Helpful Score: 1
One in 25 Americans is a sociopath, according to Dr. Stout. Easily comprehensible for the layperson, Dr. Stout explores the various manifestations of sociopathy and examines the reasons for some people's lack of conscience.
Helpful Score: 1
Very interesting pointing out what makes a sociopath, how to figure out if someone is one, etc. The only thing I didn't like about the book is the same problem I have with every book on psychology/sociology I've ever read and with each of the handful of therapists I've talked with face-to-face: they never really tell you anything very helpful (or anything at all) as to what to do about these problem people! For instance, in this book, the author says to avoid the sociopath as much as possible. Ohhhhkay...what if the sociopath is an immediate family member, has no means of financial support, and you live in a state where aid/welfare is not given out if the person needing it has family who can take care of him/her? (In this state, they won't even lock up people who hallucinate any more unless the person is literally hallucinating 24/7. If they have even a mere 30 seconds a day of rationality? They cannot be committed unless they agree & somebody in the family can pay for it.)
So these books always promise on the dust jackets blurbs that they'll tell you how to deal with these psychological problems or problem people but they never really do. And it's probably not the authors' fault; I bet the publishers make the false promises in the blurbs to sell more books. Too bad, though. I wish they'd just admit that there's no solution for some of this stuff.
So these books always promise on the dust jackets blurbs that they'll tell you how to deal with these psychological problems or problem people but they never really do. And it's probably not the authors' fault; I bet the publishers make the false promises in the blurbs to sell more books. Too bad, though. I wish they'd just admit that there's no solution for some of this stuff.
LOVED this book. It's so interesting to know how many sociopaths there really are out there and what to do to protect yourself from them!
A fascinating, important book about what makes good people good and bad people bad, and how good people can protect themselves from those others."~~ Harold S. Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
Excellent and very well researched. Very insightful and revealing.
This is one of those books that all people should be required to read. The content is of universal value to anyone who is not a sociopath, which is about 96% of us in the Western world (yes, it depends on where you live how prevalent they are - read the book to find out why!).
The author lays out the simultaneously horrifying and fascinating (in a train-wreck way) reality of the minority of people who are unable to love due to a brain defect. This defect results in the existence of a person who has the potential to commit any of the acts that we consider truly "evil" without the tiniest twinge of regret or remorse, simply because they are physically unable to have any positive feelings about other human beings (to say nothing of animals or the environment). These are the iron-fisted dictators, the torturers, the terrorist leaders, the rapists, the animal abusers, the child abusers, the wife-beaters, the warmongering politicians, the CEOs of massive destructive corporations, the "doctors" who practise with no license, and the garden-variety sadistic individuals who love to torment, take advantage of, and manipulate other people for fun.
Chances are you've met one of these toxic people. If you recognised their behaviour you will have found them repellent, but you may also have met one without knowing it because these people are masters of charm. They use their charisma to convince fools to happily do their bidding, all the while thinking only about how they can extract what they want from other people, which is typically material wealth and/or a sense of having dominated everyone around them.
They have no attachment to any other person, ever, except in a parasitic way. Once the host has stopped providing "nourishment", the parasite moves on, uncaring.
It is very important that all people who possess a conscience (people who are not sociopaths) learn to recognise these people for what they are because they are extremely dangerous not only to individuals, but to society as a whole (especially due to their tendency to become politicians). They are predators in the very truest sense of the word, and will not hesitate to prey on anyone who who happens to be in harm's way.
The author of this book is a very astute and perceptive individual and presents the information in her book in an easily digestible way, gradually introducing new layers of meaning for the reader to consider, rather than laying it all out at the beginning for shock value. The scope of this book is massive and has implications for all aspects of private and public life, but you won't feel overwhelmed as you read, due to the thoughtful writing style.
Important book that should be read again and again to keep the picture of the scariest predator of them all fresh in our minds, so we can keep ourselves and our world safe.
The author lays out the simultaneously horrifying and fascinating (in a train-wreck way) reality of the minority of people who are unable to love due to a brain defect. This defect results in the existence of a person who has the potential to commit any of the acts that we consider truly "evil" without the tiniest twinge of regret or remorse, simply because they are physically unable to have any positive feelings about other human beings (to say nothing of animals or the environment). These are the iron-fisted dictators, the torturers, the terrorist leaders, the rapists, the animal abusers, the child abusers, the wife-beaters, the warmongering politicians, the CEOs of massive destructive corporations, the "doctors" who practise with no license, and the garden-variety sadistic individuals who love to torment, take advantage of, and manipulate other people for fun.
Chances are you've met one of these toxic people. If you recognised their behaviour you will have found them repellent, but you may also have met one without knowing it because these people are masters of charm. They use their charisma to convince fools to happily do their bidding, all the while thinking only about how they can extract what they want from other people, which is typically material wealth and/or a sense of having dominated everyone around them.
They have no attachment to any other person, ever, except in a parasitic way. Once the host has stopped providing "nourishment", the parasite moves on, uncaring.
It is very important that all people who possess a conscience (people who are not sociopaths) learn to recognise these people for what they are because they are extremely dangerous not only to individuals, but to society as a whole (especially due to their tendency to become politicians). They are predators in the very truest sense of the word, and will not hesitate to prey on anyone who who happens to be in harm's way.
The author of this book is a very astute and perceptive individual and presents the information in her book in an easily digestible way, gradually introducing new layers of meaning for the reader to consider, rather than laying it all out at the beginning for shock value. The scope of this book is massive and has implications for all aspects of private and public life, but you won't feel overwhelmed as you read, due to the thoughtful writing style.
Important book that should be read again and again to keep the picture of the scariest predator of them all fresh in our minds, so we can keep ourselves and our world safe.
I don't know what it is exactly that annoyed me about the writing style.
It was a little bit patronizing and a lot over-simplified.
Also not a lot in it about empathy even though the working definition of sociopathy is lack of empathy. She also doesn't seem to know the difference between empathy and conscience.
It was a little bit patronizing and a lot over-simplified.
Also not a lot in it about empathy even though the working definition of sociopathy is lack of empathy. She also doesn't seem to know the difference between empathy and conscience.
