Summary of Kevin Dutton's The Wisdom of Psychopaths

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview:

#1 The frog and the scorpion are sitting on the bank of a river, and the frog needs to get to the other side. The frog is suspicious of the scorpion, but allows him to ride on his back across the river. At first everything goes according to plan, but halfway across, the frog suddenly feels a sharp pain in his back and sees the scorpion withdraw his stinger.

#2 The brains of psychopaths and non-psychopaths are similar, and there is no difference between them. However, a dead brain is very different from a living one, and the lights are on when examining a brain, not off.

#3 The brain waves of psychopaths are different from normal people, and they occur during normal waking states. Language is only word deep for psychopaths, and they have no emotional contouring behind their words.

#4 Fabrizio Rossi, the curator of the Museum of Serial Killers in Florence, Italy, said that the most intriguing thing about psychopaths is their normal appearance. But scratch beneath the surface, and you never know what you might find.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669373568

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Kevin Dutton's The Wisdom of Psychopaths

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The frog and the scorpion are sitting on the bank of a river, and the frog needs to get to the other side. The frog is suspicious of the scorpion, but allows him to ride on his back across the river. At first everything goes according to plan, but halfway across, the frog suddenly feels a sharp pain in his back and sees the scorpion withdraw his stinger.

#2

The brains of psychopaths and non-psychopaths are similar, and there is no difference between them. However, a dead brain is very different from a living one, and the lights are on when examining a brain, not off.

#3

The brain waves of psychopaths are different from normal people, and they occur during normal waking states. Language is only word deep for psychopaths, and they have no emotional contouring behind their words.

#4

Fabrizio Rossi, the curator of the Museum of Serial Killers in Florence, Italy, said that the most intriguing thing about psychopaths is their normal appearance. But scratch beneath the surface, and you never know what you might find.

#5

The study showed that people who score high on the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale are better at judging vulnerability than those who score low. However, the psychopaths in the study explicitly stated that it was because of the way people walked.

#6

The news that there are times when it isn’t a bad thing to be a psychopath is difficult to swallow. But the truth is that it depends on a variety of factors, including genes, family background, education, and intelligence.

#7

The distinction between a world-class super psychopath and a normal psychopath is blurred. The symptoms of psychopathy are the dials and sliders on a studio mixing desk. If you push all of them to max, you’ll have a sound track that’s no use to anyone. But if the sound track is graded and some controls are turned up higher than others, you may have a surgeon who’s a cut above the rest.

#8

There are many instances where psychopathic talent may be beneficial. For example, it may help police officers detect vulnerable people and criminals.

#9