[restalis]

"Psychopaths have always been with us. Indeed, certain psychopathic traits have survived because they’re useful in small doses: the cool dispassion of a surgeon, the tunnel vision of an Olympic athlete, the ambitious narcissism of many a politician."

"The condition can go unnoticed because many children with these traits—who can be charming and smart enough to mimic social cues—are able to mask them."

This claim comes interestingly close to that of Pieter Hintjens' in his blog and book: http://hintjens.com/blog:_psychopaths

[spangry]

I've always been fascinated by this idea; the possibility that a few of the highly popular or charismatic people you come across are actually psychopaths with a well constructed 'mask'. Indeed, one of the phrases that is used to describe this concept in general is 'the mask of sanity'.