Introduction, The Problem, pg 1-7 Summary and Analysis

Several years before the publication of this book, Richard Hare and two graduate students conducted an experiment in which they used a biomedical recorder to monitor electrical activity of the brain on a group of adult men of varied races. The monitoring was done while the men performed a language task. Some of the brain recordings were very odd.

Hare reveals that the book will talk about psychopathy—a disorder that has been a mystery to many psychiatrists and clinicians for many years. At the publication of this book, at least 2 million psychopaths live in the United States. Many people encounter psychopaths or have them very present in their lives but never know. Psychopathy is shaped by flagrant criminal violence, remorselessness, and lack of emotion. They live among us and charm us...