Food For Thought: What We Can Learn from…a Psychopath

Link to podcast to follow

Before any of you reports me to the police, let me just say that the above is not, surprisingly enough, a reference to me; after all, as I keep being reminded on a daily basis, the world does not revolve around of me.

Prior to reading on today’s entry, I should like to implore you to (skim) read the following excerpt from Kevin Dutton’s recent book, ‘The Wisdom of Psychopaths’.

<< http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=wisdom-from-psychopaths >>

Before we go on any further, I’d like us to briefly look into the definition of ‘psychopath’.

‘’psy·cho·path

A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behaviour without empathy or remorse.’’

Right then; looking at the above, your…average…psychopath is definitely not what you might call a ‘role model’.

Nevertheless, what Mr Dutton aims to achieve in his book is to, once again, remind us that everything is rather subjective and, thus, subject to interpretation and distortion.

Looking at the above definition through his prism, one might be quite taken aback and startled (as was I) by the end product.

Firstly, it must be borne in mind that anyone who finds it difficult or tedious to converse with others might be said to have some, albeit miniscule, degree of ‘antisocial personality disorder’.

Having said that, then, when we refer to a psychopath, we must not automatically imagine a serial killer but, rather, someone who is pedantic about and obsessed with what he does.

Further to the above, Dutton notes, is it not a positive trait to be (moderately) aggressive? Aggressive people tend to be more decisive, know what they want and, most importantly, know how to get it.

In relation to the amoral behaviour, it is quite debatable as to what exactly that constitutes – whether it is one dictated by law or one imposed by society.

Should we adopt the latter, will it not be beneficial to be amoral when certain morals impede our personal and/ or professional development?

Finally, is it not true that most successful magnates and entrepreneurs these days brag about their ruthlessness and the fact that their complete lack or remorse and empathy has been instrumental to their success?

In his book, Mr Dutton goes on to argue that psychopaths are often very decisive, practical, pragmatic and, over and above all, incredibly resourceful.

Such characteristics do not, of course, translate into wisdom; nevertheless, I guess that the book, unlike the excerpt, will endeavour to demonstrate what the author meant by those strong words.

In the end of the day, it might well turn out that, although lethal in large quantities (as is, ironically, everything else), psychopathy might well, when in moderation, prove to be beneficial to our development as individuals and as species.

One problem, however, remains; human beings have always seen ‘in moderation’ as too difficult a concept to grasp.