This article was downloaded by: [Michigan State University]

On: 27 February 2015, At: 02:41

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Applied Security Research

Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wasr20

James Fallon, The Psychopath Inside, A

Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into
the Dark Side of the Brain.
a
H. H. A. Cooper
a
Former President of Nuevevidas International, Inc., New Orleans,
Louisiana
Published online: 09 Oct 2014.

Click for updates

To cite this article: H. H. A. Cooper (2014) James Fallon, The Psychopath Inside, A Neuroscientist's
Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain., Journal of Applied Security Research, 9:4, 517-526,
DOI: 10.1080/19361610.2014.942830

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19361610.2014.942830

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the
“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,
our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to
the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions
and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,
and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content
should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources
of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,
proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or
howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising
out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &
 Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-
and-conditions
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015
 Journal of Applied Security Research, 9:517–526, 2014
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1936-1610 print / 1936-1629 online
DOI: 10.1080/19361610.2014.942830

James Fallon, The Psychopath Inside, A Neuroscientist’s Personal Journey into

the Dark Side of the Brain. New York, NY: Current (Penguin Group) (2013).
227 pages, plus 2 acknowledgements, 6 bibliography, $27.95 (hardcover).

This is a curious, disturbing, provocative book. Although it is hardly

to be regarded as an authoritative text on its principal line of enquiry, it
contains many engaging observations on topics of interest to professional
readers of this journal. The author, a recognized neuroscientist, is something
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

of a polymath, who has engaged his many talents in a variety of fields,

from bartending to truck driving to neuroscience. The book has an unusual
genesis. Besides the range of his professional interests, Dr. Fallon seems to
be something of a multitasker. While engaged in studying the brain scans of
murderers for one project, he was at the same time frame engaged in a blind
review of his family’s scans as a normal control group for an Alzheimer’s
study, and his own scan, the last in the group, was included. The last scan
was distinctively abnormal, registering the characteristics of the brain of a
psychopath. Dr. Fallon writes,

When I found out who the scan belonged to, I had to believe there was
a mistake. In a fit of pique, I asked the technician to check the scanner
and all the notes from the other imaging and database technicians. But
there had been no mistake. The scan was mine. (pp. 2–3)

This is not stated unkindly, but readers of this book well versed in
the literature on the controversial topic of psychopathy will, as they proceed
through the personal disclosures in this text, assuming them to be reasonably
truthful, something that should never be taken for granted in the case of any
person registering psychopathic tendencies, would find abundant material
to support a diagnosis of psychopathy. Not “psychopathy lite,” the author’s
own characterization, to soften the blow. It is this reviewer’s contention,
with more than 50 years of study of this disorder, that it is in the nature
of a constitutional condition that does not admit of degrees. You can no
more be a little bit of a psychopath than you can be a little bit pregnant:
you either are or you are not. It is only in the consequences that their
severity, from a forensic perspective, come into consideration, namely, what
a particular psychopath does or does not do, his or her potential for harm.
That potential for harm, “dangerousness,” is as controversial in terms of
definition as opposed to mere description as the word psychopathy itself.
That is a controversy well outside the scope of Dr. Fallon’s treatment in this

517
 518 Book Reviews

book. What he tells of himself is very revealing and what he does not tell,
one might fairly speculate, is possibly more revealing. Psychopath, a term
as abused as terrorist, is not a label worn with pride—even one might aver
by those forensically so adjudged. It is thus understandable why Dr. Fallon
should have wished to diminish, as he does, the significance of his discovery.
He writes: “Many people wear masks so that they can just get on with life
and be liked, accepted, and loved. Few want to be shunned by society.”
Dr. Fallon need hardly be concerned by this, nor does he seem to be. He
made assiduous attempts following his biological discovery to find out what
friends and acquaintances really thought of him before and after he “came
out.” He became, as a scientist, especially interested in the way he connected
with people, (pp. 150–151) and was obviously disconcerted by the results.
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

A 50 page report he commissioned, substantially of what had been revealed

to him informally (pp. 180–181), though hardly flattering, was not radically
different from the professional perspective (pp. 181–184). His observations
at p. 184 are telling: “I didn’t disagree with the findings but laughed off the
negative aspects, as I do with everything.”
The real significance of this book lies in its forensic implications. Psy-
chopathy finds no place in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders in any of its iterations as a mental disease, much to the chagrin
of Big Pharma. The emphasis psychiatrically has always been on diagnosis,
not treatment. There has been a tendency, among practitioners, especially
those in the field of penology, to regard psychopathy as something of a
self-limiting condition, like influenza or the common cold. There existed a
belief at least among some that it was possible to envisage a “growing out of
it,” at least with regard to its most dangerous potential; ages 15 to 45 were
often regarded as beginning and end points. This book offers a number of
useful corrections to that position both from the biologic standpoint and
the personal correlations provided by the author in his own case. The most
significant characteristics seem to have become more pronounced even as
Dr. Fallon has made and announced his unwelcome discovery. This bears
out other significant instances such as the Kansas cases of Robinson and
BTK, Dennis Rader, two psychopathic serial killers, poster persons for the
condition.
Clearly, however unconcernedly he might pose, Dr. Fallon is under-
standably troubled, at probably a deeper level by what people might think
about him, and particularly the validity of his work, since his disclosures, in
the restricted ambit of their relevance. Worth citing in full, here is what he
writes as he widens the impact to a larger audience:

None of the psychological tests I took prior to 2006 addressed the issue
of psychopathy directly. And since there is no formal definition of a
psychopath, no formal test was going to be able to determine whether
I was one. In retrospect, however, the assessments did point out sev-
eral traits that are common to psychopaths—grandiosity, narcissism,
 Book Reviews 519

ego-centricity, thrill-seeking, dependency, a potential for poor self-

assessment, and superficiality in relationships—a point I had never con-
sidered in the context of psychopathy. These somewhat egotistical, blow-
hard, devil-may-care traits were of no real matter to me because I wasn’t
anti-social. (p. 194)

It surely all depends on how one defines “anti-social.” What he writes

on p. 207, whether completely honest or not, is most revealing, especially
the throw-away observation on the antecedent “. . . because I like getting
away with it.”
Forensically, the real significance of psychopathy lies, despite the heroic
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

efforts of a few great defense lawyers, in the fact that it finds no place in
the law of insanity as an excuse for criminal conduct. From McNaughton
onwards, psychopathy has been ruled out as such a disease of the mind that
the actor could be said not to know what he or she was doing or that it was
wrong. However horrendous the crime, commonsense (a supposed petit
jury quality) tells us that the psychopath knew very well what he or she was
doing; you cannot dump your pregnant wife of nearly 9 months in the cold
waters of San Francisco Bay and plead that you just thought she might enjoy
the swim. The problem is only complicated by knowing the controversial
socially mediated distinction between what is right and what is wrong. There
is the real issue for the clever advocate. The psychopath hews fiercely to
his or her own notion of what is right and what is wrong. This is what is
meant by antisocial behavior rather than by any measure of the degree of
the consequences. This is the point on which Dr. Fallon is experiencing his
considerable difficulties in ameliorating the effects of his disclosures. His real
contribution in this book is when he confines himself to the implications
of his own specialty, namely the structure and workings of the brain. To
this end, Chapter 3: The Brain of a Killer, should command the special
attention of the readers of this journal who are professionally concerned
with psychiatry and its place in the pantheon of excuses or rationales for
criminal behavior, especially in cases of homicide. This is really quite a
technical exposition and it needs to be read very carefully by those unfamiliar
with the neuroscience terms so familiar to scientists in this field. This is but
a small challenge for lawyers who must, if they are able to practice at all,
familiarize themselves in-depth with the jargon of other disciplines. Dr. Fallon
writes:

One day in 1995, my colleague in psychiatry Anthony rang me up and

said, “Hey, Jim, I’ve got a job for you. These lawyers I’m consulting have
a guy who murdered some people, and we did a scan to see if there was
something wrong with his brain. Could you take a look and tell us what
you see.” I said sure and reviewed his PET scan. (pp. 43–44)
 520 Book Reviews

No review can do, in summary, justice to the substance of this chapter and
the interested reader will need, as recommended here, to read it most care-
fully for it is really the heart of the book and its most substantive value.
It would be impertinent of this reviewer to comment on its accuracy; only
another neuroscientist could be expected to do that. But it is nevertheless
comprehensible as written to the nonspecialist and is replete with useful
illustrations. What Dr. Fallon saw from his intensive studies of the brains
of criminals he studied over a decade were patterns associated with certain
parts of the brain that were abnormal in the cases referred to him by con-
cerned members of the legal profession. He writes of the excitement in his
discoveries, : “When a neuroanatomist sees a pattern, he goes crazy. I could
have been studying butterflies and I still would have gotten excited. Patterns
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

are where we get our baggage. And that’s when I really became interested
in psychopathy” (p. 58). It is here that the true genesis of the enquiry in this
book begins to take hold. At p. 64, we find:

My first reaction: “you’ve got to be kidding me” It blew me away. Then

I just laughed. I said to myself, “Oh, I get the joke.” If you were asked
over the years to look at killers brains and found a pattern to them, and
then found out you had the same pattern, that’s funny. If I’d thought
for a moment that I really was a psychopath, I may have reacted more
soberly. But I didn’t.

Here, a serious defect of reasoning reveals itself, one which like a pow-
erful undercurrent runs throughout this otherwise well-reasoned work and
which distorts its value as a truly useful treatise on the subject of the work-
ings of the psychopathic mind. There are those who are unquestionably
diagnosed as psychopaths, who have never killed another human being nor
for a valid variety of reasons have ever seriously entertained a thought of do-
ing so. There are, too, those who have killed and are not, on other grounds,
susceptible of being diagnosed as psychopathic. Killing is simply not a nec-
essary element in the definition of psychopathy. It is largely, if not solely,
on the absence of this element in Dr. Fallon’s life trajectory, so far, that he
relies for mitigation of the inevitable conclusion that certain aspects of his
brain would cause him to fit the pattern he was so excited to discover.
As the next chapter begins, he writes:

Although I wasn’t worried I was a psychopath, the revelation that my

own scan fit perfectly with the pattern of the scans of the psychopathic
killers did give me reason to pause. I’d been so sure I’d discovered
something profound that would help us better understand what makes a
psychopath a psychopath, but the disconnect between my brain pattern
and my behavior might imply that my theory of the psychopath brain
was wrong or, at the very least, incomplete.
 Book Reviews 521

At p. 11, Dr. Fallon offers a professional caution to which he himself should

have paid greater attention: “Despite advances in our understanding of how
the brain works, the organ is still largely a mystery to us.” Chapter 4 on
Bloodlines is clearly intended to supply the missing element that might
supply a rational answer to the seeming anomaly suggested by the absence
of the homicidal instinct. It must be stated here as a caution that much of
what is written by Dr. Fallon of his ancestry hardly rises to the level of serious
scientific debate, but it is necessary to introduce his theory of genetics. It
does somewhat to the professional critic detract from an otherwise reasoned
thesis; Dr. Fallon claims Lizzie Borden as something of a cousin, but even
her worst detractors would hardly have called her a psychopath. At most
she is said to have perhaps acted in a state of temporal epilepsy (see the
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

connectivity with psychopathy suggested on p. 184). Otherwise, the genetic

argument deserves to be taken seriously. This is especially the case with what
the author calls the “Warrior gene,” which forms one leg of his “three-legged
stool” thesis. (See, in particular, the deduction at p. 106.)
The “Warrior gene” theory, as related to psychopathy, would require a
great deal of specialized examination for any kind of responsible acceptance
in a forensic setting. What is difficult to overcome in many familial situations
is how certain members may embark upon a career of violent crime, while
others show not the slightest inclination to do so. See, for example, Gary
Gilmore and his brother Mikal. Gary, like Ted Bundy, was a poster boy for
psychopathy.
Chapter 6 offers another interesting technical discussion design to ex-
pand and explain some of the earlier seeming genetic contradictions that
again appear to be necessary as a kind of apologia for explaining away
the anomaly in his own case—that is, he fits the pattern, but something is
missing, what is it? This chapter is rather like Dr. Fallon taking on a serious
discussion with himself and not being wholly satisfied with the outcome.

Of particular relevance to our story here is that both the central or-
bital/amygdala circuits in the dualistic circuit on the bottom, and the
midline circuit above, are underactive in psychopaths. This is clear in
psychopath brains in general and in my own brain. (p. 125)

Chapter 6 concludes on a very interesting note. It is really the only time

Dr. Fallon enters into a serious consideration of the forensic implications of
his work: “In 2011, I did another Discovery Channel show, an episode of
curiosity titled ‘How Evil are you?’ For this show Ed Roth asked me to scan
his brain and test his genes, but didn’t tell me why” (p. 128). Dr. Fallon goes
on to explain what he did and how he did it, together with its impact on the
subject of the experiment, Roth. He concludes,
 522 Book Reviews

I got a buzz out of that show, predicting Ed’s behavior. In some cases
you can really nail down what someone’s thinking and what’s driving him
in different circumstances. But this could be dangerous in a courtroom.
Going from a useful clinical tool and a nice parlor game to determining
someone’s life or death, that’s a big jump. I’ve consulted on cases during
the penalty phases, but using this stuff when deciding guilt would be
jumping the gun. I have nothing against it ethically, but scientifically we’re
not ready. For instance, Ed’s got a wild brain, but he’s not a criminal. He’s
just a talented and different sort of guy. Sounds like someone I know.
Or, maybe if I get it wrong I’ll be irrevocably blamed and my reputation
will go down the drain. This is rather like providing evidence without
the fear and inconvenience of having to be cross examined on it. (pp.
128–129)
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

Chapter 7, Love and Other Abstractions, is a mixed bag of recollections

and musings, much of which is not directly on the point for the serious
student of psychopathy. Indeed, this chapter has almost an hiatus quality
about it—except for the telling of one event which, for psychopathy and its
relation to the peculiar brain pattern of Dr. Fallon, has greater significance
than almost anything else of a personal nature recounted in the book. Love,
like charm is easier to describe than to define. It is often more noticeable
in its absence than when it is, supposedly, present. Both can so easily be
confused by their counterfeit cousins. Dr. Fallon has a difficult time finding
suitable points of reference for his own feelings in this murky area. He is
more evocative in his descriptions of his other less favorable psychopathic
emanations. Yet challenged, he would probably insist that he has known
much love throughout his life and, shallow and superficial though he would
be to admit to it, he would claim he has given his share in return. Is this but
the manifest action of a now familiar defense mechanism, “I can’t really be
a psychopath, I love and I am appropriately empathetic”? But to the telling
issue. Recall this is no curious ignoramus, but a neuroanatomical scientist
who has taught medical students and is not wholly unlearned in the ways
of the law. He may not have engaged the critical niceties of mens rea, but,
from his writings, he must surely have an adequate sense of the distinction
between malice aforethought and the grossest of negligence.
The troubling matter is somewhat innocently recounted on pp. 154–158.
The introduction at least merits recounting in his own words.

In that first year of my sabbatical, two physicians at the Nairobi hospital

told me about a man who, in 1989, had been brought in from a remote
mountain site, bleeding from most of his bodily orifices. Within a week
he was dead. It was quickly determined that he had visited the Kitum
Caves in Mount Elgon in the west of Kenya near the Ugandan border.
I recognized the name of the caves for thousands of years matriarch
elephants led the herd deep inside them under the cover of darkness to
 Book Reviews 523

scrape at the walls to get at the salts and other minerals they need to
thrive. This is a place I had always wanted to visit, but the story put a
bit of caution into me. The man had contracted Marburg hemorrhagic
fever, caused by the Marburg virus, a close cousin of the Ebola virus
with similar deadly results. There are daredevils and risk-takers of all
kinds. That is why we have extreme sports. One can only marvel, or
stand aghast at one who crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, but should
he invite a companion to ride along on his shoulder, at least there is no
deceit, no concealment of the risk involved. When my brother visited me
that December, we went on a safari to the west and northern sectors of
Kenya. I decided to finally visit the Kitum Caves. I wanted the sense of
danger, but told Tom only about the elephants.
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

As written, whatever the motivation, this can only be seen as a deliberate

deception. But there is more to come lest some enterprising advocate should
feel able with Darrow-like eloquence to put a benign coloring on this. Fallon
writes, “We reached the only place we could make camp. I did not want to
tell my brother that this was the same small campsite clearing the ill-fated
man had stayed at just a few weeks before he died.” It is material to recall that
at this time, Dr. Fallon was no thrill-seeking juvenile nor a bored, restless
graduate student. He was already 43 years of age at the time. Whatever
the peculiar motive ascribed to the act might have been, the intentionality
accompanying the act, the mens rea is unmistakably clear. Had he survived
and his brother died of the incredibly cruel Marburg fever, there would have
been few prosecutors doubtful of the propriety of seeking an indictment for
murder. The tale concludes with a poignant coda.

Two years later, back in the safer arms and approved odors of Orange
County, I received a rather animated call from Tom. Apparently someone
had given him a copy of Richard Preston’s New Yorker article “Crises in
the Hot Zone” and the 1996 book The Hot Zone (later adapted into
the film Outbreak starring Dustin Hoffman) and he was furious. He had
correctly guessed that I purposely had taken him on the exact trail from
the campsite to the caves where the man had contracted Marburg and
died. Suffice it to say, he was livid at me for putting him in harm’s way. “It
was a great experience”; he told me, “but I can’t forgive you for bringing
me to that place.”

Lest our author only advocate that this was a unique, irresistible adventure,
a once-in-a-lifetime chance to realize a long harbored desire, let us close this
with his own words.

This was not the first or the last time I would put the lives of people
close to me in danger. Had Lizzie Borden actually done that which was
imputed to her (and of which she was acquitted by the good people
of Fall River, MA) she could at least have been said, even on the worst
 524 Book Reviews

view, to have had a rational motive, albeit sudden, in defense of what

she conceived to be her own interests.

All Dr. Fallon can offer is a plea of mitigation:

“I do good work, I give a lot to charity.” Moreover, “There are others who
have cared more about larger causes than the people next to them.” “So,
am I a psychopath? The categorical answer is no. But a better answer is
that I’m a pro social psychopath.” (p. 225)

This really does little more than confuse further an already confusing issue.
In Chapter 9, A Party in My Brain, Dr. Fallon thought he had found
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

a scientific route out of that awkward confusion. There was no hiding his
tell-tale brain scan. It was already, by his own doing, out in plain sight.
It was available for any competent professional to interpret. That was the
biological fact of such inconvenience. But, he also exhibited many of the
cardinal characteristics of the psychopath on the PCL-R of Dr. Robert Hare.
Characteristically, he went into denial. Then he was invited to Oslo, Norway
to present a paper on depression before a very distinguished gathering of
mental health professionals. And, there, mirabile dictu—a solution of the
most unexpected kind presented itself. The brain scan still could not be ex-
plained away, but now there was no urgent need for it to be so. Thanks to
the prestigious attendees at the conference, he discovered that he was suffer-
ing from a different mental illness altogether, one which offered a plausible
explanation for all those inconvenient and embarrassing psychopathic traits
that accompanied his unpleasant discovery about his own brain. In his own
words, “The revelation that I may have had bipolar disorder most of my life
without realizing it floored me.” The rest of this chapter is largely devoted
to an exposition of bipolar disorders and what this revelation meant for him
personally and professionally. Again, it is accompanied by useful, cogently
explained illustrations. For those interested, Dr. Fallon gives the National
Institutes of Health definition of bipolar disorders at p. 177. The impact of
this discovery on Dr. Fallon is set down on the preceding page: “In the six
years of personal discovery I had experienced since my brain scan, this was
the first time I was really stunned. I realized I had never had a clue about the
deeper ground waters that had shaped me” (p. 176). Dr. Fallon waxes exul-
tant about this discovery, “. . . who in their right mind would ever want to
cure hypomania? It feels great, even if one does appear to be, as an eloquent
neurologist friend put it, ‘a fart on a skillet’—volatile and unpredictable!”
(p. 179). A mental health professional might find something rather strange
about this, but as a way out of a most inconvenient professional dilemma it
offered greater relief and coping possibilities than simple denial.
What Dr. Fallon does most usefully introduce as a necessary part of
his explanation is something of considerable importance from a forensic
 Book Reviews 525

perspective that may be somewhat unfamiliar to many defense attorneys.

Psychopathy offers no defense in the insanity spectrum and its very intro-
duction in a death penalty case may aggravate the condition of the accused
rather than ameliorate it. Here, Dr. Fallon opens up an interesting possibility:

Psychiatric conditions often carry with them a phenomenon called co-

morbidity. This refers to the presence of other disorders in addition to
the primary one in question. So a patient diagnosed, for example, with
bipolar disorder or schizophrenia will often have other diagnoses, too,
such as borderline personality disorder. I don’t know anyone who is just
a psychopath and nothing else. There’s a wide overlap between disorders
in the symptoms displayed, the brain areas responsible, and the transmit-
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

ters involved. And my psychopathic traits can’t be discussed in isolation

because other problems shape how they are expressed. I’m attractive to
people in part because I’m boring and glib and I can bullshit my way
around. Well, that energy and fluidity comes from my hypomania. So all
my behaviors are tied together. (p. 181)

This certainly does open up interesting new avenues of defense for those
diagnosed as psychopaths.
Chapter 9, Can You Change a Psychopath, deals mainly with Dr. Fallon’s
own designs to change his inappropriate, some would say self-destructive,
behavior patterns. These are hardly of general application, but there are
more than a few pointers for those still hopefully engaged in the treatment
of psychopathy. It is a long held tenet in the mental health field that there
is no cure for this disorder and now some doubt as to whether a person
afflicted with it might grow out of it and, if so, at what age. Dr. Fallon
recognizes the fragility and the latent hypocrisy of his own efforts at reform.
Most telling, in general, with respect to psychopathy, is what he sets forth
emphatically on p. 197 after giving serious thought to all the bad things
his behavior occasioned: “I admitted to myself, ‘I don’t care.’ That’s right, ‘I
DON’T CARE.”’ All efforts at reform, changes in behavior, considerateness
towards others, and so forth, are superficial at best and effect little by way
of permanent change. If this disappointing result is the work of a dedicated
professional, well advised, with ample resources attempting to change these
negative factors in his own life, can anything better be expected of the
worthy efforts of those trying to treat and change psychopathic others? The
psychopath is quick to discern the fundamental flaws in these efforts that
are dealt with by his manipulative skills to turn them to his best advantage
as circumstances suggest.
Chapter 10, effectively the conclusion of this book, bears the somewhat
unusual title, Why Do Psychopaths Exist? Most of it is simply speculative
and really does very little to support Dr. Fallon’s principal contentions. It
would be not unfair to opine that this final chapter is the least scientific of
 526 Book Reviews

this work. Indeed, to some extent what is advanced in this chapter tends
to contradict some of the more sound propositions proclaimed elsewhere in
the book. He now asserts at p. 213:

Psychopaths are present in all human societies. The cultural reality of

psychopathy, at a rate of about 2 percent, suggests that psychopathy, or
at least the traits and associated alleles found in psychopaths, is somehow
“desirable” in humanity. Otherwise evolution should have wiped them
out or at least diminished their numbers ages ago.

Earlier the author had correctly shown that there is little professional agree-
ment on the definition of psychopathy and, accordingly, there can be even
less on its quantification in any society. Taken as a whole, this appears to
Downloaded by [Michigan State University] at 02:41 27 February 2015

be an understandable, but somewhat unfamiliar, effort to extol the virtues of

at least some psychopaths whose brain scans might be thought to resemble
that of the author. Indeed, the very last words in the book are redolent with
what is suggested here.

I don’t think we should remove the psychopathy-related traits and genes

from society. It would lead to passivity and wipe us out. We just need to
identify those people with the traits early in their lives and keep them out
of trouble. Individuals with low empathy and high aggression, if they’re
treated well, can have a positive impact. Of course, they put stress on
their families and friends as I do, but on a macro level they’re beneficial
to society. Maybe this is my own narcissism speaking, but I believe there’s
a sweet spot on the psychopathy spectrum. People who are twenty-five
or thirty on the Hare scale are dangerous, but we need a lot of twenties
around—people with the chutzpah and brio and outrageousness to keep
humanity vibrant and adaptable—and alive. People like me.

This reviewer wondered whether Dr. Robert Hare, who has spent a life-
time studying psychopathy and teaching so many others about his findings
and how to employ them professionally, would agree.
H. H. A. Cooper
Former President of Nuevevidas International Inc.
New Orleans, Louisiana