The Psychopath Test A Journey Through the Madness Industry

That's the whole reason that all started and it's such a good book.

But it basically there's no difference the relatively no difference between a psychopath and a sociopath.

But it basically there's no difference the relatively no difference between a psychopath and a sociopath.

My name is John Ronson and I'm an author of a number of books, including the book, The Psychopath Test.

John Ronson spent three years exploring how a person is diagnosed as a psychopath and he met several times with the most famous man in psychopathy research, Robert Hare is the father of modern psychopathy diagnosis.

One of the reasons John Ronson knows the checklist so well is because he attended one of the diagnostic training courses taught by the creator of the checklist, Robert Hare.

His book the psychopath test also very very good but of course I think his best and most relevant book which is one I also carry here at the Painted Porch is so you've been publicly shamed

I was thinking about psychopaths while you were saying that uh because one thing I did learn I learned to let all tip when I when I when I was writing the psychopath test and I went on there on Robert Hayes course and learned about the checklist and obviously one of the um main items on the checklist is lack of empathy yeah and I'll tell you let me tell you a story really quickly after I finished writing the psychopath test so this isn't in the book I was interviewing this spy this this spy who had worked for the for the Russians um but he was British so I'm talking to this guy and I noticed that he was um not listening to any of my questions just just monologueing at me for a long time and I hope that this is more of a kind of conversation we're listening to each other which is an empathetic situation but this guy didn't have that so I thought I remembered another item on the checklist early behavior problems and first things to do with childhood so I said to him like when you when you were a child uh were you were bully at he sort of looked twinkle high and he said oh yes yes he said I was uh I was a terrible bully I used to I got a pile of bricks and I put them in my bag and I had a head behind the tree and then I jump out and hit the other kids with with this bag uh and he said but it was always like other bullies you know yeah sure or that's what he said so I said um I said how did I make you feel he said good and I said I'm looking back at it now 60 is 70 years later how does it make you feel and he said uh he said still good uh so you're not really the sort of person who feels empathy and he said you've really got to the root of it there uh he said you know all uh he said you know if a dog dies who I'm you know if my pet dog dies I feel incredibly upset I cry for days but all the people who I've hurt I just feel nothing uh so the two if you if you're you can um get a psychopath to really get to the root of it and it had similar conversations with one or two other uh psychopaths too