What are the benefits and pitfalls of The Dark Triad?

Psychobiology · 2013-08-28T04:39:55+00:00

I'll start, as this gives me the perfect opportunity to explain why I think this Dark Triad stuff is a bad idea. I understand that guys want to be confident, but anyone can be confident not just narcissists and psychopaths. You want to not care about what other people think and that's fine (ironic considering people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are hyper-sensitive to criticism). You don't need to posess serious personality disorders to have these traits.

Here's the part that I think people who want to have Dark Triad traits often forget: narcissists and psychopaths lack empathy. They only look out for themselves and others have no inherent value. No heartfelt plea from an employee can dissuade a CEO from laying off 100 people, if he somehow makes money it doesn't matter. To me, empathy and compassion are some of the noblest aspects of humanity.

Say what you will about there being no such thing as true altruism, that doesn't mean kindness has no value. Narcissists and psychopaths hurt many people even if they never commit crimes. The emotional damage they cause to any person unlucky enough to date them an is staggering. These people cannot love. The world doesn't need anymore Dark Triad-types, they've bankrupted enough nations, broken enough hearts, and killed enough people to last several lifetimes. Don't give up your tender qualities just to attract women.

Dominate123 · 2013-08-28T09:28:50+00:00

I have NPD. AMA

Benefits? Zero. I wouldn't wish this on anyone.

What makes it attractive? We truly believe we are better than everyone else (grandiosity). Some women (and some men) find this to be attractive.

Negative effects: Never really caring about anyone or anything but myself. Incapable of love.

The only purpose in life for those with NPD is to be worshiped.

mrsamsa · 2013-08-28T04:40:41+00:00

Looking at the research on dark triad traits, I think it can be effectively summed up as:

Advantages:

greater self-reported rates of short term sexual interactions or relationships (and this greater "success" rate is largely due to people with dark triad traits lowering their standards to increase their pool of potential mates).

Disadvantages:

the traits are abrasive and make you unpopular amongst family and peers
they lead to a greater rate of partners cheating on you and dumping you
the main causal factor behind people with dark triad traits being viewed as attractive is because of the emphasis they place on their appearance, meaning that their strategy is hugely wasteful and inefficient as you can get the same effect by simply dressing better.
since the general population views people with dark triad traits as being horrible people, the only mates that they can attract are ones willing to enter into volatile and ultimately unsatisfying relationships.

In other words, there are huge personal and social costs to having dark triad traits, and there appears to be no advantages directly related to them. Instead, the apparent advantages stem directly from the confounds of: a) widening your standards for mates, and b) dressing better.

The more successful strategy would therefore be to widen your standards and dress better, but not become a self-obsessed individual who drives away friends, family, and mates, and enter into relationships that guarantee you will get hurt.

Psychobiology · 2013-08-28T06:56:37+00:00

Much of game, to me seems to be the art of pretending to have Dark Triad traits while hopefully not developing them for real. The main advantage to this is fun. Somebody with these characteristics has little keeping him from being spontaneous and fun. They have no guilt and so can free others around them from sexual hangups without even trying.

Actually people of this type can be highly empathetic. The can see the reality of social situations, can identify weak points in a persons armour better than the average person. This is because their judgment is unclouded by human decency- they can empatheticaly look into another human being as a predator stalks its prey.

Many people envy such people- at least in part. This is particularly true of the beta who is often made to feel guilty or obligated to others. The Red Pill is made up or 'recovering betas'. Their greatest fear is falling back so naturally the Dark Triad has appeal. Is it possible to learn this for real? Probably not. People with these characteristics have different brains to the normal.

Game seeks to take the good parts of the Dark Triad- the empathy, the ability to listen, the ability to free women from fears of sluttyness and the sheer enjoyment of life- and to use it for mutual liberation.

unf-unff-unfff · 2013-08-28T17:46:01+00:00

The Dark Triad is a group of three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, all of which are interpersonally aversive.[1][2][3] ... The narcissistic personality (in the clinical sense) is characterized by a grandiose self-view, a sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, and egotism. Some theories, such as those of Heinz Kohut, associate it with the protection of a radically weak, shamed, or damaged self.[8] The Machiavellian personality is characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others, with a cynical disregard for morality and a focus on self-interest and deception.[9] The psychopathic personality is characterized by impulsive thrill-seeking, and in its "primary" form by selfishness, callousness, lack of personal affect, superficial charm, and remorselessness. All three characteristics involve a callous-manipulative interpersonal style, and are considered aversive.

There's nothing admirable or desirable about having dark triad traits, and it's sad to see people attempting to emulate them in the hopes of attracting sex partners. Dark triad traits are damaging all around, not even the affected individual truly benefits from them.

[deleted] · 2013-08-28T09:42:47+00:00

To get philosophical here I believe that true self-love is something totally different from narcissism, narcissism is damaged self love: "Thinking you're great" (a conditional belief which is extremely easy to puncture) true self love is empathy and respect for the self, and is closely related to the practice of empathy for other people.

Also I cant help but suspect that the focus on the Dark Triad comes largely from the medias fascination with it as a catchy page hit generator and the abundance of "are YOU a sociopath?" articles that treat sociopaths like X-Men or something.

[deleted] · 2013-08-28T13:34:15+00:00

[permanently deleted]

Title	What are the benefits and pitfalls of The Dark Triad?
Author	Spartacus321
Upvotes	3
Comments	63
Date	August 28, 2013 4:04 AM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1l8lhr/what_are_the_benefits_and_pitfalls_of_the_dark/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/what-are-the-benefits-and-pitfalls-of-the-dark.286839 https://theredarchive.com/post/286839

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