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jubilant-barter t1_jcg6qv4 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,245,427)

Well, you know some people often say: evil is stupid.

The idea is that cruelty is the retreat of uncreative, mean, simple people. But, if that isn't true, that's pretty terrifying.

Competent malevolence is a horrifying idea.

But generally, y'all. Stop treating scientific studies with results that we think as "obvious" as if they're not valuable. Testing our assumptions is important.

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ChemicalRain5513 t1_jcgdt6z wrote

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

- G.W. Bush, 2004

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mrlolloran t1_jcgl9v8 wrote

Replying to jubilant-barter (#2,245,506)

That’s not what the study implies. It is specifically about creativity. Dumb people can be evil, they will just be amongst the followers or at least they will not be amongst their “thought leaders”

Edit: it’s also about personality, not intelligence

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swellian23 t1_jcgyhq3 wrote

this has to do with the relationship of neuroticism , intelligence and openness . Being dark means the creativity is dark.. its not explaining why they are creative in the first place.

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nadmaximus t1_jch1ddd wrote

I wonder if they make good DM's for roleplaying games? Somehow, I think that is more creative malevolence than malevolent creativity.

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No_Masterpiece679 t1_jchmlpy wrote

I just watched the Netflix show “outlast” and it was rather eye opening with how this latent ability to be cruel manifests in some people. Others refused to be a part of it.

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OtherwiseOlive9447 t1_jchujyg wrote

I call it having a “bad idea machine” in one’s head. The ideas/desires are ego-syntonic, thrive in the absence of a conscience (super-ego), and is often hyper-activated by opportunity (natural disasters/access to large amounts of money), lack of parental supervision (for youths) or the perceived weakness/vulnerability of potential victims. For some of these people, scheming and planning are indistinguishable, and novel ideas can arise in some. The rest are stuck simply repeating well worn scams, which can still hurt others.

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Boaki t1_jci2389 wrote

Replying to jubilant-barter (#2,245,506)

disagree. would much rather be up against competent malevolence. that's the guy that feels compelled to tell you his master plan while you're tied up, giving you a chance to get away.

the incompetent one ends up murdering all your loved ones while intending only to papercut you.

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cashibonite t1_jci33dz wrote

Replying to jubilant-barter (#2,245,506)

Oh it's the reasons I love villains like lex Luthor. cunning and calculating. Harma and azula from avatar also fit this bill and pretty much all the villains from the legend of Korra. varak being the best one played everyone like a fiddle and people only noticed when he stopped playing because he no longer needed to. Most people don't like the legend of Korra. But the one thing they did well was the cunning villains.

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jubilant-barter t1_jci5sy0 wrote

Replying to Boaki (#2,249,047)

This would be very funny in a subreddit about fiction or memes.

But when we're talking about scientific research into harmful behaviors, we shouldn't let storytelling genre conventions color our expectations.

They're not meant to reflect reality, they're just there to entertain.

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redditaccount71987 t1_jci8gwz wrote

Not going to read. The title sounds bad. What constitutes a "dark personality trait". I've met of number of sociopaths and psychopaths who seem fairly normal.

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quarltonbanks t1_jcisjpy wrote

People that think negative thoughts think negative thoughts

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max1mise t1_jcj1rye wrote

Damn, I kind of want to put "Malevolent Creativity" on my business card.

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crambree t1_jcj2c9w wrote

People with dark personalities have dark ideas.. Never would have thought

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Uptown-Dog t1_jcj3irl wrote

Growing up I also felt that the most awful bullies were the smart ones. The one who understood exactly what they were doing. The dumb ones who just wanted to tear things down or lash out were way less effective at causing real pain and emotional damage.

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BasileusBasil t1_jcj3vag wrote

Replying to Boaki (#2,249,047)

Competent malevolence might explain its plan, but in an Ozymandias way of doing it. They might explain their reasons and how they pulled it off, but only when everything it's set in motion and nothing can prevent it anymore.

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Berserkerzoro t1_jcj3wpq wrote

I wanna see how the experiment was conducted and who created the procedure for it.

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captaincaf t1_jcj6wpy wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,245,427)

It’s called establishing the research or literature. You can’t do more complex research or make academic papers without fully covering basic stuff through academic research. It might seem like common sense but there is a necessary purpose to this stuff.

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Alternative-Flan2869 t1_jcjaodi wrote

“Who knew?” (However, I just wonder if the same applies to those who are in highly stressful, dangerous, high risk jobs like ER, police, etc. who use dark humor to counter the intensity of tragedy experienced every day.)

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RicciaFluitans t1_jcjbm04 wrote

Replying to Uptown-Dog (#2,251,021)

Hmmmm funny had the opposite experience. Thought/think instead that they were the most suffering from retardation, and cognitieve impairment due to their limited emotional spectrum and lack of mental growth. Always saw stupiditeit & evil going hand in hand.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjd5gy wrote

Replying to jubilant-barter (#2,245,506)

Evil is not stupid. It's short sighted. Competent malevolence makes up probably about half of all people with an excess of dark triad traits. I agree people need to stop treating these studies as not valuable.

As a psychopath who works daily on not acting on the dark triad thoughts and ideas that make up 2/3 of all my waking thoughts is a never ending battle that has pushed me to be suicidal in the past, multiple times. I made a few attempts when I was younger that ended in horrible non life threatening pain.

Studies like these give some hope or understanding for and of people like myself who knows what we are, don't like it, but have to fight harder than a professional athlete to not give into the thoughts and plans we invariably concoct whether we want to or not.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjd8qy wrote

Replying to mrlolloran (#2,246,268)

It's both. Dumb psychopaths end up in prison pretty young or are horrible at attaining their goals. I agree that they are probably really prone to following a smart or powerful psychopath with similar ideals however.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjdk2w wrote

Replying to Boaki (#2,249,047)

Sir, that is the incompetent ones. The competent ones won't say a thing until it's over and they have no chance of taking a penalty or hit. The. They will hint at their own involvement to those close to the victim or the victim themselves without ever giving enough to prove a thing.

A competent malevolent being doesn't care for gloating until the deed is done. Long monologues in front of a hero aren't really a thing. Especially not as often as Hollywood would have you believe. An anonymous letter to the hero's family or group that explains how they died without saying who did it in vague ways that implicates tons of OTHER people, including the same family or group: that is the sign of a malevolent being who is competent and intelligent.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjdrkp wrote

Replying to Bannon9k (#2,249,585)

I have had. Lot of difficulty writing any literature. DMing encounters is always fun. No one sees the twists when you are a psychopath. Mainly cause they cannot even conceive of the possibilities.

I think it comes to active participation vs passive writing. It takes a lot away from the actual creativity of it all.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjdy02 wrote

Replying to RicciaFluitans (#2,251,320)

Yeah....no. First, retardation is no longer an accepted term. Second, psychopaths tend to have above average cognitive functioning in general, not impaired.

Lastly, their emotional spectrum is skewed, not necessarily limited. What is limited MAY be what provides what level of a given emotion.

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jdragun2 t1_jcje8qj wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#2,247,720)

I have the Dark triad traits in spades man. They are absolutely dark.

In a war game scenario, dark triad will suggest a nuke where someone good at managing these traits in beneficial ways would have a far better plan that eviscerated the enemy and then indebted them to us in the process with minimal bloodshed, not cause they care about the individuals, but they have less to gain with less bodies relying on them.

In moderation, yes these are advantageous to war and success in it, when you have them in spades: trust me when I say that the avenues of success are going to be brutal in ways a non triad person wouldn't see until it was over, and they would be horrified by how it was all done and manipulated to the psychopaths benefit.

These are very dark traits and they aren't exactly welcomed by all of us who possess them.

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jdragun2 t1_jcjek52 wrote

Replying to K_Kraz (#2,250,091)

The most creative are actually going to appear the most normal. It's all a part of how it works. We don't care about YOU, we care about getting caught before we succeed, and this creative (and intelligent) evil people should surprise everyone when their true nature shows. IF it ever does show.

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Sherpa2730 t1_jcjnkuc wrote

Replying to jdragun2 (#2,251,411)

I'm going to have to disagree here.

Psychopathy is a developmental delay. It's a delay in the development of emotional intelligence and empathy.

You can avoid the word retardation if it offends you, but the actual fact of the matter is that psychopaths are behind in an essential facet of human cognitive function.

"Skewed not limited" damaged, not absent or suppressed?

Semantics. Part of your psyche doesn't function normally. If you don't like hearing it, then stop claiming publicly that part of your psyche doesn't function properly.

−1

Sminada t1_jcjvjjj wrote

I always love the choice of stock images they use in popular social science articles. As in this case, you can clearly see the guy is up to something very dark.

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Tumbleweed48 t1_jck0kl0 wrote

I can’t believe it! What a revelation!

In a follow up study, it’s been shown that angry bastards get in more conflicts. An even more detailed study will follow, as soon as we get another grant and our bruises heal.

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Laura-ly t1_jclq3es wrote

Do these dark personality traits also wear a lot of orange makeup and wear ridiculously long red ties? Just wondering.

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