I met Jim Jones when I was 16 or 17. I could not tell he was a sociopath at the time. I'm not sure if understanding a sociopath's red flags would have helped me, but at least it was an interesting read.
One of the more offensive duties of being an investigative journalist is taking out the trash -- exposing liars, fraudsters, con artists and scammers for the people they truly are. Each time we investigate a sociopath, we find that they always have a little cult group following of spellbound worshippers who consider that particular sociopath to be a "guru" or "prophet."
Sociopaths are masters at influence and deception. Very little of what they say actually checks out in terms of facts or reality, but they're extremely skillful at making the things they say sound believable, even if they're just making them up out of thin air. Here, I'm going to present quotes and videos of some legendary sociopaths who convinced everyday people to participate in mass suicides. And then I'm going to demonstrate how and why similar sociopaths are operating right now... today.
Jim Jones was a charismatic man. I liked him on first meeting. I'm happy I did not jump on board the crazy train. I'd be dead now.
