Not having long-term goals is a feature of psychopaths. The don’t have a single purpose according to which they organize things. The are impulsive.
That seems correct according to what I know (but I am not an expert). They are not like “I have to maximize the number of paperclips in the universe in the long term” but rather “I must produce some paperclips, soon”. Given sufficiently long time interval, they would probably fail at Marshmallow test.
Then I suspect the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful one is whether their impulses executed with their skills are compatible with what the society allows. If the impulse is “must get drunk and fight with people”, such person will sooner or later end in prison. If the impulse is “must lie to people and steal from them”, with some luck and skill, such person could become rich, if they can recognize situations where it is safe to lie and steal. But I’m speculating here.
Rather than thinking “I must steal” the impulse is more likely to be “I want to have X” and a lack of inhibition for stealing.
Psychopath usually don’t optimize for being evil.
That seems correct according to what I know (but I am not an expert). They are not like “I have to maximize the number of paperclips in the universe in the long term” but rather “I must produce some paperclips, soon”. Given sufficiently long time interval, they would probably fail at Marshmallow test.
Then I suspect the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful one is whether their impulses executed with their skills are compatible with what the society allows. If the impulse is “must get drunk and fight with people”, such person will sooner or later end in prison. If the impulse is “must lie to people and steal from them”, with some luck and skill, such person could become rich, if they can recognize situations where it is safe to lie and steal. But I’m speculating here.
Human behavior is more complex than that.
Rather than thinking “I must steal” the impulse is more likely to be “I want to have X” and a lack of inhibition for stealing. Psychopath usually don’t optimize for being evil.