I believe that clinical psychopaths will be overrepresented among: the ruling elite, prison population, and probably also victims of drug abuse. But given their relatively low base rate, there is a chance to win at life (or get to prison) without being one of them.
My steelmanning of Ialdaboath’s claim isn’t that it is impossible to succeed without being a psychopath. (Though I would definitely agree that his perspective is rather dreary and pessimistic)
It is that the paths to success in society have been distorted by psychopaths into requiring one to express psychopathic traits in order to succeed a lot more of the time than would be the case in absence of psychopaths within the ruling elite.
Yes, although I’d say it slightly more strongly: the paths to success have been distorted by psychopaths—and by our outright worship of them—into requiring one to express psychopathic traits in order to succeed, so much so that society’s various commons are—in general—being drained more quickly than they’re being replenished. Moreso, most of these so-called “successful” traits aren’t even seen as psychopathic anymore; they’re seen as “alluringly confident” or whatever.
I believe that clinical psychopaths will be overrepresented among: the ruling elite, prison population, and probably also victims of drug abuse. But given their relatively low base rate, there is a chance to win at life (or get to prison) without being one of them.
My steelmanning of Ialdaboath’s claim isn’t that it is impossible to succeed without being a psychopath. (Though I would definitely agree that his perspective is rather dreary and pessimistic) It is that the paths to success in society have been distorted by psychopaths into requiring one to express psychopathic traits in order to succeed a lot more of the time than would be the case in absence of psychopaths within the ruling elite.
Yes, although I’d say it slightly more strongly: the paths to success have been distorted by psychopaths—and by our outright worship of them—into requiring one to express psychopathic traits in order to succeed, so much so that society’s various commons are—in general—being drained more quickly than they’re being replenished. Moreso, most of these so-called “successful” traits aren’t even seen as psychopathic anymore; they’re seen as “alluringly confident” or whatever.
At which point in time and in which societies the paths were NOT “distorted”? When and where was the Golden Pre-Psychopath Age?
...cops and prison guards as well.