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Personally I think most C-levels are sociopaths. The good ones have learned how to fake empathy and compassion, but they will have no trouble switching that of

Personally I think most C-levels are sociopaths. The good ones have learned how to fake empathy and compassion, but they will have no trouble switching that off and showing their true colors. I say that because I have yet to reconcile how any good person could step up to run a business in a world where the sociopaths almost always win. Good people cannot fake being evil, but evil can fake being good. Consequently, good people have an inherent disadvantage that will lose in the marketplace when faced with evil adversaries.

booleandilemma 3y ago
Sociopaths are just people with a mental disorder. The problem is our system is set up to reward people with this mental disorder. It's like a machine that pushes these people to the top. You could say that in order to become a C-level, you have to act like a sociopath. Let's change the system.
- vinceguidry 3y ago
  There are no diagnostic criteria for 'sociopathy'.
  - Viliam1234 3y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder#Diagnosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorde...
    - vinceguidry 3y ago
      That is not sociopathy. You won't find any CEOs that exhibit that disorder.
DaiPlusPlus 3y ago
> I have yet to reconcile how any good person could step up to run a business in a world where the sociopaths almost always win. Not-being-a-sociopath is a USP itself: users/customers of a product/service/system/platform that resists _enshitification_ will likely stay loyal, especially when the service offered relies on network-effects; I read this why Craigslist is still around, for example; similarly, Apple's tight control over their own platform (for better and for worse) keeps people (like myself) attached to iOS, after-all, the iOS home-screen doesn't show you ads for CandyCrush or Evernote when you get a brand new phone, but Windows 10 does - so both Apple and Craigslist are examples of when not-being-sociopathic results in a solid business, faithful customers, and a decent public reputation. Of course, this doesn't apply when the bad eggs are able to simply buy-out any civic-minded competition (e.g. if Craigslist was publicly traded, they'd have been acquired by a major legacy publisher by now). On a related note, I don't suppose you've heard of "B Corporation"? https://www.bcorporation.net https://www.bcorporation.net - apparently companies are now advertising that they're not optimizing for shareholder value - it's something I've seen an increasing amount over the past year - though I'm not-yet-convinced it isn't something like a greenwashing campaign or a fig-leaf like BBB. We shall see...

booleandilemma 3y ago

Sociopaths are just people with a mental disorder. The problem is our system is set up to reward people with this mental disorder. It's like a machine that pushes these people to the top. You could say that in order to become a C-level, you have to act like a sociopath. Let's change the system.

vinceguidry 3y ago
There are no diagnostic criteria for 'sociopathy'.
- Viliam1234 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorder#Diagnosis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisocial_personality_disorde...
  - vinceguidry 3y ago
    That is not sociopathy. You won't find any CEOs that exhibit that disorder.

DaiPlusPlus 3y ago

> I have yet to reconcile how any good person could step up to run a business in a world where the sociopaths almost always win. Not-being-a-sociopath is a USP itself: users/customers of a product/service/system/platform that resists _enshitification_ will likely stay loyal, especially when the service offered relies on network-effects; I read this why Craigslist is still around, for example; similarly, Apple's tight control over their own platform (for better and for worse) keeps people (like myself) attached to iOS, after-all, the iOS home-screen doesn't show you ads for CandyCrush or Evernote when you get a brand new phone, but Windows 10 does - so both Apple and Craigslist are examples of when not-being-sociopathic results in a solid business, faithful customers, and a decent public reputation. Of course, this doesn't apply when the bad eggs are able to simply buy-out any civic-minded competition (e.g. if Craigslist was publicly traded, they'd have been acquired by a major legacy publisher by now). On a related note, I don't suppose you've heard of "B Corporation"? https://www.bcorporation.net https://www.bcorporation.net - apparently companies are now advertising that they're not optimizing for shareholder value - it's something I've seen an increasing amount over the past year - though I'm not-yet-convinced it isn't something like a greenwashing campaign or a fig-leaf like BBB. We shall see...