I've seen numerous newbie comments in and outside of TRP that think borrowing dark triad traits or "going dark triad" means "becoming some psychopathic dysfunctional asshole", which is a misinformed assumption that's way off the mark, it's not about becoming some dysfunctional crazy lunatic, it's about neurotypical healthy individuals handpicking the useful traits, functions and techniques dark triad characters embody and applying them to help improve one's self in a controlled manner.

The great thing about "learning to be dark triad" rather than "being a natural" is you have an off switch for your behaviour, you can stop being manipulative or unsympathetic whenever you want because you calibrate these qualities to certain environments and situational needs (eg: the cutthroat corporate environment where only the DTs and their pets thrive.) So the people you're reliant upon in work-life to make a crust are the ones who you will use the DT with in order to provide for yourself and/or your family, you're not going to go home and deny your loved ones intimacy or see them as pawns to be manipulated (if you do manipulate them, you do it for their own good), likewise borrowing egoism and confidence from narcissism won't have you suffering the negatives of narcissism (why won't people appreciate I'm a god?! LIFE IS UNFAIR! GIVE ME ATTENTION!) because you're handpicking the functionally useful parts of the triad through learning/training and discarding the dysfunctional parts that most of the naturals suffer from. Funnily enough, there are some functional naturals out there (CEOs and multi millionaires rather than dysfunctionals who make up 25% of the prison population)

In fact I can't remember where I read it, it was awhile ago, but there was a survey of some kind which measured peoples morality and empathy, the working class were the least machiavellian, the middle class were slightly machiavellian, the "lower-rich" were moderately machiavellian and those who were comfortably rich, as in double digits in the millions were ruthlessly machiavellian. Enough said.

As for "giving yourself to the dark triad" it's not possible to go "full dark triad" (whatever that is, it's simply a spectrum) if you're the typical average person (so not a sociopath) without the use of some hard drugs (high purity cocaine comes to mind.) Have you ever wondered why drug dealers selling class As/schedule 1's are normally so fucking gangster? It's because they're either A: natural psychopaths or B: neurotypical people in a high stress and unsafe job so they do their own gear to maintain an edge and compete with the psychopaths on the streets.

It's funny how so many people come to realise "nice guys finish last" but won't go the full mile and think "sometimes you have to be a pretty calculating asshole just to survive in this fucked up world" (which is another pill to swallow, morality is a luxury for those who can afford it), if we concentrate on pragmatism being an asshole is a very valid strategy, if we concentrate on spiritualism and pragmatism, then one should only be an asshole when necessary. A lot of people don't realise you can calibrate this stuff with a bit of practice and tend to think you can either only be good or evil, not thinking one can be evil when necessary and when permitted (and it is safe to be so) a good, charitable person. Shades of grey, you're not either the protagonist or antagonist in your personal story, you can switch sides whenever the fuck you want, that's what the formlessness of machiavellianism embodies and is probably one of it's most useful qualities, the ability to adapt and reinvent.

Also a note on the tetrad (not the triad), the tetrad is the addition of sadism to the collection of DT traits, why we don't talk about the tetrad (sadism) is that there is literally nothing about sadism you can use to improve yourself. Sadism is always immoral too, rather than amoral, unless the person you're inflicting pain onto is a masochist, then quite perversely, what you're doing is moral as they enjoy the pain being inflicted upon them, and the person inflicting the pain enjoys inflicting it. Pretty fucked up shit beyond the interest or scope of self-improvement.