same qualities tested on the checklist. An interesting example Ronson provides would be that psychopathy exists in order for the success of certain careers. He uses Charlotte Scott, a TV producer, to clarify his point. She needs to look for the perfect candidate that exemplifies the right amount of crazy to entertain the show and dehumanizes the candidates for the sake of entertainment. Along the same line, medical students detach themselves from cadavers and patients in order to remain emotionally professional when dealing with cases. Both exhibit psychopathic behaviors that are actually essential to success, psychopathy exists everywhere.
Overall, this book was an enjoyable read because I like reading about the different cases that Ronson provides. It offered many different perspectives on psychology that allows the reader to analyze and draw conclusions. I never knew how common the symptoms of psychopathy are in the world. You hear the statistic that 1% of the world are psychopaths, but many people exhibit psychopathic tendencies from CEOs to asylum patients. It’s strange to think that the way to succeed in the business world is to adapt to psychopathic qualities like the ones mentioned on Bob Hare’s checklist. For example, Al Dunlap is a successful CEO who checks most of the items on the list but turns them into items to achieve the American Dream. The book’s strengths would be that it includes many differing perspectives on psychology, like the scientologists and Bob Hare. Everyone who studies psychology or medicine should look into this book because it describes the problem of overdiagnosis that is encouraged by the drug companies that pay the doctors. This issue can be fixed with an accurate way of looking into societal norms that may not cross over the border of insanity. Finally, this book opened my mind into the world of diagnosis/treatment issues in psychology and would be a great read to anyone interested in making a change in the current system.
Throughout the entirety of this book you get to see Jon go through different phases of belief. He was extremely honest in admitting his thoughts and also admitting when those thought might have changed. This was not just a book to persuade you of someone's opinion, but rather, it was an objective account of someone seeking their own answers to be persuaded one way or another. In the end we find that almost everyone admits that the madness industry is not as concrete as they would want to believe it is. We love to label, and classify. We see it every day. But none of us really think about the grey areas. I would recommend this book as a tool to anyone with an interest in understanding both arguments of the "sane" and "insane". This book alone would not be sufficient evidence to persuade you one way of another, (both sides are equally covered) but it's a fantastic supplement to generate thought.
This is my first reading on this topic. I am in the middle of the book at the moment, but couldn't resist to write the review! The book is just AMAZING easy reading (almost like a fiction), full of fascinating facts and exciting stories. It's doesn't go too much in a details, but whenever I am interesting I just google more (and even already put on my reading list several more detailed books). The author doesn't over-complicate it (since he is a journalist, not a psychiatrist), no crazy terminology. FANTASTIC book!