Joan W. (justreadingabook) reviewed The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain on + 1715 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
OK, it is not often I will write a icky review but there is hope on this one since I did receive an advance uncorrected proof. So with that being said, here goes.
Started off pretty normal for a story being told like this one but from the second chapter on I just wanted to and pretty much did roll my eyes at the amount of clinical and medical terminology this guy throws around. I wanted to read about how he dealt with and used the information about his brain scan not try and understand a 7th year neuro brain class.
I must admit I did skim a couple of chapters to see if the story/tech book came back to the storyline indicated. The last couple of chapters did get back on track somewhat but the medical terminology continues to drown the message he is trying to share.
This is a great story, I just hope that the powers that be can help clean it up and tech it down enough that the story can become interesting again.
Final note: If you are a doctor, med student or anyone else with an extensive background in neuro terms, this is your kinda book. Does limit the readers though.
Started off pretty normal for a story being told like this one but from the second chapter on I just wanted to and pretty much did roll my eyes at the amount of clinical and medical terminology this guy throws around. I wanted to read about how he dealt with and used the information about his brain scan not try and understand a 7th year neuro brain class.
I must admit I did skim a couple of chapters to see if the story/tech book came back to the storyline indicated. The last couple of chapters did get back on track somewhat but the medical terminology continues to drown the message he is trying to share.
This is a great story, I just hope that the powers that be can help clean it up and tech it down enough that the story can become interesting again.
Final note: If you are a doctor, med student or anyone else with an extensive background in neuro terms, this is your kinda book. Does limit the readers though.
Paula G. (Paulathegreat) reviewed The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain on + 145 more book reviews
Before I read this book I knew a little about psychopaths. In fact, I have worked with some. Not just the kids in the tough love school where I spent too many years, but also the adults who worked with them and a lot of seemingly normal people walking around like the rest of us.
This is what I know about psychopaths. Psychopathy seems to be a neurological problem. The visible symptoms are a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, an inability to anticipate effect from cause which results in being unable to learn from mistakes. Psychopaths tend to be self involved to the point of monomania. This, of course, makes them boringâsomething I should have remembered when I picked up this book.
The psychopath inside is the story of a man, Jim Fallon, who is a neuropsychological researcher. He took his own brain scans as a control in a contemporary study on alzheimer's and discovered that his scan looked a lot like the scans of psychopaths in a study he had done on psychopathic killers.
This book is incredibly technical. One can not expect, or shouldn't, a psychopath to write about depth of feeling for the same reason one can not expect a Down Syndrome child to explain the genetic and environmental factors of their success or failure. So Jim talks about his work, and his observations. The only insight we get into the reality of being a psychopath is when he tells us he could change, but he doesn't care enough to tryâexcept in a clinical study.
Long story short: this book is a good technical introduction to psychopathy, but it doesn't make any effort to be comprehensible for the lay reader, nor does it have any deep insight. This is, of course, the reality of life as (or with) a psychopath. It is a not a pathetic existence, if only because of the lack of awareness of pathos.
This is what I know about psychopaths. Psychopathy seems to be a neurological problem. The visible symptoms are a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, an inability to anticipate effect from cause which results in being unable to learn from mistakes. Psychopaths tend to be self involved to the point of monomania. This, of course, makes them boringâsomething I should have remembered when I picked up this book.
The psychopath inside is the story of a man, Jim Fallon, who is a neuropsychological researcher. He took his own brain scans as a control in a contemporary study on alzheimer's and discovered that his scan looked a lot like the scans of psychopaths in a study he had done on psychopathic killers.
This book is incredibly technical. One can not expect, or shouldn't, a psychopath to write about depth of feeling for the same reason one can not expect a Down Syndrome child to explain the genetic and environmental factors of their success or failure. So Jim talks about his work, and his observations. The only insight we get into the reality of being a psychopath is when he tells us he could change, but he doesn't care enough to tryâexcept in a clinical study.
Long story short: this book is a good technical introduction to psychopathy, but it doesn't make any effort to be comprehensible for the lay reader, nor does it have any deep insight. This is, of course, the reality of life as (or with) a psychopath. It is a not a pathetic existence, if only because of the lack of awareness of pathos.
Paula G. (Paulathegreat) reviewed The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain on + 145 more book reviews
Before I read this book I knew a little about psychopaths. In fact, I have worked with some. Not just the kids in the tough love school where I spent too many years, but also the adults who worked with them and a lot of seemingly normal people walking around like the rest of us.
This is what I know about psychopaths. Psychopathy seems to be a neurological problem. The visible symptoms are a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, an inability to anticipate effect from cause which results in being unable to learn from mistakes. Psychopaths tend to be self involved to the point of monomania. This, of course, makes them boringâsomething I should have remembered when I picked up this book.
The psychopath inside is the story of a man, Jim Fallon, who is a neuropsychological researcher. He took his own brain scans as a control in a contemporary study on alzheimer's and discovered that his scan looked a lot like the scans of psychopaths in a study he had done on psychopathic killers.
This book is incredibly technical. One can not expect, or shouldn't, a psychopath to write about depth of feeling for the same reason one can not expect a Down Syndrome child to explain the genetic and environmental factors of their success or failure. So Jim talks about his work, and his observations. The only insight we get into the reality of being a psychopath is when he tells us he could change, but he doesn't care enough to tryâexcept in a clinical study.
Long story short: this book is a good technical introduction to psychopathy, but it doesn't make any effort to be comprehensible for the lay reader, nor does it have any deep insight. This is, of course, the reality of life as (or with) a psychopath. It is a not a pathetic existence, if only because of the lack of awareness of pathos.
This is what I know about psychopaths. Psychopathy seems to be a neurological problem. The visible symptoms are a lack of empathy, a lack of conscience, an inability to anticipate effect from cause which results in being unable to learn from mistakes. Psychopaths tend to be self involved to the point of monomania. This, of course, makes them boringâsomething I should have remembered when I picked up this book.
The psychopath inside is the story of a man, Jim Fallon, who is a neuropsychological researcher. He took his own brain scans as a control in a contemporary study on alzheimer's and discovered that his scan looked a lot like the scans of psychopaths in a study he had done on psychopathic killers.
This book is incredibly technical. One can not expect, or shouldn't, a psychopath to write about depth of feeling for the same reason one can not expect a Down Syndrome child to explain the genetic and environmental factors of their success or failure. So Jim talks about his work, and his observations. The only insight we get into the reality of being a psychopath is when he tells us he could change, but he doesn't care enough to tryâexcept in a clinical study.
Long story short: this book is a good technical introduction to psychopathy, but it doesn't make any effort to be comprehensible for the lay reader, nor does it have any deep insight. This is, of course, the reality of life as (or with) a psychopath. It is a not a pathetic existence, if only because of the lack of awareness of pathos.
