In chapter four, Jon Ronson attends a three-day residential course lead by Bob Hare, the founder of the PCL-R Checklist. This checklist was a psychopath test that helped reveal characteristics that identified psychopaths. Throughout this course Ronson was trained to be able to pick out psychopaths that he may run into throughout his life. Having this ability that many others didn't have, made Ronson feel a sense of power. After analyzing many case studies and identifying psychopaths for three days, Ronson often found himself questioning whether he himself could be a psychopath.
Chapters four and five both freaked me out. Learning about the checklist made me realize how many different characteristic psychopaths can take on. I found myself checking myself with the checklist just to make sure that I wasn't a psychopath myself. Reading about Ronson's encounters with Toto also interested me in the fact that Toto always seemed to scan the scene making sure that people "liked" him. In this moment of Toto's observations, Ronson saw a flip of a switch in Toto's presentation of himself. At a quick glance he appeared to be staring at Ronson (looking right through him), then once he realized that Ronson was saw him he snapped out of it . It was like a switch had been flipped. If psychopaths can switch their external personality that fast, imagine how many psychopaths there can be out there without you even knowing it!
No comments:
Post a Comment