The Wisdom of Psychopaths Reflection — 11/7

           When people hear the word "psychopath", they usually think of someone who kills people with no remorse. But surprisingly, psychopathic attributes are more common in regular  people such as business leaders than actual psychopaths. Like psychopaths, business leaders are persuasive, lack empathy, and have superficial charm. In an experiment done by Harvard researcher Stanley Rachman, he discovered that bomb disposal operatives also have something in common with psychopaths: they both remain a cool composure under pressure. He had two groups: bomb disposal operatives who are decorated and those who are not. After having them complete tasks that required immense amounts of concentration, the decorated bomb disposal operatives' heart rates actually decreased. They were able to go into a state of "cold, meditative focus" where they become one with the device they were working on. The other operatives' heart rates remained stable. This discovery was shocking and fascinating because even though the two groups had at least ten years of experience in this field, the decorated group had an characteristic worth noting: confidence. Receiving accolades for their "courageous/fearless behavior" reinforced and enhanced their belief in themselves, thus the complex tasks were nothing to them. Both psychopaths and bomb defusers are insusceptible to the most minuscule amounts of anxiety. After reading this text, it seems that there may be more "psychopaths" among us than we know.