Helpful Score: 9
This book is a must for anyone who deals with people - so basically everyone who doesn't have a degree in psych.
I have been a follower of Ms. Stout for years, she has done some groundbreaking work. I have several sociopaths in my family and I married one. If only the book were written before my marriage, I believe I would have seen the big picture.
The past is the past, I see things from a different perspective and highly recommend this book!
I have been a follower of Ms. Stout for years, she has done some groundbreaking work. I have several sociopaths in my family and I married one. If only the book were written before my marriage, I believe I would have seen the big picture.
The past is the past, I see things from a different perspective and highly recommend this book!
Helpful Score: 6
These days, with the abundance of books, movies, and television programs available on demand for instant entertainment, our knowledge tends to be informed by popular culture rather. Because of this,our intake of the dramatic simplification of most topics is outweighed drastically by factual representation.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that most of us envision dangerous people as wild-eyed lunatics noticeable a mile way, disheveled madmen that are encountered far and few between.
As Martha Stout demonstrates in The Sociopath Next Door, there are people capable of unimaginable atrocities all around us, and not only do they appear like everyone else, but they might even be less conspicuous than one would hope.
If Good and Evil are opposites of the same coin, and Good people are those who care and feel for others, then it stands to reason that evil exists as people lacking the ability to care or love. These people exist, cold and calculating sociopaths unfettered by the restrictions of guilt or conscious, and they do so in alarming numbers reaching epidemic proportions. 4% of the US population are afflicted with Sociopathic Personalities, far greater than those afflicted with cancer. Meaning one out of every twenty-five people you meet feel no remorse or regret, and are capable of anything.
Martha Stout's book strikes an elegant balance between clinical facts and anecdotal examples, making this book an easy read that manages not to come off as either a fluffy fear-mongering diatribe or a stuffy jargon-laden medical tome. The examples created from personal case studies perfectly illustrate the points of each chapter, but don't detract from the factual or philosophical topics discussed.
Despite chapters warning of the realities of the sociopaths among us, such as their alarming ability to blend in and even charm us into their confidence, her tone never reaches an alarmist level. This is a book that informs and prepares, with instilling false hope or blind panic in its audience. Also, while this topic is heavy with emotion, Stout never descends into supermarket tabloid prose. Apart from a slight detour into 9/11, which almost has no bearing on the topic at hand, the examination of the origins and ramifications of the human conscious remain informative and exploratory without becoming preachy. Especially interesting is the chapter that delves into the nature vs. nurture debate, in which she examines the genetic, environmental, and cultural influences that can help create or subdue a growing child's sociopathic tendencies.
If you have ever witnessed someone behaving extraordinarily ruthlessly or cruelly, and have wondered how someone could even bring themselves to act in such a manner, this book will go a long way towards satisfying your curiosity.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that most of us envision dangerous people as wild-eyed lunatics noticeable a mile way, disheveled madmen that are encountered far and few between.
As Martha Stout demonstrates in The Sociopath Next Door, there are people capable of unimaginable atrocities all around us, and not only do they appear like everyone else, but they might even be less conspicuous than one would hope.
If Good and Evil are opposites of the same coin, and Good people are those who care and feel for others, then it stands to reason that evil exists as people lacking the ability to care or love. These people exist, cold and calculating sociopaths unfettered by the restrictions of guilt or conscious, and they do so in alarming numbers reaching epidemic proportions. 4% of the US population are afflicted with Sociopathic Personalities, far greater than those afflicted with cancer. Meaning one out of every twenty-five people you meet feel no remorse or regret, and are capable of anything.
Martha Stout's book strikes an elegant balance between clinical facts and anecdotal examples, making this book an easy read that manages not to come off as either a fluffy fear-mongering diatribe or a stuffy jargon-laden medical tome. The examples created from personal case studies perfectly illustrate the points of each chapter, but don't detract from the factual or philosophical topics discussed.
Despite chapters warning of the realities of the sociopaths among us, such as their alarming ability to blend in and even charm us into their confidence, her tone never reaches an alarmist level. This is a book that informs and prepares, with instilling false hope or blind panic in its audience. Also, while this topic is heavy with emotion, Stout never descends into supermarket tabloid prose. Apart from a slight detour into 9/11, which almost has no bearing on the topic at hand, the examination of the origins and ramifications of the human conscious remain informative and exploratory without becoming preachy. Especially interesting is the chapter that delves into the nature vs. nurture debate, in which she examines the genetic, environmental, and cultural influences that can help create or subdue a growing child's sociopathic tendencies.
If you have ever witnessed someone behaving extraordinarily ruthlessly or cruelly, and have wondered how someone could even bring themselves to act in such a manner, this book will go a long way towards satisfying your curiosity.
Helpful Score: 1
This was an excellent book. I really enjoyed it.
Helpful Score: 1
Interesting, but also disturbing. Something like 1 in 25 people is a sociopath. They have no conscience, empathy, sympathy, or pity. They can pass themselves off as normal human beings, but at any point they are capable of hurting others (not necessarily by physical force) to gain what they want. They're cold, calculating, and devious. A fascinating look at people among us who aren't necessarily murderers. People hear the word sociopath and think of serial killers, but not all sociopaths get to that point though they always have that innate ability. The best parts of the book had to do with recognizing a sociopath and what to do if you have to interact with one. Not a book I want to keep, but it was worth reading.
Helpful Score: 1
While not the most evocative writing, and while the book is about 15 pages of content crammed into 218 pages of text, still, the message is important enough that I think this is a great book.
Sociopaths (which the author says make up about 4% of the population, or 1 in 25 people, with cites to 1997 and 1998 studies, although the stat bandied about the internet is 1% of females and 3% of males, but no matter, they're out there) live among the rest of us. Most are not killers or bank robbers, but the live with absolutely no sense of conscience, no remorse over any action of theirs.
Imagine you had no guilt over any action of yours, and no emotional attachment to anybody in your life. What would you do? Stop and think.
*** *** ***
There are people out there doing that. Scary, huh? So, you know, the book says here are clues to watch for, and how to protect yourself. And don't feel guilty about it. The sociopath will feel nothing emotionally.
OK, so, having gotten that out of the way, which is all you need to say this book's message is important, I have to wonder - what is the prevalence of sociopathy (which wikipedia says is an obsolete term for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD))? The book, and most places on the internet, agree it's hard to diagnose because sociopaths can imitate people with consciences pretty well.
Also, the book presents it as pretty binary. Intuition tells me that every other aspect of human behavior, and even physical traits, exist along a continuum, and therefore possession-of-conscience probably does too. How little conscience does one need to be a sociopath? There are probably people who wouldn't flinch about keeping money they found, even if there were means to try to find the owner, but who wouldn't injure somebody else because it's wrong. Probably not a sociopath. What about somebody who might injure somebody to get what they wanted, but wouldn't kill because the guilt would haunt them? Is that a sociopath? Don't know.
I wish the book had gone into stuff like that, but no matter, really. If a person is willing to injure you or steal from you without remorse, and the only thing keeping that person at bay is the likelihood of punishment or sheer effort required, I may as well act as though that person is sociopathic. And whether it's 1% or 4%, you and I are going to encounter these people in our lives. So, if I may, I recommend a reading of this book.
Sociopaths (which the author says make up about 4% of the population, or 1 in 25 people, with cites to 1997 and 1998 studies, although the stat bandied about the internet is 1% of females and 3% of males, but no matter, they're out there) live among the rest of us. Most are not killers or bank robbers, but the live with absolutely no sense of conscience, no remorse over any action of theirs.
Imagine you had no guilt over any action of yours, and no emotional attachment to anybody in your life. What would you do? Stop and think.
*** *** ***
There are people out there doing that. Scary, huh? So, you know, the book says here are clues to watch for, and how to protect yourself. And don't feel guilty about it. The sociopath will feel nothing emotionally.
OK, so, having gotten that out of the way, which is all you need to say this book's message is important, I have to wonder - what is the prevalence of sociopathy (which wikipedia says is an obsolete term for Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD))? The book, and most places on the internet, agree it's hard to diagnose because sociopaths can imitate people with consciences pretty well.
Also, the book presents it as pretty binary. Intuition tells me that every other aspect of human behavior, and even physical traits, exist along a continuum, and therefore possession-of-conscience probably does too. How little conscience does one need to be a sociopath? There are probably people who wouldn't flinch about keeping money they found, even if there were means to try to find the owner, but who wouldn't injure somebody else because it's wrong. Probably not a sociopath. What about somebody who might injure somebody to get what they wanted, but wouldn't kill because the guilt would haunt them? Is that a sociopath? Don't know.
I wish the book had gone into stuff like that, but no matter, really. If a person is willing to injure you or steal from you without remorse, and the only thing keeping that person at bay is the likelihood of punishment or sheer effort required, I may as well act as though that person is sociopathic. And whether it's 1% or 4%, you and I are going to encounter these people in our lives. So, if I may, I recommend a reading of this book.
