Psychology

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

The Wisdom of Psychopaths

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  • Create Date：2021-07-17 09:55:07
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
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  • Author：Kevin Dutton
  • ISBN：0099551063
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Summary

Psychopath。 No sooner is the word out than images of murderers， rapists， suicide bombers and gangsters flash across our minds。

But unlike their box-office counterparts， not all psychopaths are violent， or even criminal。 Far from it。 In fact， they have a lot of good things going for them。 Psychopaths are fearless， confident， charismatic， ruthless and focused - qualities tailor-made for success in twenty-first-century society。

In this groundbreaking adventure into the world of psychopaths， renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals a shocking truth: beneath the hype and the popular characterisation， psychopaths have something to teach us。

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Reviews

Erika Maas ，

Cuando me encontré con este libro la verdad es que tenía expectativas respecto de lo que trataría en sus hojas， esa expectativas quedaron desdibujadas conforme avanzaba， sin embargo aunque no fue lo esperado， me ha hecho pasar un rato agradable， ha contribuido con información interesante， por momentos me engancho pero debo ser sincera hay días en que deseaba que ya acabará， tal vez tenga que ver con lo que yo imaginaba de lo que se trataría el libro， así que si dejamos de lado eso， ha sido un li Cuando me encontré con este libro la verdad es que tenía expectativas respecto de lo que trataría en sus hojas， esa expectativas quedaron desdibujadas conforme avanzaba， sin embargo aunque no fue lo esperado， me ha hecho pasar un rato agradable， ha contribuido con información interesante， por momentos me engancho pero debo ser sincera hay días en que deseaba que ya acabará， tal vez tenga que ver con lo que yo imaginaba de lo que se trataría el libro， así que si dejamos de lado eso， ha sido un libro interesante a secas。 。。。more

Chyeerio ，

I thought this book was really fun to read， and it was super interesting。 I really love deep diving into the human mind， and I never realized how psychopathic traits fall under a spectrum and not everyone with this mental disorder are serial killers （as I had previously stereotyped）。 Overall， I thought this book was super insightful with all the case studies and anecdotes provided！ I would definitely recommend it to people！

Liam Griffin ，

Excellent。 Make you think again about much of the "common wisdom" doing the rounds about psychopaths and narcissists！ Excellent。 Make you think again about much of the "common wisdom" doing the rounds about psychopaths and narcissists！ 。。。more

Luis Cabrera López ，

Empieza bien， muy interesante。 Va perdiendo fuelle y te mete en una serie de historias aburridas para llegar a conclusiones ambiguas。

Sean ，

Great Loved it。 Couldn’t put it down read cover to cover and got two more of his books。 Read it。 Melissa Farrier

Vero Sisa ，

Libro de Kevin Dutton， doctorado en psicología y experto en la ciencia de la influencia social。 Una lectura interesante。 De como （lo dice claramente en el título） ciertos rasgos psicópaticos podrían ser de gran ayuda en la vida diaria。 Y como， de hecho， están muy presentes en ciertas profesiones y en muchas personas de éxito。 Y bueno， también en los que conocemos más comúnmente como psicópatas。 Una vez más，  el mundo no es blanco y negro。 No necesariamente aquellos con estos rasgos considerados Libro de Kevin Dutton， doctorado en psicología y experto en la ciencia de la influencia social。 Una lectura interesante。 De como （lo dice claramente en el título） ciertos rasgos psicópaticos podrían ser de gran ayuda en la vida diaria。 Y como， de hecho， están muy presentes en ciertas profesiones y en muchas personas de éxito。 Y bueno， también en los que conocemos más comúnmente como psicópatas。 Una vez más，  el mundo no es blanco y negro。 No necesariamente aquellos con estos rasgos considerados generalmente malos son personas malvadas。 A veces se necesita esa frialdad， determinación e incluso falta de escrúpulos， según las decisiones y situaciones que se presenten。 Y para ejemplificar esto， está la primera frase con la empieza el libro y con la que empecé esta publicación。 Creo que debo recalcar que aunque es un libro de psicología， aún cuando hay partes en las que se pone muy técnico （cosa que a mí no me suele gustar）， en general es muy fácil de leer， muy interesante e incluso el autor aporta ciertos toques de humor que me gustaron bastante。 。。。more

James Cozzone ，

Really interesting book that takes character traits of pyschos and illustrates how these specific traits applied to sane people could help increase productivity。

Waseem ，

A book that highlights the need to be able to make tough decisions and have almost robotic automated responses to “succeed” in certain scenarios with the unique world we live in today。Something about this book made sense but something about the glorification of psychopaths didn’t sit right with me either - like I get these traits are common within psychopaths but must they be identified with psychopaths？ Why can’t they rather be good traits without the comparison- ie strict self discipline， abil A book that highlights the need to be able to make tough decisions and have almost robotic automated responses to “succeed” in certain scenarios with the unique world we live in today。Something about this book made sense but something about the glorification of psychopaths didn’t sit right with me either - like I get these traits are common within psychopaths but must they be identified with psychopaths？ Why can’t they rather be good traits without the comparison- ie strict self discipline， ability to make tough decisions， ruthlessness （ie in a military setting） etc etc。。。 but in a way I guess one may very well have to be “psychopathic” in certain endeavours to do what it really takes - makes me wonder where I’ve held back and failed in instances in certain endeavours - perhaps this was that missing link 。。。To Our Continued Success！Seemy http://www。WaseemMirza。net 。。。more

LV Gray ，

Though fascinating at the beginning， there are some chapters that are （very） difficult to follow。。。at least for me。 I put it on hold for now。。。

Thieving Magpie ，

I have read a book that was pretty similar to this one。 But I really enjoyed this one as well。 It was informative and I have learnt quite a couple of things I did not know before。 All in all。 I really liked this book， even though I already knew most of the stuff the book was talking about。 It is interesting to know how different and still similar people write about the same topics。。。I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review。

Sharon Wallace ，

So we all have some psychiatric tendencies？ Did come as a surprise to me。 Having worked in big business for many years I have encountered many psychopaths- usually near/at top of the company and many of whom have been sacked or let go。This book looked at the scale of psychopathy and were different people sit along the scale。I agree that society is more psychopathic than ever - particularly after the rise of Donald Trump - who was in politics purely for his own gains and not for the people。 What So we all have some psychiatric tendencies？ Did come as a surprise to me。 Having worked in big business for many years I have encountered many psychopaths- usually near/at top of the company and many of whom have been sacked or let go。This book looked at the scale of psychopathy and were different people sit along the scale。I agree that society is more psychopathic than ever - particularly after the rise of Donald Trump - who was in politics purely for his own gains and not for the people。 What was more scary was the number of people who bought into his messages - injecting bleach， etc。An interesting and thought provoking read 4 Stars ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review。 。。。more

Deciden0w ，

Great book that delved into the world of psychopaths and their mindsets。 Kevin compared psychopaths with the minds of functioning psychopaths in this very intriguing book。 The author made very interesting points in the book that can be controversial but also also thought provoking。 Highly recommend this book to anyone that are somewhat fascinated by the world of psychopaths

Thasmai Blr ，

For those used to reading about psychopaths as just mindless monsters， this book comes as a refreshing change。 It explains how they， like all other 'types' of people， are a variegated bunch of many complex traits and aren't a simple apparition that the media likes to portray。 For those used to reading about psychopaths as just mindless monsters， this book comes as a refreshing change。 It explains how they， like all other 'types' of people， are a variegated bunch of many complex traits and aren't a simple apparition that the media likes to portray。 。。。more

John Espie ，

A very good book that gets a bit more scientifically technical than， for instance， the Jon Ronson book on the same subject。 I'm baffled as to some of the lower ratings that this title has received， except I suspect that the people who gave the low ratings didn't care to invest the amount of thought process into its reading that this sort of a book requires。。。 or they just wanted to complain to hear themselves complain， especially when questioning the author's credentials。。。 which is all a fault A very good book that gets a bit more scientifically technical than， for instance， the Jon Ronson book on the same subject。 I'm baffled as to some of the lower ratings that this title has received， except I suspect that the people who gave the low ratings didn't care to invest the amount of thought process into its reading that this sort of a book requires。。。 or they just wanted to complain to hear themselves complain， especially when questioning the author's credentials。。。 which is all a fault of the reader rather than the writer。 In fact， I suspect this book might be worth five stars， but there were more than a few times when an "interesting tidbit" seemed to be thrown in without a whole lot of reason behind it other than "Hey， this is a cool factoid， so I'm going to hammer it in-- somehow！" This fault extended itself to the point that I was left scratching my head a few times because the book's flow was disrupted by a short chapter that， frankly， didn't fit。 Or maybe I was really tired when I read that chapter。 Or not。 Nonetheless， a good book on the subject of pyschopathy that is worth reading。 。。。more

Suzanne Henwood ，

I could not out this book down。Scary， disconcerting， real， raw。。。。 an absolute gem of an insight in the psychopaths mind

Michelle ，

2。5*

Jessica ，

It's a good read with examples of studies that delve into the characteristics of psychopaths。 I however do not agree with the author's inference that apostle Paul is likely a psychopath。 Just because he is able to suffer and willing to put himself in danger for the gospel does not necessarily imply psychopathic traits。 It would be unfair to discount a spiritual reason for Paul's actions。 It's a good read with examples of studies that delve into the characteristics of psychopaths。 I however do not agree with the author's inference that apostle Paul is likely a psychopath。 Just because he is able to suffer and willing to put himself in danger for the gospel does not necessarily imply psychopathic traits。 It would be unfair to discount a spiritual reason for Paul's actions。 。。。more

Bruce ，

Hearing the term Psychopath can raise a host of different associations。 Reading this book showed me that psychopathy is nowhere near as black & white as most people normally believe it is。 What can be said is that there may be a level of psychopathy in each of us and that a host of circumstances ultimately decide whether we will use those traits maliciously or benevolently。

Rebecca ，

I wasn't going to read this book because the main argument is silly。 Would it be nice not to feel fear sometimes？ Yes。 Would it mostly be a disadvantage though？Yes。 （the life expectancy of a psychopath is 50） Would it be nice not to worry about how other people feel sometimes？ Yes。Would that mostly be terrible though？ Yes。 So I figured the book would be what I said above， then yet another explanation of the Milgram and Standford experiments， bit of game theory， then something about Enron， an inv I wasn't going to read this book because the main argument is silly。 Would it be nice not to feel fear sometimes？ Yes。 Would it mostly be a disadvantage though？Yes。 （the life expectancy of a psychopath is 50） Would it be nice not to worry about how other people feel sometimes？ Yes。Would that mostly be terrible though？ Yes。 So I figured the book would be what I said above， then yet another explanation of the Milgram and Standford experiments， bit of game theory， then something about Enron， an inverview with Robert Hare， a list of occasions when being a psychopath is helpful， the end。 Actually， even though he doesn't prove there's any wisdom in psychopathy at all， it's a really good read。 Lots of science and experiments that I hadn't read about before and proper， full explanations that meant I learned something even when it was a topic I was already familiar with。 （And he skims over the Stanford prison experiment， thank goodness， as soon as I heard the name "Zimbardo" I thought "here we go！" but it was over super quick） There's a lot of 1 + 2 = 13 but that's ok， we all used a dodgy argument to tie together interesting ideas for an essay at some point， didn't we？ Just me？ It gives structure to the book。 Daniel Goleman's book "Focus" got a lot of criticism for not doing this， for not having one unifying theme， so what can you do？ The connection between equanimity， mindfulness， and psychopathy is a very real one， it's a pity there was no nod to the people trying to make sure that "McMindnfulness" doesn't get separated from the practices of cultivating compassion。 （nice free short-course that goes into this a little here: https://www。open。edu/openlearn/health。。。）It's a bit tone deaf at times。 One example is that he talks about sex workers being murdered right before a poem about a moth and a flame that goes: we get bored with routineand crave beautyand excitementfire is beautifuland we know that if we gettoo close it will kill usbut what does that matterit is better to be happyfor a momentand be burned up with beautythan to live a long timeand be bored all the whileI think that would have been better after talking about Andy McNab for example。 Separated from the murder of women by a whole chapter or at least a centered tilde Over all a very nice pop psychology book， not what I expected。 I suppose I would have named it "Some Stuff about Psychopaths and Psychology" and done it with no argument， but I doubt anyone would have liked that。 [ 3。5 stars。。 I don't think I'll click on them because it will actually hurt the books average if I give it 3 ] 。。。more

Mirella Hetekivi ，

Groundbreaking， fascinating and super refreshing。 Thank you for the destigmatizing and humane perspectives。

Maittri ，

I gained nothing new from reading this book。 The wisdom of psychopaths is basically taking more risks and keeping emotions in check。 That's it。 I gained nothing new from reading this book。 The wisdom of psychopaths is basically taking more risks and keeping emotions in check。 That's it。 。。。more

Liz Mistry ，

I'd read the previous edition of this book and found it fascinating。 This updated edition is even more fascinating if you want to find out more about psychopaths and they way their minds work。 The psychopaths in clear sight of us， living their lives is particularly chilling - a Must read I'd read the previous edition of this book and found it fascinating。 This updated edition is even more fascinating if you want to find out more about psychopaths and they way their minds work。 The psychopaths in clear sight of us， living their lives is particularly chilling - a Must read 。。。more

Erikaaa ，

4。5 ☆

Pena Eduard-Andrei ，

，，Mintea își ajunge sieși căci eaCerul îl face iad， și iadul in cer îl poate transforma" ，，Mintea își ajunge sieși căci eaCerul îl face iad， și iadul in cer îl poate transforma" 。。。more

TRISTAN HUNTER ，

Good， the author is narcissistic and it comes across in his writing。 Otherwise an interesting insight in the psyche of the psychopath。

Hazel ，

I found this book incredibly interesting。 The author explores psychopathy in all its variations， and discusses whether or not certain traits or behaviours linked to psychopathy could actually be useful in certain situations， including （but not limited to） making life or death decisions， reduction of anxiety， and high-risk careers。 The author doesn’t gloss over the horror that psychopaths can inflict in terms of violent crimes or socially-abhorrent behaviour， but he does explores the possibility I found this book incredibly interesting。 The author explores psychopathy in all its variations， and discusses whether or not certain traits or behaviours linked to psychopathy could actually be useful in certain situations， including （but not limited to） making life or death decisions， reduction of anxiety， and high-risk careers。 The author doesn’t gloss over the horror that psychopaths can inflict in terms of violent crimes or socially-abhorrent behaviour， but he does explores the possibility that there are potentially things we can learn from how they perceive the world。My only tiny irritation was that I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator kept attempting to do different accents for different people。 It really bugs me when they do that - it’s unnecessary and the accents aren’t even accurate。 You can illustrate differing voices in a conversation without accents， and trying and failing to nail an accent just throws me off what’s actually being read。 But like I said， a tiny irritation in an otherwise great book。 。。。more

Shaheena Ormerod-sachedina ，

Really enjoyed learning what we can learn from psychopaths to be better at life。 Interesting exploration of the types of psychopaths and how in some cases those that have psychopath traits can be valuable members of society。 Some really fascinating findings of experiments on how psychopaths are able to see when others are vulnerable and how they are somehow immune to circumstances us regular folk find harrowing。

Astrid Courtay ，

How to say the same things 20 times， with pompous words and emphasis to compensate for the lack of structure。 I admit I quit after chapter 4。 Loss of time。 Watch "Mind Hunter" if you are interested in the topic， at least it is entertaining。 How to say the same things 20 times， with pompous words and emphasis to compensate for the lack of structure。 I admit I quit after chapter 4。 Loss of time。 Watch "Mind Hunter" if you are interested in the topic， at least it is entertaining。 。。。more

awwsalah ，

Psychopathy is characterized by fearlessness， ruthlessness and lack of empathy， all hidden behind a mask of superficial charm。 Psychopaths cause a lot of harm。 People that get in their way are ruthlessly exploited and left behind in the trails as the psychopath moves on。 At the same time， given the long history of psychopathy it's reasonable to assume that its traits， at some points in our historic past， have given their carriers an evolutionary advantage。 The irony is that today， in our frantic Psychopathy is characterized by fearlessness， ruthlessness and lack of empathy， all hidden behind a mask of superficial charm。 Psychopaths cause a lot of harm。 People that get in their way are ruthlessly exploited and left behind in the trails as the psychopath moves on。 At the same time， given the long history of psychopathy it's reasonable to assume that its traits， at some points in our historic past， have given their carriers an evolutionary advantage。 The irony is that today， in our frantic， high-paced modern society， psychopathic traits may be more of an advantage than ever。 In this controversial book， Kevin Dutton gives his take on the subject in a witty， intelligent and genuinely fascinating form。 。。。more

Andrei Damian ，

The entire book is all about experiments done on a group of people。Not what I was expecting

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Wisdom of Psychopaths

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Wisdom of Psychopaths&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Wisdom of Psychopaths&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0