Second Blog Assignment: Chapter 4 Summary "The Psychopath Test"

         In this particular chapter, Jon Ronson continues to gain as much information as he can about psychopaths in hopes of determining if Tony is a psychopath, or if indeed he really is falsely accused. Jon meets with many experts on the subject. The main one from this chapter is Bob Hare, the creator of the PCL-R checklist and influence man in the research done on psychopaths. Bob's research is more on detection of psychopathy, not how to cure it. First, he performed the electric shock test on volunteers, both psychopaths and non-psychopaths. He found that the psychopaths never feared what was coming, while the non-psychopaths were scared shown by much perspiration. His next experiment consisted of the Startle Reflex Test. After being shown gruesome images, the psychopath would remain calm and show little to  no emotion. Then in 1975 Bob organized with many researchers and psychiatrists to observe the behaviors of a psychopath using the PCL-R checklist. By the end of the chapter, Jon came to understand Bob and Martha's theory about a malfunctioning relationship between the amygdala ant the central nervous system of a psychopath, and now has a strong desire to discover and research psychopaths that hold high positions of power in society and the negative effects this may be causing.
         In my opinion, it is quite scary to think that psychopaths could be the politicians and CEOs in our current society. It also unreal that a person has difficulty feeling any emotion and will stop at nothing to gain the maximum amount of power. In these two chapters it was also alto easier to read  about gruesome images, especially the bloodbaths of Constant's reign, because they are expected to be included and I mentally prepared myself for them. I also find it interesting that Jon Ronson is researching a mental disorder when he has a type of mental disorder himself. This idea occurs again at the end of chapter 4 when he describes that his "desire to unearth it outweighed any anxieties that were bubbling up inside". I thought the fake crying scene in chapter 5 was extremely odd, but it was a good example of what Bob said about psychopaths often faking emotion.