Psychopath

"Sociopathy" and "Sociopath" redirect here. For another usage of these terms, see Antisocial personality disorder. Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality,[1] is a personality construct[2][3] characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to stress,[4] which create an outward appearance of apparent normalcy... The DSM and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) subsequently introduced the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and dissocial personality disorder (DPD) respectively, stating that these diagnoses have been referred to (or include what is referred to) as psychopathy or sociopathy. The creation of ASPD and DPD was driven by the fact that many of the classic traits of psychopathy were impossible to measure objectively.[11][12][13][14][15] Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare later re-popularized the construct of psychopathy in criminology with his Psychopathy Checklist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy

The Psychopathy Checklist or Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, now the Psychopathy Checklist—revised (PCL-R), is a psychological assessment tool that is commonly used to assess the presence and extent of psychopathy in individuals—most often those institutionalized in the criminal justice system—and to differentiate those high in this trait from those with antisocial personality disorder, a related diagnosable disorder.[1] It is a 20-item inventory of perceived personality traits and recorded behaviors, intended to be completed on the basis of a semi-structured interview along with a review of "collateral information" such as official records.[2] The psychopath tends to display a constellation or combination of high narcissistic, borderline, and antisocial personality disorder traits, which includes superficial charm, charisma/attractiveness, sexual seductiveness and promiscuity, affective instability, suicidality, lack of empathy, feelings of emptiness, self-harm, and splitting (black and white thinking).[3] In addition, sadistic and paranoid traits are usually also present. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy_Checklist

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry is a 2011 book written by British author Jon Ronson in which he explores the concept of psychopathy, along with the broader mental health "industry" including mental health professionals and the mass media... Ronson visits purported psychopaths, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists who have studied them, particularly Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare, the eponymous author of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a 20‑part test administered to detect psychopathy. Ronson explores the idea that many corporate and governmental leaders are psychopaths (CEO, politician) whose actions to others can only be explained by taking that fact into account, and he privately uses the Hare test to determine if he can discern any truth to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychopath_Test

• Ronson is obviously no stranger to controversy, and his journey into "the madness industry" seems like a contemporary version of Alice in Wonderland. At the beginning of his trip, there is even a rabbit of sorts. It comes in the form of an enigmatic puzzle book mailed by a anonymous individual to dozens of leading scientists and academics. One of them asks Ronson to discover the identity of its secret author, who, it turns out, is an academic in Sweden. Douglas Hofstadter (author of Godel, Escher, Bach) helps Ronson in this investigation, and along the way Hofstadter diagnoses the anonymous author as "nuts." Ronson is hooked, madness seems to be everywhere, and in turn he becomes mesmerized by psychopaths.
  • references to GEB in PT.
    • darn, I coulda sworn I browsed this book, and it actually had a line like "I realized that every psychopath I met had GEB on this bookshelf." Now that story is ruined.
• see also references to Being or Nothingness

Both Elementary and Person of Interest (TV) had subplots involving a PersonalityTest being used to identify psychopaths to hire as killers.*