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Strange answers to the psychopath test Jon Ronson (Original Post) Xipe Totec Nov 2018 OP
Read the book. The author got conned. Psychopaths make the false applegrove Nov 2018 #1
One of my siblings is a full on psychopath. MontanaMama Nov 2018 #2
Read and enjoyed the book. Marie Marie Nov 2018 #3
The DSM is an industry janterry Nov 2018 #4
This guy is obviously a sociopath. Nitram Nov 2018 #5
"frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting" reACTIONary Nov 2018 #6

applegrove

(118,020 posts)
1. Read the book. The author got conned. Psychopaths make the false
Sat Nov 17, 2018, 12:30 AM
Nov 2018

Last edited Sat Nov 17, 2018, 03:11 AM - Edit history (7)

narrative (s) they spin so compelling to the people who believe in them feel compelled to act in some manner. Things feel realer than real. They feel like you must do something. They appeal to our vanity and this author is no exception. He starts by taking the advice of a cult as to going to the most difficult of diagnoses with no background and gets conned. Scientology is against psychology and psychiatry because scientology is run by psychopaths who manipulate people into handing over their money. Of course they don't want mentally robust and self actualized people running around the world. Those are all people who will not join scientology. They need a hook and if it is not vanity is could be some hidden wound (or want to be hidden)....something to hold their followers captive. And knowing yourself through psychology/psychiatry does away with the hooks. Plus the psychopathic leaders are always vulnerable to being diagnosed by the psychopathy checklist themselves. Cults are not led by other people than psychopaths most often. I read another writer on psychopathy who quoted a policeman saying to a psychopath something to the effect of "Don't try that stuff on me. Psychopathy only works on smart people and I'm not smart". It is true that to fall into their sway you need to absorb all the lines, narratives and play acting the psychopath spoon feeds you to change the structure of your mind heart gut and emotions. At least it goes faster. The author is obviously a smart, funny guy but unschooled in the techniques a psychopath would use to fool him. For sure there are problems with psychiatry and psychology. They are the most complex of sciences. This author is obviously a bright guy but he's got no background. Psychopaths rely on people not being wise to the science. A check list is just a tool. Like anything else. It clarifies. It diagnoses. It gets refined over time as the science gets better. Letting scientology direct you to one example of one person being 'misdiagnosed' by the checklist across the ocean is like asking Putin to help you find out about Gods by visiting with Kim Jong Un when you know nothing about authoritarianism. Of course Un is going to convince you he is a god. And he can prove it. It is nonsensical.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/8565585/The-Psychopath-Test-A-Journey-through-the-Madness-Industry-by-Jon-Ronson-review.html

"SNIP....

It is difficult to imagine anyone writing a more quixotic book, unless they were actually Miguel de Cervantes, yet where Ronson sees giants the reader will often struggle to discern a windmill. Again and again, his books return to the moment we lost faith in the idea of madness as liberation. I suspect Ronson is a romantic, still cherishing the hope that lunacy may be a glorious way out from a life of routine.

.....SNIP"

MontanaMama

(23,238 posts)
2. One of my siblings is a full on psychopath.
Sat Nov 17, 2018, 12:34 AM
Nov 2018

He terrifies me. I’ve had no contact with him since our parents passed.

 

janterry

(4,429 posts)
4. The DSM is an industry
Sat Nov 17, 2018, 07:51 AM
Nov 2018

Great video, thanks for posting.

ETA: I just took a look at the book on Amazon. Great reviews. Perhaps that should go on my kindle

reACTIONary

(5,749 posts)
6. "frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting"
Sat Nov 17, 2018, 02:23 PM
Nov 2018

From Wikipedia


The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (2011) is Ronson's fifth book. In it, he explores the nature of psychopathic behaviour, learning how to apply the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, and investigating its reliability. He interviews people in facilities for the criminally insane as well as potential psychopaths in corporate boardrooms.[19][20] The book's findings have been rejected by The Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy and by Robert D. Hare, creator of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.[21][22] Hare described the book as "frivolous, shallow, and professionally disconcerting".[22]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Ronson
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