How long does it take to read The Wisdom of Psychopaths?
The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton takes about 5 hours 25 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 5 hours 25 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2012. 295 pages, about 81,125 words.
11 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 9 hours 1 minute |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 5 hours 25 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 23 minutes |
The page count is the median across 10 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
In this engrossing journey into the lives of psychopaths and their infamously crafty behaviors, psychologist Kevin Dutton reveals that there is a scale of “madness” along which we all sit. Incorporating the latest advances in brain scanning and neuroscience, Dutton demonstrates that the brilliant neurosurgeon who lacks empathy has more in common with a Ted Bundy who kills for pleasure than we may wish to admit, and that a mugger in a dimly lit parking lot may well, in fact, have the same nerveless poise as a titan of industry. Dutton argues that there are indeed “functional psychopaths” among us different from their murderous counterparts - who use their detached, unflinching, and charismatic personalities to succeed in mainstream society, and that shockingly, in some fields, the more “psychopathic” people are, the more likely they are to succeed. Dutton deconstructs this often misunderstood diagnosis through bold on-the-ground reporting and original scientific research as he mingles with the criminally insane in a high-security ward, shares a drink with one of the world’s most successful con artists, and undergoes transcranial magnetic stimulation to discover firsthand exactly how it feels to see through the eyes of a psychopath. As Dutton develops his theory that we all possess psychopathic tendencies, he puts forward the argument that society as a whole is more psychopathic than ever: psychopaths tend to be fearless, confident, charming, ruthless, and focused - qualities that are tailor-made for success in the 21st century. The Wisdom of Psychopaths is a riveting adventure that reveals that it’s our much-maligned dark side that often conceals the trump cards of success.
Subjects: Neurosciences, Psychopaths, Success, Research, Mentally ill, Antisocial personality disorders
