
Be a sociopath—or just act like one - CaptainZapp
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/08/self-help
======
chasing
Ugh.

Firstly: Yeah, you should be aware of what things cost and what benefit you
get from them. Yeah, be prepared. And, yeah, think about the world in which
you live and the other people you share it with. If you really want something,
make a plan to get it. The words that describes these are "thoughtful" or
"responsible," not "sociopathic." (Disrupting academic conferences and acting
obnoxious on airplanes -- that's what we call "childish.")

What bothers me here, though, is that it feeds into this dipshit notion I keep
running into that in order to be successful you have to be some kind of self-
centered asshole. "Yeah, well Steve jobs would yell at people to their face
when they said something he thought was stupid." Yeah, well for every asshole
Steve Jobs, there are a million assholes no one wants to have anything to do
with.

This woman, for example: she sounds awful. I'm sure she thinks she's some
awesome-sauce lion-tamer of the universe, wielding her wiles and "remarkably
beautiful breasts" like a ninja and slicing her way through life. The people
who have to deal with her on a regular basis probably see right through her,
roll their eyes, and try to leave her out of their lives as much as possible
because whenever they invite her to a dinner party she makes a huge annoying
scene and then steals a bunch of food from the fridge.

~~~
makerops
I don't accept this premise. True sociopaths are typically not "assholes", or
someone you don't want to be around. I'd bet this woman is probably VERY
charming.

~~~
frenchy
Until you get to know her, and then you realise that she is manipulative and
unable to make real friends.

~~~
makerops
I would argue that you would never be able to see the manipulative aspect of
her personality clear enough to have it affect the relationship.

------
jotm
Well, those rules are really for the petty sociopath. If you do it, do it big.

1\. Disregard unspoken rules, but not the small ones like not donating at the
museum, think more rules like "you just can't enter this industry", "you can't
just schedule a meeting with that CEO". Those can have an immense ROI, while
the petty ones may get you a punch to the face.

2\. You should also live in the best place possible for your budget -
negotiate down to the last dollar, but not for some shi%%y apartment in some
shi%%y ghetto.

3\. Rule 3 seems accurate - if you can't do it on your own, take some drugs
:-).

4\. A few prepared anecdotes is short sighted - you should learn human
psychology and the art of social manipulation for the best results.

5\. Or get them from the inside - blend in, build up support, then announce
your true intentions (aka the dictator way).

~~~
blablabla123
>1\. Disregard unspoken rules, but not the small ones like >not donating at
the museum, think more rules like "you just >can't enter this industry", "you
can't just schedule a >meeting with that CEO". Those can have an immense ROI,
>while the petty ones may get you a punch to the face.

Not sure if this is a good example. I've unsuccessfully proposed meetings with
someone above me from a different department. Maybe I should've created
Outlook invitations? ;)

~~~
jotm
But did it have any negative consequences? Trying and not succeeding is better
than not trying at all - there's always the chance that you will get the
desired result (maybe by applying Rule 4 :-))...

Also, since you've been rejected, why not start your own rejection therapy -
[http://www.entresting.com/blog/100-days-of-rejection-
therapy...](http://www.entresting.com/blog/100-days-of-rejection-therapy/)

~~~
blablabla123
No negative consequences, just knowing the fact that this guy really didn't
want to talk to me. ;-)

> [http://www.entresting.com/blog/100-days-of-rejection-
> therapy...](http://www.entresting.com/blog/100-days-of-rejection-therapy/)

Yeah I know it, saw some Videos of it. Just awesome, one should really apply
that stuff in Business life

------
flumbaps
This is really stupid. You don't have to be sociopathic to disregard
convention and think things through for yourself. Much better to seek
enlightenment and self awareness, and then make rational choices about which
emotions you indulge and which you discard. Disregarding all empathy is only
useful for obtaining material things, the desire for which is itself
irrational and self-defeating for non-sociopaths.

To give an example, I personally don't say prepared anecdotes and eat extra
food at parties. I have fun at parties and engage people in enjoyable
conversations. When I meet new people I'm warm and friendly and I make an
effort to form genuine connections. As a consequence, people like me and I
have close friends who love me and enjoy my company. You can't look at all the
fun and laughter and human warmth I have in my life and tell me I should trade
it all in for some snack food and a more calculated image. That is completely
stupid. Only someone who cannot enjoy human company should think like that,
and those people should be pitied not admired.

------
mahmud
This is an evolutionary dead-end. You want to be the OPPOSITE of a sociopath
and learn to love, and give into people.

Read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "Never Eat Alone". This be
selfish crap is both evil, and harmful to your social-standing, not to mention
ineffective.

No one is an island, so reach out to people and give as much of yourself to
others as you can. Give unconditionally and don't keep score. Empower and
inform others, and seek out the same from people. Life is not a zero-sum game:
whole of society is better for it when you help just one person.

~~~
dmentat
I like being alone a lot, though. Not all the time, just a significant portion
of my time. It's not that I'm scared, anxious, depressed or a sociopathic
asshole, I'm just passionate about a lot of things that don't involve other
people. I agree with almost everything you said, except "give as much of
yourself to others as you can". Change it to "give as much of yourself to
others as you feel like" and I'll buy it.

~~~
freyr
You can give yourself to others and contribute to the world at large without
physically being around other people.

------
marknutter
Sociopaths exploit inefficiencies in the social landscape by subverting or
ignoring norms. On the one hand, sociopaths are easy to hate because of this;
they cut in line, lie when it suits them, cheat on their spouses, etc. But on
the other hand, they are sometimes easy to admire precisely because they
ignore the little "glue" rules that keep polite society humming along so
nicely. They are rebels in that regard.

Steve Jobs is the perfect example. Steve was a classic sociopath. He would
show up to important meetings in jean shorts and prop his dirty, bare feet up
on the table. He exploited a loophole in California law that allowed him to
drive without license plates. He was regularly abusive to his employees, not
out of malice, but to achieve his personal goals related to perfection and
execution. It's perfectly justified to both revile and admire him.

------
mikegagnon
I find the article repugnant; it glorifies selfishness.

'How to apply [rule #1] to your own life: Ignore "suggested donation" pleas at
museums, always help yourself to more food and drinks at dinner parties and
recline your seat all the way back when flying."'

I wish this article were meant as satire, but I don't think it is.

~~~
guard-of-terra
It glorifies extracting diminishing results from being an asshole. Winning
small while risking to lose big.

------
nlh
Let me add a slightly different perspective & pose some questions...

First, fully agree with the sentiment of the other commenters. I think the
article glorifies and glamorizes behavior that shouldn't be encouraged and is,
as someone put it, evolutionarily disadvantageous (game theory at play - see
Dawkins / The Selfish Gene, etc. ;)

The best thing I got out of the article, though, is actually the behavior
descriptions and character identification. We should be all be aware that
there are sociopaths out there and be cognizant of the damage they can cause
to our start-ups and personal lives.

I recently (and, thankfully briefly) dated a woman who fits the description
and behavior patterns frighteningly to a T. Not a laywer, but a someone pretty
deeply embedded in Silicon Valley. Charming, witty, but emotionless and hugely
self-aggrandizing (among other of the noted behaviors...)

I'm sure people like that can be found in all parts of society, but part of me
wonders whether there's a part of the tech / Silicon Valley culture that
attracts sociopaths -- lots of awkward nerds susceptible to charm overload,
easy access to a mouthpiece and validation feedback loop through Twitter ("I
have 50k followers - I'm clearly a huge deal"), an entrepreneurial culture
that gives leeway to potentially hand-wavey careers ("I'm starting a
company"), etc.

So some questions - what do we do with with the "high functioning" sociopaths
that we come across? What's their place? Are they to be shunned? Are they to
be acknowledged & "noted" (i.e. as warning signs) but otherwise left in place?
What if you find you've hired one? What if you find you're living with one?
Etc.

Curious to hear thoughts and opinions...

~~~
blablabla123
Surely the article glorifies it somehow, on the other hand it's a contrast to
many articles that I read in the past about it. After all I think even nerdish
behaviour, becoming widely accepted at the moment, has its sociopathic
elements. Seeing some things more rationally and less emotionally...

So given that a sociapath is smart enough, and that your evolutionary argument
is correct, "high functioning sociapaths" should effectively behave social. He
just uses different brain regions to accomplish the same goal I guess.

------
oseibonsu
A more accurate description of sociopaths can be found in Robert Hare's
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us. This
article seems to romanticize the term. [http://www.amazon.com/Without-
Conscience-Disturbing-World-Ps...](http://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-
Disturbing-World-
Psychopaths/dp/1572304510/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376579915&sr=1-1)

------
pachydermic
Wow. I'm really not sure if I'm going to renew my economist subscription.
Things like this make me wonder if the paper is dumbing itself down. I haven't
been a reader for long enough to know, but I don't want to pay $100+ for a
subscription if this kind of crap is what I'll be getting.

~~~
mahmud
I'm also flabbergasted this is an Economist article; seems like something I'd
expect from The Atlantic, Vice, or Huffpo, not the Economist.

------
grimtrigger
She's admitting she's a "sociopath" on the cover. Why should we expect one
line of the book to be true?

She has no incentive not to lie (moral guilt) and all the incentive to
embellish (profit).

~~~
Afforess
Even if the entire book is embellishment and lies, at the very least, the book
should reveal a sociopath as they wish to be viewed, which in itself is
interesting.

~~~
grimtrigger
True. And my belief is that "successful" "happy" and "satisfied" are all
things which she wants to signal (just like most of non-"sociopaths"). So
using her testimony as evidence for living her lifestyle is silly.

------
mjfl
Defining people as "sociopaths" is a stupid pop-psychology trend. Any human
can be a "sociopath", simply cause someone to feel disgust towards another and
watch the empathy fade away. Put personal gain in the way, and it's not even a
question. There is nothing sociopathic about acting "cooly rational" around
someone you don't like as it is standard human behavior.

The article could be rewritten with one sentence: "don't be naive".

~~~
lutusp
> Defining people as "sociopaths" is a stupid pop-psychology trend.

Yes, on the ground that it has no objective definition. Anyone can be assigned
the label based on the right choice of anecdotes.

It will be interesting to see how neuroscience deals with such labels, as more
objective causes for human behavior are matched up with effects, over the
coming decades as psychological interpretations are finally set aside.

~~~
CognitiveLens
In addition to theorique's comment, there is a huge literature on the
neuroscience of sociopathy going back 10+ years, showing some significant
activation differences particularly around social/emotional processing areas
in the brain.

It has been extensively studied in part because it's such an insidious
personality disorder that many high-functioning people have to varying
degrees, and the depth of psychological research on the topic very quickly
shows how wrong mjfl's comments are. There is definitely a flippant, pop-psych
use of the word 'sociopath', but it doesn't really shed much light on the
actual phenomenon.

~~~
lutusp
That may all be true, but people won't stop using "sociopath" in any way they
please until its cause is uncovered and objective diagnostic criteria are
established. Remember that the DSM simply lists symptoms, not causes, which
allows great latitude for interpretation -- and misinterpretation.

The cause of that condition we informally call "sociopathy" won't be uncovered
by psychiatry or psychology. For that, we need neuroscience. And to date
neuroscience isn't ready to shoulder the load.

> There is definitely a flippant, pop-psych use of the word 'sociopath', but
> it doesn't really shed much light on the actual phenomenon.

The absence of science in psychiatry and psychology should prevent anyone from
seriously arguing that any imaginable use of the word "sociopath" is morally
or ethically wrong. This may change in the future, but at the moment, such
terms have no objective definition.

------
circlefavshape
I read the first couple of chapters of that book and it simply wasn't
believable. Too many serial-killer cliches, too strong an odor of creative
writing classes. Pretty clearly a work of fiction

~~~
vinceguidry
I'm confused as to why you would expect good writing. To me, if it were
polished in that regard, that would indicate a constructive effort. That it
sounds like it was written by a 16-year-old makes perfect sense.

------
acjohnson55
What a vapid article. Let's not medicalize being selfish. True sociopathy
isn't something that can (or should, in my opinion) be emulated. Pretty low-
brow pop psychology clickbait. But it got me, so I guess there's that.

------
WestCoastJustin
There are a couple good books about Sociopath/Psychopath if anyone is
interested.

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry @
[http://www.amazon.ca/The-Psychopath-Test-Journey-
Industry/dp...](http://www.amazon.ca/The-Psychopath-Test-Journey-
Industry/dp/1594485755)

Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight @
[http://www.amazon.ca/Confessions-Sociopath-Spent-Hiding-
Plai...](http://www.amazon.ca/Confessions-Sociopath-Spent-Hiding-
Plain/dp/0307956644)

I highly recommend both of these, since they are a very interesting read.

------
mathattack
I think shedding some self consciousness can be a good thing. Feynman captures
it with a perhaps more positive spin than this book.
[http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-
Think/dp/039332...](http://www.amazon.com/What-Care-Other-People-
Think/dp/0393320928)

If this is taken to extreme, it's actually very bad. Leaders who don't care
for their followers cause a lot of anguish. And how will polite society fare
if nobody cares how anyone else feels? So if society needs 90% of people to be
self conscious and follow norms, are they all the suckers?

~~~
orblivion
>If this is taken to extreme, it's actually very bad. Leaders who don't care
for their followers cause a lot of anguish.

Yes, this is called being a sociopath.

~~~
flumbaps
I think that's an over-use of the word sociopath. I think sociopaths lack
empathy in general, but there might be a lot of reasons why normal people in
leadership roles end up not caring for their followers. Rich and powerful
people might feel disgusted by the poor, for example. The strong might be
disgusted by the weak. Or within powerful circles a close in-group mentality
might develop, so members feel little empathy for those who aren't in their
group. Powerful people might even be insulated from reality, becoming
emotionally detached from the consequences of their actions, and unable to
equate the abstract information and statistics they receive with genuine human
suffering. Maybe some even stop feeling empathy as a coping mechanism to
lighten the burden of responsibility.

~~~
mathattack
There are many industries (investment banking?) where empathy can hurt. For
most of us, empathy helps. If you have customers, you need empathy. If you
have counterparties, it can hurt. If you have employees you need empathy. If
you outsource your work on fixed contract, empathy can hurt.

------
clarebear
Do most people really need encouragement to be more self-centered and
manipulative?

------
mikegagnon
I find the article repugnant; it glorifies selfishness.

> How to apply [rule #1 ]to your own life: Ignore "suggested donation" pleas
> at museums, always help yourself to more food and drinks at dinner parties
> and recline your seat all the way back when flying."

I wish this article were meant as satire, but I don't think it is.

~~~
scrabble
That's sort of the point.

------
hvs
Why is it that when we are talking about a "functioning" psychopath, we use
the term "sociopath" but reserve the word "psychopath" for "crazy guy who
kills without remorse"? Sugar coating by using a term (that is generally not
used in the research world) confuses the issue even more than it already is in
the diagnostic criteria.

Hopefully we'll get some better diagnostic criteria in the future so that we
can get away from these pop-culture articles that attribute "sociopathy" to
everyone who just happens to be a dick.

~~~
methehack
I'm not sure about diagnostic criteria, but I thought those were just
different words in plain English. A sociopath is calculated and in control
without a conscience -- they know the rules and choose to actively subvert
them. A psychopath is out of control and probably violent -- as in "psycho".

~~~
DanBC
They are also technical words with specific meanings.

Unfortunately the words "psycho" & "psychopath" are close to "psychotic", but
very different forms of illness. Most people with psychotic illnesses pose
little or no risk to others.

This happens a lot with psychiatric terms. Addiction and *aholic are often
used for "really liking something"; schizophrenic is a really nice word for
'in two minds' and a lousy word for the illness; and many examples.

------
mcculley
This is not a great blog post about this book. I recently read this book and
have mixed feelings about it.

On one hand, you have to discount everything the author says as she makes it
very clear that she is remorseless about lying to her own advantage. On the
other hand, as an entrepreneur, I've done business with folks that I think
could be similarly diagnosed. Anybody who isn't a sociopath needs to be aware
that the business world encourages sociopaths. Knowing how they think and how
they see the world can possibly help you avoid being manipulated by them.

------
greendata
I wish people would stop fetishizing sociopaths. Common sociopaths are
actually pretty boring.

Most of them are very, very prone to addictions and substance abuse and spend
a lot of time getting money for that. They follow the path of least resistance
often in a surprisingly logically and often lazy way. Their greatest skill is
finding the weakest prey. They target very emotionally vulnerable people and
manipulate them. Think of the oxycodone addict conning grandmothers or
mooching after their "romantic" partners and basically living a parasitic
lifestyle.

------
XVIII
Whenever this topic comes up, I'm confused as to how commenters railing
against sociopaths for breaking social rules reconcile that idea against the
reality that the collective (government) that sets these rules also routinely
breaks these rules (see treatment of Snowden).

If the rules are not consistent, why so obsessively stand up for them?

------
rdmirza
Im surprise that nobody has mentioned that the author here is being sarcastic.
The author is clearly being facetious.

"How to apply to your own life: When in need, seek sociopathic counsel," do
you really think the author means that? sociopaths are known for their deceit
and predatory nature.

------
mbrock
A relevant book here is "Why We Love Sociopaths: A Guide to Late Capitalist
Television," excerpt here: [http://thenewinquiry.com/features/why-we-love-
sociopaths/](http://thenewinquiry.com/features/why-we-love-sociopaths/)

------
j2d3
The article is spot on when it observes the strong correlation between
effective lawyers and sociopathic personalities.

------
mongol
Is Prospero a new byline in The Economist?

------
jradakov
Is anyone else astonished that this drivel came from the respected Economist?

------
j2d3
She's a he.

