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Your thesis relies on the selective pressure for psychopathy being larger now than it was previously. Is that the case? It's harder nowadays to be an outright c

Your thesis relies on the selective pressure for psychopathy being larger now than it was previously. Is that the case? It's harder nowadays to be an outright criminal or murderer and get away with it due to strength of the rule of law.

cryptica 5y ago
I do think that in a globalized environment, there is much stronger selective pressure for psychopathy due to higher competitive pressure and more ways to avoid consequences for misbehavior. Opportunities are fewer and bigger - Those people who are more ruthless and manipulative have a higher chance of qualifying for the few opportunities that are available because they're willing to step over ethical boundaries to get those positions. This makes them stand out as candidates. Another point is that our modern financial system is designed to limit the liability of individuals. Corporate executives repeatedly get away with financial misconduct and their companies merely end up paying relatively small fines. Also, the government keeps bailing out big corporations; ensuring that the same people who created the problems stay in power. There is also the problem of international money laundering; wealthy people fleeing one country which considers them to be criminals to move to another country which doesn't consider them to be criminals. Similar story with bankruptcies; people changing countries to escape consequences. There is an accountability crisis.
- fighterpilot 5y ago
  I see opportunities tending towards the most competent foremost, with psychopathy potentially helping but in many cases hurting. I've seen many people fired for being assholes, as an example of cases where these traits have hurt. All the psychopaths I've met have had pretty pathetic and lonely lives. People figure them out and they get sidelined. Politicians, quantum healers, fraudster psychics, snake oil salesmen, etc, are rare niches where psychopaths genuinely thrive over regular people. 5000 years ago you pretty much had to be willing to murder someone to get what you wanted and survive. Nowadays such ruthlessness is punished in many contexts more than rewarded. The corporate ruthlessness that we see today is such a tamed beast in comparison. So I'm not convinced that the selection for psychopathy has increased.
  - cryptica 5y ago
    Only the least intelligent psychopaths get caught. The really smart ones are masters of PR; they can make themselves look more altruistic than actual altruists. They only show their true face once they no longer have a use for you. They are excellent actors. If the best manipulator in your local community is talented, think of how talented the best manipulator in your country is... Then compare that to how talented the best manipulator in world is. That is the danger of globalization. World-class psychopaths are as intelligent as other world-class individuals (very intelligent) but the difference is that almost all of their intelligence goes into presentation and manipulation - Very little goes into the actual craft that they are supposedly experts in. But from the perspective of non-experts, they come across as smarter than the actual experts.
    - fighterpilot 5y ago
      It's true that smart psychopaths can do way outsized damage in today's world. The flip side is also true though, the genuinely good and competent can also have an outsized positive impact. I think this speaks more to the scale people can access through modern society (technology, capital, large orgs, and so on). I hope you're wrong. If not, we're in trouble.

cryptica 5y ago

I do think that in a globalized environment, there is much stronger selective pressure for psychopathy due to higher competitive pressure and more ways to avoid consequences for misbehavior. Opportunities are fewer and bigger - Those people who are more ruthless and manipulative have a higher chance of qualifying for the few opportunities that are available because they're willing to step over ethical boundaries to get those positions. This makes them stand out as candidates. Another point is that our modern financial system is designed to limit the liability of individuals. Corporate executives repeatedly get away with financial misconduct and their companies merely end up paying relatively small fines. Also, the government keeps bailing out big corporations; ensuring that the same people who created the problems stay in power. There is also the problem of international money laundering; wealthy people fleeing one country which considers them to be criminals to move to another country which doesn't consider them to be criminals. Similar story with bankruptcies; people changing countries to escape consequences. There is an accountability crisis.

fighterpilot 5y ago
I see opportunities tending towards the most competent foremost, with psychopathy potentially helping but in many cases hurting. I've seen many people fired for being assholes, as an example of cases where these traits have hurt. All the psychopaths I've met have had pretty pathetic and lonely lives. People figure them out and they get sidelined. Politicians, quantum healers, fraudster psychics, snake oil salesmen, etc, are rare niches where psychopaths genuinely thrive over regular people. 5000 years ago you pretty much had to be willing to murder someone to get what you wanted and survive. Nowadays such ruthlessness is punished in many contexts more than rewarded. The corporate ruthlessness that we see today is such a tamed beast in comparison. So I'm not convinced that the selection for psychopathy has increased.
- cryptica 5y ago
  Only the least intelligent psychopaths get caught. The really smart ones are masters of PR; they can make themselves look more altruistic than actual altruists. They only show their true face once they no longer have a use for you. They are excellent actors. If the best manipulator in your local community is talented, think of how talented the best manipulator in your country is... Then compare that to how talented the best manipulator in world is. That is the danger of globalization. World-class psychopaths are as intelligent as other world-class individuals (very intelligent) but the difference is that almost all of their intelligence goes into presentation and manipulation - Very little goes into the actual craft that they are supposedly experts in. But from the perspective of non-experts, they come across as smarter than the actual experts.
  - fighterpilot 5y ago
    It's true that smart psychopaths can do way outsized damage in today's world. The flip side is also true though, the genuinely good and competent can also have an outsized positive impact. I think this speaks more to the scale people can access through modern society (technology, capital, large orgs, and so on). I hope you're wrong. If not, we're in trouble.