Lessons from the Psych Ward

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“‘I see he hasn’t killed you, then,’ he says casually. ‘You going soft in your old age, Larry?'”

Scientific American has posted an excerpt of The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success by Kevin Dutton. However surprising, they actually have some good ideas:

“A psychopath’s rapacious proclivity to live in the moment, to ‘give tomorrow the slip and take today on a joyride’ (as Larry, rather whimsically, puts it), is well documented—and at times can be stupendously beneficial. In fact, anchoring your thoughts unswervingly in the present is a discipline that psychopathy and spiritual enlightenment have in common.”

For better or for worse, you may even find a little psychopath in you.

Caroline Kangas calls both Seattle and San Francisco home (though she currently resides in the latter). She recently received a mouthful of a liberal arts degree from the University of San Francisco and can be found selling pirate supplies at 826 Valencia or wandering the streets with her diva of a french bulldog, Elle. More from this author →