The insight into how prevalent a "psychopath" is was valuable. However, the writer's own ego and self importance was blatanyly obvious and made this somewhat hard to read.

What is it about serial killers, or psychopaths in general, that is just so fascinating!? I have always found myself drawn to it for some reason. Shows (and books) like Dexter have always appealed to me. The craziness of prisoners in the TV Show Oz piques my interest to the maximum. I just can’t get enough! So when I randomly strolled across this book in the library I couldn’t resist grabbing it.

So what can you learn from psychopaths? Well I guess you are gonna have to read the book to find out, but as it turns out quite a bit. And while this book wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, it shed a lot of light on numerous different facts. There were studies that had some findings that shocked not only me, but the author.

I think where this book went a little south for me was in its deliverance of the material. When Mr. Dutton was talking about interactions he’s had or things he’s experienced or see I was captured from the first sentence, but when he was trying to lay out the material from things he’s found it was interesting but not as enticing to read.

If this title grabs your attention though I think this is worth a read. It might not be exactly what your looking for but there was certainly enough here to keep me happily learning.

For some reason, I enjoyed this book for class. It provided a different view when observing Psychopaths. Still a mundane class read but it was interesting.

Fun, silly little book. I'm not altogether blown away by Dutton's method or more general ontology, but that doesn't mean it's not a good read. He's a genuinely entertaining writer, and the information presented in the book is interesting and straightforward. The nature of the book is such that it probably is better suited for light reading rather than any sort of academic or professional use. That said, it is decently cited and he uses a sufficient amount of supplementary diagnostic material in areas where he would otherwise have to delve into too much scholarship.

A more general note: if you think serial killers and psychopathy are cool; Dutton paints a pretty nifty picture of both. Plus it's fun to read about him shutting off a portion of his brain - who doesn't get into that kind of stuff?

I really wanted to read this book, because it sounded so interesting to get to know what happens in the mind and brain of a psychopath and how this makes them partly killers or partly leaders (and good leaders too, sometimes). But actually I got a bit disappointed. Even though I learned new things with regards to the difference of psychopaths and "normal" people, but I actually had expected more from the title "lessons in life...". I have taken no lessons from this book.

Read a summary.
Talks about how Psychopath's brains work. Basically, not feeling emotions like fear makes them better at taking decisions, not getting distracted, control anxiety, makes them charismatic, enough to archive their goals.
The author also talks about how people are turning less empathetic, wich is worsened by the media and the encourage of society on adapting "this characteristics."
How many times I have been told to think logically and supreme my emotions in Bussiness school? A lot.

You can't become a psychopath, they are born like that, you can't change them. A way to disconnect you from your emotions is joining the Navy, because they are trained to do just that. Also meditation helps.

There is a lot to chew on. From killers and con men to presidents and CEO's. It was a far more entertaining read than expected. A lot of science jargon mixed with great storytelling. Thought provoking and a good starting point for self-reflection about your own beliefs about how you treat people or how you have been treated by people in your life.

There are a number of books mentioned in the book that ended up on my GR list. The adventure into the psychopathic mind is not over.

Very enjoyable read.

I have mixed feelings. While I appreciate what is discussed in this book and how it challenges many stereotypes of those who are high in psychopathy, the writing itself could sometimes slow down what should be an interesting book. I appreciated the amount of research that was included and the different people Dutton had talked to. My slight dislike for British books won out again sadly