Jon Ronson: Strange answers to the psychopath test

Is there a definitive line that divides crazy from sane? With a hair-raising delivery, Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test, illuminates the gray areas between the two. (With live-mixed sound by Julian Treasure and animation by Evan Grant.)

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  People & Blogs

[ISSGOD]

There is no such thing as an absolutely normal person. We are all fucked up to various degrees.

[xNikolai]

Yeah thats how I felt when I was a teenager. When I got older I realized that alot of the things older people were telling me were true. You definitely get wiser with age. Of course some people gain wisdom much faster than others but there are some things that you have to be a certain age to truly understand.

[Anton Chigurh]

I tick all the boxes of psychopathy, I have lost my Remington 11- 87 semi-automatic shotgun, two derringer 28's, my 357 magnum and my cross bow, If anyone has any information please private mail me, you will be rewarded, If you mail me just for fun I will find you and send you to the realms of non existence and eternal nothingness

[Sean Hanrahan]

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put tomatoes in a fruit salad.

[SkunkFearless]

I just finished reading The Psychopath Test and I loved Ronson's writing style. But I have to agree with what the majority of its critics said, which was that this book trivialises psychopathy and causes misconceptions about the mental disorder. But, since it's obviously not meant to be taken seriously... it's a great book.

[MrOmniblast]

Intelligence=/=wisdom. Many call me a genius as a teen, but when it comes to real life I can tell you that you'll make many mistakes and learn from them. No matter how smart you are, you'll fuck up, and fuck up you will. But then you'll learn from it, and grow wiser with experience.

[Barry McLoughlin]

For one, you can't define an absolutely normal person. 

[Vire70]

Actually the best correlation we have to high intelligence is simply by observing what people have accomplished in their life. And ironically enough those with high IQs rarely accomplish much more than anyone else - but I guess that's just coincidence, lol. I'm done with this conversation.

[avedic]

19 is a lot younger than you think. It shocks me that I'm now 30. It seems like just yesterday I was 20. A word of advice...live your 20s to the full. That decade is full of so much  potential and evolution. And it goes by so...fucking...fast. You'll be 30 before you even know it. And I sure know that who I am now is 100% different than who I was at 19. I changed practically in every area of my personality and the things I like and do. You probably will too. :)

[Charlie Carrel]

You have yet to give reason, or even one example, for why you believe there are things that there are things that only older people can comprehend.

Also, please don't be ignorantly presumptive. Just because someone quotes their IQ, does not mean they thing IQ is the do all and end all. It's the best correlation we have to intelligence. Quick and easy, instead of having to spend ten hours speaking to someone to work out if they're intelligent.

[TheEIements]

read this as ron swanson

[Vire70]

I never said they couldn't be as intelligent. I said intelligence and wisdom aren't the same thing, something you won't be able to comprehend at an early age. It's as simple as that. Brain development doesn't even stop until the early twenties.

And FYI IQ means nothing to me. If anything I would doubt the intellect of anyone who touts it as evidence that they're smart.