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OLSAU t1_it75ppj wrote

I know.

We should test everyone for Psychopathy/Sociopathy/Machiavellianism, find the circa 2% with high scores, and prevent all of them in ever obtaining any position of power/finance/influence.

Problem solved.

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x31b t1_it8n7o7 wrote

Or just eliminate anyone who actually wants the job from consideration.

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StarChild413 t1_itaopdj wrote

Then you'd need people in power-in-the-shadows to do the forcing-people-into-the-job who'd need A. a similar-but-not-so-similar-it's-an-infinite-regress check on their own power and B. some form of "thought police"/"mind-reading machine"/whatever to distinguish those who actually don't want it from those who want to sneak their way into power by either keeping their intentions to themselves so no one hears them want it or metaphorically yell from the rooftops lip service about how much they'd hate the job

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erf456 t1_it8ii1v wrote

Only if you add some measure of selfishness to that. Being in power means sometimes you have to Trolley Problem some people for the greater good, and that’s okay so long as it’s done without any self-interest

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StarChild413 t1_itaoyl3 wrote

who tests the testers, also the test (as in the most common assessment used, that's another wrinkle, what to use) is highly prone to inflating scores of takers on the autism spectrum who e.g. might justify what seems like an immoral answer through either having interpreted it literally or finding a scenario where it would be good to do that and also some autistic people might over-literally interpret the narcissism questions and just treat it as common-sense evaluation of actually having a positive self-concept (believe it or not I may be autistic but I'm not speaking from my experience but some of my friends')

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Wild_Sun_1223 t1_ittxjvh wrote

So then why not just make it so a diagnosis of autism confirmed for that candidate counterbalances the test? Also, because of the manipulative nature of NMP, usually you don't give someone you suspect of having it the trst for them to fill out. A professional would observe them and fill it out.

Where to get the testers from? Draw them at random from the qualified ones in general practice during each election year. Can't be worse than our "every dumb Tom and Harry votes" system - at least these people are likely a bit smarter.

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Elianasanalnasal t1_it860sp wrote

There are al lot of friendly psychopaths though, maybe even a majority. Seems kind of unfair for them.

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OLSAU t1_it8atz2 wrote

You should study how dark triad personalities work. It is called "anti-social" for good reason.

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ReturnOfSeq t1_it7eqc3 wrote

Hey now not all sociopaths are bad

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OLSAU t1_it7fxl3 wrote

I didn't say that ... just that humanity can't afford them in leadership ... anywhere!

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Jetjones t1_it7nxv0 wrote

Lack of empathy can help you take decisions based on facts instead of emotion.

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OLSAU t1_it7oq8a wrote

No. That is nothing but cope.

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onyxengine t1_it7taym wrote

Nothing is black and white, the varying gradients of empathy and psychopathy allow humans to operate effectively in large numbers. Being out of balance in either direction probably makes for poor decisions.

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EmperorGeek t1_it7mlp9 wrote

If they were “bad” then they would need to be sterilized or eliminated. Not sure society is ready for that.

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ReturnOfSeq t1_it7s85z wrote

I’m no historian but I think eugenics is typically frowned upon

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Temporary-House304 t1_it8sbaz wrote

Why? having a sociopath do something mild like filling out forms all day seems pretty risk less. I feel like jumping to genocide/eugenics is insane when there is such a huge middle ground of solutions to consider.

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EmperorGeek t1_it9lg0y wrote

Did you miss the “bad” part?

Sociopathy is not necessarily a “bad” condition. I watches a documentary where a researcher was testing to see if it could be detected with an FMRI. He was sorting through test results and realized that one of the ones he flagged was his own. He asked his family and friends and they all agreed he was a mild sociopath. They all knew not to play competitive games with him.

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AceSevenFive t1_it7h713 wrote

I wonder how well you would fare seeing as you think it's a good idea to exclude people from power purely based on personality traits.

EDIT: The above user has blocked me, so I'm guessing they themselves would be barred from power under their standards.

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mechaMayhem t1_it7iddu wrote

Sociopathy is a legitimate disability, not simply a personality trait.

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OLSAU t1_it7hsg6 wrote

I'm not interested in power.

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