Does being a psychopath make you more successful?

[BoyNextDoor]

So does McNab think the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho" to society's detriment?

"Certainly if we are looking at capitalism, what we have seen is the ones who step up more tend to be high on the psychopath trait level. That doesn't mean to say they're the Gordon Gekko types. Far from it." @CNN

I am not sure whether to be pleased that this self evident truth of the free market is being so openly discussed or saddened that this self evident truth of the free market so openly accepted.

 

[Noor]

Yes, there have been many studies about this.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10788449/Why-psychopaths-are-more-successful.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorl...bing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership/

 

[hashtag45]

ya…
Capitalism brings out our narcissistic traits, and socialism promotes our crab mentality.
And while we stupid fuckers are busy backstabbing each other, the psychopaths stay cool and reap the benefits.
(my philosophical thought for the day)

 

[Recidiva]

Great book - "The Psychopath Test" by Jon Ronson

The answer is yes - in certain fields. In other fields, not so much.

All in all, though, there's something vital that's missing as far as social interaction goes.

If the saying goes "If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" they will go fast, but not necessarily far.

Sadly if you identify success as happiness, they are shit out of luck. But they will also never be depressed.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

More successful at what?

 

[kbate]

It hasn't hurt me, although I lean more towards sociopathic side of the disorder.

 

[Sunshine]

Have read various articles that claim a high percentage of C level executives have psychopathic traits. Makes sense.

 

[Recidiva]

Have read various articles that claim a high percentage of C level executives have psychopathic traits. Makes sense.

"Here are the top ten jobs that attract sociopaths, according to author Kevin Dutton:

1. CEO

With the heartless greed and sadistic ambition displayed on Wall street since the 2008 financial collapse, it may come as no surprise that the first place on the list goes to the modern-age equivalent of a pharaoh. Capitalist positions of leadership offer power, autonomy, command, and status — a perfect battlefield for the ambitious and ruthless to compete. Where once pyramids littered the dessert in tribute to vain kings, we now have skyscrapers and corporate logos filling the clouds above.

2. Lawyer

Lawyers cloak themselves in the language of their field, making the laymen reliant on their expertise to survive in a courtroom. In the fog of legalese linguistics and glibly twisted logic, you better pray your lawyer is the most bloodthirsty of the two. There's a reason Shakespeare hated them so much, and why they continue to be the butt of so many jokes. Lawyers have a reputation for distorting the systems of equality, specifically for the purposes of ensuring their financial success. For every white knight district attorney looking to uphold the pillars of justice, you are sure to find a handful of bleak-hearted cynics and cutthroats.

3. Media

If our collective society is a living organism, where better for the egomaniac to reside than on the radio or TV? To be the voice of the people, the face of their information and entertainment, and to influence our collective minds. Of course, once your self-worth becomes invariably tied to your ratings and popularity, you're in for an eventual downfall of depression and despair.

4. Salesperson

In a numbers game, there's no room for emotion. Who has the greatest mental prowess? Manipulative charm? Who can wield the finest array of half-truths to convince a customer and close a sale? For those who like to compete for status and feed an ego through the defeat of colleagues, there is no better place to be than sales.

5. Surgeon

The field of surgery offers more than the power of life and death. It's a clinical world of high-pressure stakes, where decisions must be made without emotion. What job nurtures a bigger power complex, than one where you can cut people open on a daily basis, tinker with their frail internal mechanics, and aggrandize your status as a giver or taker of life?

6. Journalist

Much in the same way that media attracts the egomaniac, journalism (and writing in general) can draw those who wish to be revered from a distance. The ability to embed ideas and conversations in paper, and have them be absorbed en masse by readers, has only grown with the proliferation of the Internet. Now everyone with a phone, ipad, laptop or Google glasses can connect to an instantaneous world of information that stretches across the planet in seconds. The champions of that information are the self-appointed revealers of "truth" – constantly seeking to influence others through their articulation and mental prowess.

7. Policeman

The power of life and death on your hip, a badge of authority on your chest, a uniform of distinction, and a really loud siren! Everyone’s familiar with the stereotype of a bad cop — those officers who readily abuse their power, resent the people they are meant to protect, and use cold-hearted superiority to justify their viciousness. It's an unfortunate reality that some of the biggest criminals lurk among those who've sworn to uphold the law.

8. Clergyman

What better way to fulfill your God complex than become one his messengers? If you embody and speak for the higher forces of the universe, people’s admiration and congregation around you will constantly stroke the darkest portions of your vanity — at least until they catch you abusing children. It's no wonder religions have veered away from monastic humility towards gaudy temples of lavish gold and marble.

9. Chef

There are few things we do on a daily basis that are more intimate than eating food. The sustenance we put in our body can heal us, warm us, increase our pleasure and decrease our stress. It can also poison us, infect us or outright kill us. The seduction and love of food is very powerful — and controlling it, corrupting it, or being worshipped for creating it can greatly appeal to the egomaniac.

10. Civil Servant

Whether you're a minor-level bureaucrat suffocating the masses in red tape protocol, a hair-piece smiling robot claiming to embody the American dream, or a hypocrite ranting about moral platitudes while keeping your gay sex slave locked in your closet — there’s always plenty of room for sociopaths in the political arena."

 

[Sunshine]

"Here are the top ten jobs that attract sociopaths, according to author Kevin Dutton:

1. CEO

With the heartless greed and sadistic ambition displayed on Wall street since the 2008 financial collapse, it may come as no surprise that the first place on the list goes to the modern-age equivalent of a pharaoh. Capitalist positions of leadership offer power, autonomy, command, and status — a perfect battlefield for the ambitious and ruthless to compete. Where once pyramids littered the dessert in tribute to vain kings, we now have skyscrapers and corporate logos filling the clouds above.

2. Lawyer

Lawyers cloak themselves in the language of their field, making the laymen reliant on their expertise to survive in a courtroom. In the fog of legalese linguistics and glibly twisted logic, you better pray your lawyer is the most bloodthirsty of the two. There's a reason Shakespeare hated them so much, and why they continue to be the butt of so many jokes. Lawyers have a reputation for distorting the systems of equality, specifically for the purposes of ensuring their financial success. For every white knight district attorney looking to uphold the pillars of justice, you are sure to find a handful of bleak-hearted cynics and cutthroats.

3. Media

If our collective society is a living organism, where better for the egomaniac to reside than on the radio or TV? To be the voice of the people, the face of their information and entertainment, and to influence our collective minds. Of course, once your self-worth becomes invariably tied to your ratings and popularity, you're in for an eventual downfall of depression and despair.

4. Salesperson

In a numbers game, there's no room for emotion. Who has the greatest mental prowess? Manipulative charm? Who can wield the finest array of half-truths to convince a customer and close a sale? For those who like to compete for status and feed an ego through the defeat of colleagues, there is no better place to be than sales.

5. Surgeon

The field of surgery offers more than the power of life and death. It's a clinical world of high-pressure stakes, where decisions must be made without emotion. What job nurtures a bigger power complex, than one where you can cut people open on a daily basis, tinker with their frail internal mechanics, and aggrandize your status as a giver or taker of life?

6. Journalist

Much in the same way that media attracts the egomaniac, journalism (and writing in general) can draw those who wish to be revered from a distance. The ability to embed ideas and conversations in paper, and have them be absorbed en masse by readers, has only grown with the proliferation of the Internet. Now everyone with a phone, ipad, laptop or Google glasses can connect to an instantaneous world of information that stretches across the planet in seconds. The champions of that information are the self-appointed revealers of "truth" – constantly seeking to influence others through their articulation and mental prowess.

7. Policeman

The power of life and death on your hip, a badge of authority on your chest, a uniform of distinction, and a really loud siren! Everyone’s familiar with the stereotype of a bad cop — those officers who readily abuse their power, resent the people they are meant to protect, and use cold-hearted superiority to justify their viciousness. It's an unfortunate reality that some of the biggest criminals lurk among those who've sworn to uphold the law.

8. Clergyman

What better way to fulfill your God complex than become one his messengers? If you embody and speak for the higher forces of the universe, people’s admiration and congregation around you will constantly stroke the darkest portions of your vanity — at least until they catch you abusing children. It's no wonder religions have veered away from monastic humility towards gaudy temples of lavish gold and marble.

9. Chef

There are few things we do on a daily basis that are more intimate than eating food. The sustenance we put in our body can heal us, warm us, increase our pleasure and decrease our stress. It can also poison us, infect us or outright kill us. The seduction and love of food is very powerful — and controlling it, corrupting it, or being worshipped for creating it can greatly appeal to the egomaniac.

10. Civil Servant

Whether you're a minor-level bureaucrat suffocating the masses in red tape protocol, a hair-piece smiling robot claiming to embody the American dream, or a hypocrite ranting about moral platitudes while keeping your gay sex slave locked in your closet — there’s always plenty of room for sociopaths in the political arena."

It's not surprising.

 

[Recidiva]

It's not surprising.

My own personal list would include teachers and child care professions for oogy reasons.

Psychologists and psychiatrists.

Social workers.

Anything with power, really.

 

[ChinaBandit]

My own personal list would include teachers and child care professions for oogy reasons.

Psychologists and psychiatrists.

Social workers.

Anything with power, really.

I think your posts on this subject are absolute crap. It's essential to be extremely social in all of the professions listed here and in your first response. Moreover, they require excellent communication skills and an ability to, frankly, get along well with people. One would be an absolute failure in these roles otherwise. In fact, they probably never would have achieved them in the first place. Psycopaths and sociopaths are, BY DEFINITION, anti-social.

 

[eyer]

Where does a mid to late 20s adult who intentionally conducted an online carnal relationship with a *4-year-old, and who still posts proudly of it on the GB...

...rate on the psychopath scale?


The thread: Crimes of Passion

The thread question: "Commit any?"

"Carnal involvement with a minor, I imagine, in my case."

"There was a guy I knew on the internet when I was in my 20s. Good gamer, tough talker, smart and funny. Ran a BDSM bondage sideline of cyber. The kinda guy that who when someone was threatening to come to my house and rape me, would say "Hah. Tell him you don't think he could get you off."

He had a cover story that he was in his 30s but had confessed to one nice lady that he was only ** or so at the time. He and I became involved online and although I knew he how old he was, he didn't confess it for a few months, after which time I just said "Yes, I know."

I did get to meet him when his family traveled near to where I live, we met and fooled around a bit in the front seat of a car. I think he was ** at the time.

Seriously, I couldn't have corrupted this guy, if anything I rehabilitated him."

"Mid to late 20s if I recall correctly."

"Well, he was one of the guys I was messing around with at the same time, probably one in six."

"I had a roleplay relationship with him"

"...was it still outside of what is considered lawful? Yes."

"Do I think I could have been charged with a crime? Yep."

"If my daughter or son had a relationship with a person that much older, would I freak out? Hell yes."

 

[Recidiva]

I think your posts on this subject are absolute crap. It's essential to be extremely social in all of the professions listed here and in your first response. Moreover, they require excellent communication skills and an ability to, frankly, get along well with people. One would be an absolute failure in these roles otherwise. In fact, they probably never would have achieved them in the first place. Psycopaths and sociopaths are, BY DEFINITION, anti-social.

It's not implying stupidity, it's implying an ability to seem a certain way without being a certain way. Manipulating communication and social convention, while not particularly enjoying them for their own sake is more of a hallmark because it's about getting what is wanted. It's just not done for pleasure, but for an end purpose.

There are loads of high-functioning antisocial people that have no criminal tendencies at all and are able to live entirely within the law.

You're assuming being good at manipulating people means that liking people is required, and it's not the case.

People can be more like variables in an equation to solve for whatever X it is that the individual wants. Add the person, subtract the person, divide the person, doesn't matter. X matters.

An antisocial personality will be good at finding people vulnerable to manipulation at whatever their particular skill of manipulation is.

Take the example of someone lying to someone else to get them to sleep with them. That's antisocial behavior, it doesn't require that they like the other person, it may require charm and the ability to exploit whatever it is the other person wants to make them want to have sex.

The person who lies to have sex can then keep a running tally, keep score, not give a damn about the concerns of the people they slept with, feel no guilt, have sex and go on to the next person.

Right there, adapted antisocial behavior that's common enough to be stereotypical.

Your example sounds like "Boy, if someone sleeps with that many people, they must like people!" No. They like sex. They like keeping score. They like getting what they want.

 

[BotanyBoy]

I am not sure whether to be pleased that this self evident truth of the free market is being so openly discussed or saddened that this self evident truth of the free market so openly accepted.

It's not of the free market, first off we don't have any of those here.

Second capitalism/markets don't create psycho/sociopaths....they just attract ones already around.

Which leads us to why it's accepted, you can't ID these people until they are laughing about how they ripped off 1,000 families into destitution so he could have his latest sports car....that's what makes psycho's so fucking scary.

I think your posts on this subject are absolute crap. It's essential to be extremely social in all of the professions listed here and in your first response. Moreover, they require excellent communication skills and an ability to, frankly, get along well with people. One would be an absolute failure in these roles otherwise. In fact, they probably never would have achieved them in the first place. Psycopaths and sociopaths are, BY DEFINITION, anti-social.

^has no fucking idea what a psychopath or sociopath is......

Some of the most gruesome sicko killers in modern history were described as some of the nicest most charming young men by everyone who knew them. Very sociable talkative etc....total psychopaths.

 

[Recidiva]

It's not of the free market, first off we don't have any of those here.

Second capitalism/markets don't create psycho/sociopaths....they just attract ones already around.

Which leads us to why it's accepted, you can't ID these people until they are laughing about how they ripped off 1,000 families into destitution so he could have his latest sports car....that's what makes psycho's so fucking scary.

^has no fucking idea what a psychopath or sociopath is......

Some of the most gruesome sicko killers in modern history were described as some of the nicest most charming young men by everyone who knew them. Very sociable talkative etc....total psychopaths.

Yup. The idea that you can pick out an antisocial person based on their social skills is absurd. You can pick out someone with social anxiety that way.

Anxiety is not on the menu otherwise and an antisocial person, depending on what they want, wouldn't feel anxiety doing anything. That's the problem.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Yup. The idea that you can pick out an antisocial person based on their social skills is absurd. You can pick out someone with social anxiety that way.

Anxiety is not on the menu otherwise and an antisocial person, depending on what they want, wouldn't feel anxiety doing anything. That's the problem.

I always said I liked crabby, blunt if not assholish folks in bidnizz. They always just want to get it done and get the fuck on....I like that. It's the dicks who want to take me to lunch, golfing or fishing that scare me.

Rule of acquisition #48.... The bigger the smile the sharper the knife...

 

[Recidiva]

I always said I liked crabby, blunt if not assholish folks in bidnizz. They always just want to get it done and get the fuck on....I like that. It's the dicks who want to take me to lunch, golfing or fishing that scare me.

Rule of acquisition #48.... The bigger the smile the sharper the knife...

I have a corollary...if it's brightly colored it's likely poisonous.

 

[BoyNextDoor]

It's not of the free market, first off we don't have any of those here.

Second capitalism/markets don't create psycho/sociopaths....they just attract ones already around.

Which leads us to why it's accepted, you can't ID these people until they are laughing about how they ripped off 1,000 families into destitution so he could have his latest sports car....that's what makes psycho's so fucking scary.

Yeah - I was waxing a little philosophical there. Guilty.

But to the premise, and what attracted my attention in the article is that it is asserting that it is getting OK to be a psychopath because psychopaths are successful. "the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho""

 

[Recidiva]

Yeah - I was waxing a little philosophical there. Guilty.

But to the premise, and what attracted my attention in the article is that it is asserting that it is getting OK to be a psychopath because psychopaths are successful. "the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho""

Some of them are. Still relies heavily on intellect and the ability to navigate.

The main thing is that the inside of the head is cleared up a bit in the sense that a lot of things a conscience or anxiety might say are missing, allowing for some streamlined processes and the ability to look confident at all times. About 75% of people respond to confidence as "right" so it's just exploiting human nature.

Fear and caution though are important, so doing without them means living without a safety net.

It's a niche. I think humans have developed their own predators, we just can't have too many of them, but they sharpen the species and provide competition we can't predict.

 

[Everyday_Man]

So does McNab think the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho" to society's detriment?

"Certainly if we are looking at capitalism, what we have seen is the ones who step up more tend to be high on the psychopath trait level. That doesn't mean to say they're the Gordon Gekko types. Far from it." @CNN

I am not sure whether to be pleased that this self evident truth of the free market is being so openly discussed or saddened that this self evident truth of the free market so openly accepted.

There are a lot of psychopaths in jail, you could go ask them how successful they are? As far as a driven person becoming successful, are they all really psychopaths or has it become something to cool to say? Fucking Criminal Minds ... now everyone has an opinion on the matter.

 

[Recidiva]

There are a lot of psychopaths in jail, you could go ask them how successful they are? As far as a driven person becoming successful, are they all really psychopaths or has it become something to cool to say? Fucking Criminal Minds ... now everyone has an opinion on the matter.

Right, "taking advantage" becomes cumulative over time.

An antisocial person that works like a cold, just taking a little, not killing the host, is the most successful.

The Ebola guys end up in jail.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Yeah - I was waxing a little philosophical there. Guilty.

But to the premise, and what attracted my attention in the article is that it is asserting that it is getting OK to be a psychopath because psychopaths are successful. "the free market has taken the stigma out of the word "psycho""

Ehhh I think you're stretching it....the 'market' has ALWAYS been around and there have been those about who gladly dupe and take advantage of others for eons. Nothing has really changed when you think about it on a macro scale.

It's a niche. I think humans have developed their own predators, we just can't have too many of them, but they sharpen the species and provide competition we can't predict.

It's also a teachable skill....you can turn that human empathy on and off once you figure out where the switch is. .

There are a lot of psychopaths in jail, you could go ask them how successful they are? As far as a driven person becoming successful, are they all really psychopaths or has it become something to cool to say? Fucking Criminal Minds ... now everyone has an opinion on the matter.

Oh look a whole group of sociopaths with a heavy peppering of psychos...
https://whisperingcraneinstitute.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/us-army-18_desertstorm_sof.jpeg

They are quite successful....steam rolling a whole fucking country in a matter of days.

 

[Recidiva]

It's also a teachable skill....you can turn that human empathy on and off once you figure out where the switch is.

Yeah. And antisocial people can create intellectual rules and borders they won't cross. They can create standards and those with inherent standards can turn them off.

 

[BotanyBoy]

Yeah. And antisocial people can create intellectual rules and borders they won't cross. They can create standards and those with inherent standards can turn them off.

It's all in your head

 

[Everyday_Man]

Oh look a whole group of sociopaths with a heavy peppering of psychos...
https://whisperingcraneinstitute.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/us-army-18_desertstorm_sof.jpeg

They are quite successful....steam rolling a whole fucking country in a matter of days.

Being a soldier doesn't make you a sociopath, it makes you a soldier, not to say there aren't some, but I doubt most are.