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How do you know if you're talking to a psychopath?
For a definitive answer, you'd need to evaluate a suspected psychopath on a long list of scientifically validated traits, such as egocentricity and lack of empathy and remorse.
But that's going to be pretty hard to do if you're just trying to get a handle on how evil your new boss or co-worker is on the fly.
Helpfully, science has also found a long list of less definitive but still intriguing tells that an individual might have psychopathic tendencies, from their profession and college major, to their speech patterns and usual bedtime (sorry, night owls).
Recent research out of Cornell has added to this already extensive list, suggesting that psychopaths are much more likely to discuss certain topics than normal people, and less likely to talk about others.
How many times have you been burned by someone and wish you could turn back the clock and pay closer attention to the warning signs that were there, if you had only paid heed?
One of life's great lessons should be to learn to recognize red flags for what they are, so you can then evaluate how great of a risk you are looking at, and proceed with caution.
This is a terrific article that highlights the 3 topics that psychopaths time and time again seem to be attracted to.