"The Wisdom of Psychopaths"

buddhajunkie

Psychopaths are "fearless, confident, charismatic, ruthless and focused." Supposedly they are also mindful and resilient. Many psychopaths are "functional" and they include many surgeons, CEOs and lawyers in their ranks.

Is there "wisdom" in psychopathy? Do you with you could push button that could make you a bit more of a psychopath when you wanted? Could a Buddhist CEO, lawyer or surgeon hold their own against psychopaths? Is it possible to adopt a judicious amount of psychopathology, or is it a slippery slope?

Here's an article adapted from the book.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-psychopaths-teach-us-about-how-to-succeed


Here are some book reviews:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203846804578100812431855282.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/07/wisdom-of-psychopaths-kevin-dutton-review

Citta

A ) Pychopathy is now called Personality Disorder.
It is relatively uncommon. Much of what is informally called " psychopathy " translates as " selfish and controlling behaviour I dont like ."
C) It is difficult to imagine that a subject with a full blown Personality Disorder will ever take more than a passing interest in Buddhadharma apart from for exploitative reasons..although " internet Buddhism " is fertile ground for a certain kind of delusions of grandeur type game-play that would be quickly spotted in a flesh and blood sangha.
D ) The majority of CEO's surgeons and even Lawyers are not Personality Disordered.

But Buddhadharma in the west ( its different elsewhere ) attracts a lot of people with a built in distrust of authority figures... which is just as unskillful as brazen ambition is , but in a different way.
A sign of maturity in western Buddhism will be when it is comfortable with professional success and feels no need for knee-jerk revolt.

David

A psychopath lacks basic empathy and the ability to feel remorse so although they may be crafty and clever they could hardly be considered wise as I understand the term.

caz

buddhajunkie said:

Psychopaths are "fearless, confident, charismatic, ruthless and focused." Supposedly they are also mindful and resilient. Many psychopaths are "functional" and they include many surgeons, CEOs and lawyers in their ranks.

Is there "wisdom" in psychopathy? Do you with you could push button that could make you a bit more of a psychopath when you wanted? Could a Buddhist CEO, lawyer or surgeon hold their own against psychopaths? Is it possible to adopt a judicious amount of psychopathology, or is it a slippery slope?

Here's an article adapted from the book.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-psychopaths-teach-us-about-how-to-succeed


Here are some book reviews:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203846804578100812431855282.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/07/wisdom-of-psychopaths-kevin-dutton-review

Lets get one thing blatantly clear Psychopathy is not wisdom nor can it ever be considered as such. It is born out of the Delusion of Self cherishing, so strong is this mind of Self cherishing that it is completely oblivious to the suffering of others and would even delight in their pain, This mind would feel no remorse over destroying someone in order to succeed in life.

Those with this mind will burn and suffer in the Hell realms for a extremely long time, Every motivated action they perform will be a cause for excruciating pain in the future as they have made others suffer so to shall they suffer.

On the subject of Buddhists in positions of power how do they deal with things ? The answer is obvious it should always be done with a mind of great compassion for others, Those with the mind that cherishes others and thinks of their welfare are the noble ones the Arya's, Those who have wealth and power through birth or have accumulated it through effort are not necessarily Noble. This is what has divided the Buddhists and the Non Buddhists of India whom believe that ones birth is a factor of Nobility and thus gives them the right to enact the caste system.

Ironic now that I think about it we already have the caste system in the western world and its root is the same as that of the Non Buddhists...

how

Why would you wish to pit someone with a personality disorder against someone who doesn't. Someone who has a personality disorder may also have traits that allow them some success in the world but attempting to compete with that has little to do with a Buddhist path.

Dakini

ourself said:

A psychopath lacks basic empathy and the ability to feel remorse so although they may be crafty and clever they could hardly be considered wise as I understand the term.

Psychopaths don't care whom they hurt to get what they want, or how badly they hurt them or destroy their career. They don't care about lying and cheating. They have an anything-goes mentality. Not exactly the 8-fold path or compassionate living, is it?

music

Dakini said:

ourself said:

A psychopath lacks basic empathy and the ability to feel remorse so although they may be crafty and clever they could hardly be considered wise as I understand the term.

Psychopaths don't care whom they hurt to get what they want, or how badly they hurt them or destroy their career. They don't care about lying and cheating. They have an anything-goes mentality. Not exactly the 8-fold path or compassionate living, is it?

Thank you. You've just described most of humanity.

Dakini

music said:

Thank you. You've just described most of humanity.

Not most of humanity in my world. I don't know where you live...

vinlyn

Dakini said:

music said:

Thank you. You've just described most of humanity.

Not most of humanity in my world. I don't know where you live...

Agreed, Dakini. Wherever you live @Music, you need to move and meet different people.

music

I am considering human history as a whole to come to conclusions.

robot

music said:

I am considering human history as a whole to come to conclusions.

History is just stories. The bad stuff lasts longer.