Wanna Work With Psychopaths?

Of course you do. Otherwise why would you even think about being a writer? Or doing anything in showbiz?  Or for any company where you’d have contact with the CEO? Or…or…:

Which professions have the most psychopaths? The fewest? – by  (Bakadesuyo.Com)

First off, psychopath doesn’t just mean someone who cuts you up with a chainsaw — though the majority of people who do things like that are psychopaths. What’s the definition?

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that has been variously described as characterized by shallow emotions (in particular reduced fear), stress tolerance, lacking empathy, coldheartedness, lacking guilt, egocentricity, superficial character, manipulativeness, irresponsibility, impulsivity and antisocial behaviors such as parasitic lifestyle and criminality.

So which professions (other than axe murderer) do they disproportionately gravitate towards — or away from?

Via The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success:

And the next thing that comes to mind is: Why?

Most of the professions on the right require human connection, dealing with feelings and most of them don’t offer much power. Psychopaths, by their very nature, would not be drawn to or very good at these things.

On the other hand, most of the roles on the left do offer power and many require an ability to make objective, clinical decisions divorced from feelings. Psychopaths would be drawn to these roles and thrive there.

That said…

Chef? Really? I guess it pays to tread lightly around anyone who has a set of knives bearing their initials.

Believe it or don’t, this article actually is a book review. For a tome everybody going into the Biz should read: The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success

One thought on “Wanna Work With Psychopaths?”

  1. Believe it or not, this article confuses me. “Media” people are the 3rd most frequently psychopaths, yet “Creative Artists” are the 8th least likely to be psychos? Does this mean that those who did the study don’t consider working in TV/radio to be creative?

    Oh, wait. Right. NO ONE considers working in TV to be creative. How could I forget?

    LYMI,

    LB

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