The Psychopath Test
by Jon Ronson · first published 2011
56% recommend41% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Engaging, well-written journalism on how psychopathy is defined and diagnosed, and whether the label is overused. Suits readers curious about psychopaths in business and the psychiatric 'madness industry'.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them. The Psychopath Test is a fascinating journey through the minds of madness. Jon Ronson's exploration of a potential hoax being played on the world's top neurologists takes him, unexpectedly, into the heart of the madness industry. An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and non
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…empathize, then they can't be trusted to act responsibly. Many sociopaths seek power precisely because they like exploiting people. If you're interested further in the topic, try reading Snakes in Suits or The Psychopath Test. Similarly, we shouldn't give people with peophillic issues power over small children. Broken people deserve our support, and we should work to heal them. But in doing so, we can't let them break other…
on “CEO complaints : employee not motivated after being fired” ↗…a bully at school?” As it turns out, the author is Jon Ronson. He's well worth checking out. I've particularly enjoyed The Men Who Stare at Goats (the book), The Secret Rulers of the World, and The Psychopath Test.
on “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life” ↗Jon Ronson has a fairly decent book called "The Psychopath Test" that you may find interesting. It will basically reinforce your intuition though.
on “The Neuroscientist Who Discovered He Was a Psychopath” ↗Jon Ronson touched on this a bit in The Psychopath Test (worth reading if you get a chance). I was under the impression that there was already data supporting this.
on “Increased numbers of psychopaths in senior managerial positions?” ↗…but more of a complement to my life as it is currently. In the process of reading: Parable of a Sower’s Daughter by Octavia Butler Read this year: The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki Sea of Tranquillity by Emily St. John Mandel Children of Dune by Frank Herbert Turtles All the Way Down…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2022 and recommend for 2023” ↗The author of this post, Jon Ronson, wrote a book called The Psychopath Test that is a pretty good read on the subject. http://www.jonronson.com/psycho.html He also wrote The Men Who Stare at Goats, if you've read that or seen the movie.
on “Letter from a psychopath” ↗Short story collection: This is not your city, by Caitlin Horrocks (http://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Is-Not-Your-City/dp/1932511911) "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson - he's really good journalist and writes well. This is an interesting read about the newish "psychopaths everywhere" meme.
on “Ask HN: Great book that you read recently?” ↗There are a couple good books about Sociopath/Psychopath if anyone is interested. The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry @ http://www.amazon.ca/The-Psychopath-Test-Journey-Industry/dp... Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight @ http://www.amazon.ca/Confessions-Sociopath-Spent-Hiding-Plai...…
on “Be a sociopath—or just act like one” ↗…way through things like interviews, through techniques like reading body language cues from the interviewer and telling them what those cues reveal they want to hear. (Jon Ronson's excellent book The Psychopath Test (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychopath_Test) profiles several people who mastered this kind of thing.) So it's useful to have ways to validate a candidate's bona fides that are external to the…
on “Ask HN: What is the point of asking for references while making an job offer?” ↗…neuroplasticity will override this baked-in reality of who this man is. Teaching psychopaths social skills will not provide them with the idealized "personal growth" you imagine. I highly recommend, "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson (of "The Mean That Stare at Goats" fame) as an amusing but on-point introduction.
on “Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel” ↗What books have you read in 2015 that you'd recommend to others, fiction and nonfiction both welcome. I'll start with a fiction book of "A Fine Balance"- Rohinton Mistry and a nonfiction book of "The Psychopath Test"-Ron Jonson
on “Ask HN: What are your recommended books from 2015” ↗…hundred." They should have applied the same standard to both groups, but instead used a very loose definition for the professionals, and a very stringent definition for the general population. "The Psychopath Test" is a great book on this subject, and recommended reading on it; all these popular blog posts are just meaningless polemical drivel.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychopath_Test
on “In Video, Uber CEO Argues with Driver Over Falling Fares” ↗Psychopath, sociopath, they are terms that get thrown around and there is an industry promoting these classifications where possibly none exist, just a sliding scale of individual morality. 'The Psychopath Test' is a good read on this subject.
on “Mark Pincus memo to Zynga employees” ↗Does not surprise me, skilled practitioners of this dark art are sociopaths. If you have not, a great book to read " The Psychopath Test", where it talks about how a lot of CEOs mirror traits of psychopaths.
on “Are people with dark personality traits more likely to succeed?” ↗Jon Ronson has written several incredible books that all qualify as Gonzo Journalism. The only one I didn't like very much was the one about the adult film industry. The Psychopath Test So You've Been Publicly Shamed Them: Adventures with Extremists All great books and even better audiobooks that you'll like I think.
on “The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved [pdf]” ↗