“Functional psychopaths” make the best traders and investors

"In a study of investors’ behavior 41 people with normal IQs were asked to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had suffered lesions on the areas of the brain that affect emotions.

The result was those with brain damage outperformed those without.

The scientists found emotions led some of the group to avoid risks even when the potential benefits far outweighed the losses, a phenomenon known as myopic loss aversion." - Reuters article

I am tempted to crack a joke about my classmates that are looking to go into sales and trading or investment management. But I won't.