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Name: The Wisdom of Psychopaths
Rating: 4.3 (119 reviews)
Author: Kevin Dutton

Kevin Dutton

What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success

4.3 (119 Bewertungen)

19 Min.

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Persönlichkeit Mentale Gesundheit Erfolg

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The Wisdom of Psychopaths
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What’s in it for me: Learn from successful psychopaths.

The word psychopath generally conjures up images of ax murderers, the Joker or other serial killers whose brutality can keep an entire country on tenterhooks until they’re caught and put away behind bars for good.

When we think about psychopaths, we find ourselves asking questions like: What could be going on in the head of such a monster? Where does their brutality come from? And how can they not feel a drop of remorse or shame for their crimes?

The same recklessness and egoism that characterize psychopaths can also be seen among people who will never become murderers. It seems plausible to many of us that ruthless executives or greedy bankers could share certain characteristics with psychopaths: they help themselves to what they want even if it harms others, they’re not conscious of their misconduct and can sleep well at night.

The idea that even charismatic leaders, such as John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton, have many things in common with psychopathic murderers is, however, new for most people.

Psychopaths do appear to have several characteristics – like fearlessness or craftiness – that are advantageous for those who want to achieve power and prestige in our chaotic, fast-paced world. That’s why several features of psychopaths can be seen even more frequently among successful politicians and executives than among convicted criminals.

The Wisdom of Psychopaths addresses the fascinating question of precisely which characteristics they are, why they could be so useful – and what each of us can learn for our own advancement.

In the first three blinks, you'll discover what psychopaths are like and how they differ from the rest of us.

Psychopaths are often charming and intelligent – and know no fears.

We generally associate the term “psychopath” with violent criminals whom we hope have all been arrested and locked up for good. But the fact is that one to two percent of the population could be labeled as “psychopaths,” and by no means all of them are imprisoned or would even deserve to be. So what is it, exactly, that makes someone a psychopath?

On the surface, psychopaths are extremely engaging most of the time: they’re often very charming, good speakers and entertaining to others – all of which distracts from what’s going on inside them and covers up their “evil” side.

Given their manner, it’s no surprise that so many psychopaths end up occupying high positions – becoming tenured professors, executives, surgeons and mayors.

But what does the inner life of a psychopath look like? Many of them are extremely intelligent, though they lack emotions like fear, shame and guilt. They are mentally agile and shrewd, yet deficient in emotional impulses.

Researchers have found that psychopaths’ brains exhibit abnormalities in the areas that determine emotions, which explains their lack of fear. In situations where “normal” people would worry – e.g., because they left the gas stove on – psychopaths stay cool and composed.

That can turn out to be an advantage because fear, as an emotion, has lost a great deal of its former significance: when people still had to fear being eaten by saber-toothed tigers, responding to dangers with intense fear was a question of life or death. Today, in a time when saber-toothed tigers aren’t at the top of the list of threats and most of our fears are unjustified, the ability to not experience the paralyzing emotion of fear can mean success.

Psychopaths rarely hesitate, e.g., to take a risk: if they want to do something, they simply do it without being afraid of failure. Which can ultimately lead to time in prison – or to powerful financial and political positions.

Psychopaths make decisions coolly and rationally; emotions and morals aren’t factors.

In some situations, the psychopathic way of thinking resembles the utilitarian one. This school of thought puts the rational consideration of benefits vs. costs above everything else: every decision taken should be aimed at producing the greatest possible gain and the least possible suffering.

Non-psychopaths also take utilitarian actions in certain situations but feelings come into play in others and their decisions deviate from the choice which would provide the greatest possible gain.

Psychopaths don’t just contemplate doing something – they take action.

Most people spend a lot of time racking their brains about the possible consequences of their actions. Sometimes we can’t even bear to make a simple phone call – after all, we could say something wrong and make a fool of ourselves. Usually, we prefer to put the phone back on its receiver and wait a little while before we’ve cleared our heads.

Psychopaths don’t think like that. They tend to act immediately rather than just sitting around thinking about acting. That’s because they have a low tolerance for boredom, among other things, and always need to keep themselves busy. Every activity is rewarding for them.

Some psychopathic traits are more common in executives and politicians than in convicted criminals.

In 2000, one study investigated how strongly former US presidents displayed several psychopathic traits. The researchers interviewed presidents’ biographers and looked into dogmas like, “I never feel guilty over hurting other people,” or, “You should take advantage of others before they do it to you.” In general, the qualities of the ex-presidents showed a strong tendency towards psychopathy – and Kennedy and Clinton were at the top of the list.

Aside from politicians, other people who have attained success also exhibit psychopathic qualities, such as an overly positive view of themselves, a strong persuasive ability, recklessness and a pronounced charm they use to win over others.

Living in the here and now – what psychopaths have in common with Zen masters.

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is famous for coining the term flow, or the ability to focus entirely on the here and now. This ability not only plays a key role in anti-stress and time-management courses, but also in Buddhism, where the goal of meditation is to become completely immersed in the moment.

That makes it possible to manage a task calmly and intently without being distracted by disruptive thoughts or emotions. Psychopaths seem to be born with this ability. Perceptions that have nothing to do with the task at hand will not make it through their filter of consciousness.

Psychopathic traits are especially useful in stressful, chaotic environments.

People who lack psychopathic traits altogether spend a lot of time worrying about all the things that could happen. As a result, they often wait to make decisions instead of taking fate into their own hands.

However, psychopaths’ inclination to act quickly tends to result more often in success. Because what makes the average Joe worry so much doesn’t come into play in 99 percent of cases. It would almost always be smarter to act than to freeze up in fear.

“Generation Me”: Psychopathic traits are more widespread in younger generations.

A lot of what appears natural today was unimaginable just a few decades ago. The rapid spread of the internet – and pornography and violent games along with it – is only one of the decisive points that have shaped the younger generation.

Studies conclude that today’s Generation Me is more egocentric, competitive and narcissistic than any before it. Young people are getting accustomed to having superficial virtual friendships and seeing lots of violence on television and in video games. Today’s youth also emulate pop stars who often display psychopathic tendencies.

Acquiring psychopathic traits can be useful for your own advancement.

Many psychopathic traits are advantageous in the world of sports: if you have no fear and can concentrate fully on one thing, you can train more effectively and perform better in competitions. And that can be applied to almost all areas of life.

Meditation is one way to practice absorbing ourselves in the here and now. By meditating, we can learn to disengage from ourselves and take a step back. There are many other techniques that can help develop a contemplative ability. For instance, golfer Louis Oosthuizen was able to win a tournament in 2010 by concentrating on a small red dot on his glove near his thumb the whole time. He won by a substantial margin.

Functional psychopaths can flip their behavioral switch depending on the situation.

True criminal psychopaths cannot just decide to behave psychopathically or not. They always follow their psychopathic tendencies.

But things look completely different for successful, functional psychopaths. They can activate the “positive” characteristics of psychopathy – e.g., their charm, their recklessness and their inclination to act – in certain moments where they’re useful, but also withhold them in certain situations where they might do more harm than good. In this way, they’re able to obtain a private benefit from their psychopathic tendencies without running the risk of ending up in prison.

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Worum geht es in The Wisdom of Psychopaths?

Not all psychopaths are locked away in maximum-security prisons and mental hospitals. Many of them live among us, in the midst of society. Indeed, a great number of highly successful political and financial leaders exhibit psychopathic traits. This book investigates why they are so successful, what makes them different from psychopathic criminals and what all of us can learn from them.

Wer The Wisdom of Psychopaths lesen sollte

Anyone with a general interest in psychology, criminology or popular science
Anyone who wants to find out what we can learn from psychopaths and which of their traits could be useful in our professional lives

Über den Autor

Kevin Dutton is a researcher at the Calleva Research Centre for Evolution and Human Science in Oxford. Dutton claims that his own father was a psychopath – one of the reasons he’s so interested in this particular field. In addition to The Wisdom of Psychopaths (2012), he has also published other bestsellers and writes for well-known publications like the Guardian and Psychology Today.

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