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I don't think that the idea is that people with dark triad traits are necessarily super geniuses or manipulative masterminds. They could be people with just abo
by harimau777 3y ago
I don't think that the idea is that people with dark triad traits are necessarily super geniuses or manipulative masterminds. They could be people with just above average charm who are willing to use it to hurt people. Or they could be people who are able to superficially appear charming long enough to get what they want; even if they don't have the charisma to keep up the act long term. Even someone with below average abilities could cause significant harm. E.g. a co-worker incompetently throwing teammates under the bus could hurt the team even if they don't actually help their own career.
- motohagiography 3y agoThe irony of the dark triad sociopath trope is that it justifies the very malice toward the bad people that it affects to predict or explain in them. The point I'm emphasizing is the dark-triad trope misdirects from the less interesting, low-cunning of most psychopaths, and arguably that of just the banal people you see trying to survive in institutions who are much more common. When you see someone motivated genuinely by malice, there is no difference between them and these more abstract ideas about psychopaths. None of the criteria for psycho/sociopathy are necessary conditions for behavior (like malice) that is objectively equivalent either.