The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Psychopath. The word conjurs up images of serial killers, rapists, suicide bombers, gangsters. But think again: you could probably benefit from being a little more psychopathic yourself.

Psychologist Kevin Dutton has made a speciality of psychopathy, and is on first-name terms with many notorious killers. But unlike those incarcerated psychopaths, and all those depicted in movies and crime fiction, most are not violent, he explains. In fact, says Prof Dutton, they have a lot of good things going for them. Psychopaths are fearless, confident, charismatic and focused--qualities tailor-made for success in today's society.

The Wisdom of Psychopaths is an intellectual rollercoaster ride that combines lightning-hot science with unprecedented access to secret monasteries, Special Forces training camps, and high-security hospitals. In it, you will meet serial killers, war heroes, financiers, movie stars and attorneys--and discover that beneath the hype and popular characterization, psychopaths have something to teach us. 

Like the knobs on a mixing deck, psychopathy is graded. And finding the right combination of psychopathic traits, sampled and mixed at carefully calibrated volumes, can put us ahead of the game.

Advance Praise for The Wisdom of Psycopaths:

"A surprising, absorbing, and perceptive book. Kevin Dutton has amassed a great deal of knowledge about these charming, cold, fearless, emotionally indifferent people, who are so attractive in some ways and so appalling in others, and set it out in a briskly readable prose studded with gripping anecdotes. He's concerned with the whole spectrum of the psychopathic personality and how it adapts to the world in some ways better than the ‘normal' personality does. I found it altogether fascinating." -Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials

"Dutton tackles an elusive, important and much-neglected aspect of the mind: our personality. He presents some highly original insights and does so in a provocative and humorous style-offering practical tips along the way for both ‘normals' and sociopaths." ­-V.S. Ramachandran, author of The Tell-Tale Brain

"Dutton has written a masterful, readable, and entertaining treatise on psychopathy and its manifestations in everyday life. Some of his ideas will generate debate and controversy, but he clearly has provided a thought-provoking book for those seeking to understand the ‘psychopathic' world in which they live." -Robert Hare, professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia, co-author of Snakes in Suits