Log in

View Full Version : How Dark is your personality? Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy...



Ultralight
7-6-18, 6:13am
Do you have a ruthless streak? Psychologists believe the “dark triad” of personality – Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy – might help you succeed in life. To measure your own dark side, choose how much you agree or disagree with the simple statements below – and we’ll tell you how dastardly you actually are.

Take the test! haha

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151123-how-dark-is-your-personality

Ultralight
7-6-18, 6:28am
Btw, I am "infrequently vile."

Williamsmith
7-6-18, 9:19am
“Do you think you can dissect me with this blunt little tool.”

Hannibal Lecter

LDAHL
7-6-18, 10:23am
It’s a matter of perspective.

My victories are due to excellence. Yours are due to Machiavellian gamesmanship.

I have a positive self-image. You’re a narcissist.

I’m a pragmatist. You’re a psychopath.

As Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”

JaneV2.0
7-6-18, 10:57am
It’s a matter of perspective.

My victories are due to excellence. Yours are due to Machiavellian gamesmanship.

I have a positive self-image. You’re a narcissist.

I’m a pragmatist. You’re a psychopath.

As Sartre said, “Hell is other people.”

I've always loved that Sartre quote.

LDAHL
7-6-18, 11:55am
I've always loved that Sartre quote.

It’s a lot easier to work into a conversation than “Existence precedes essence.”

Rogar
7-6-18, 12:22pm
Light has no meaning without darkness.

I go with the old parable of the two wolves, one evil and one good. They are both within us and always fighting. The one that wins is the one you feed.

LDAHL
7-6-18, 12:25pm
Light has no meaning without darkness.

I go with the old parable of the two wolves, one evil and one good. They are both within us and always fighting. The one that wins is the one you feed.

But either way you’re wolf food.

Rogar
7-6-18, 12:42pm
But either way you’re wolf food.

Indeed. The first Noble Truth of Buddhism - suffering exists. (In the end we will all be be worm food.)

JaneV2.0
7-6-18, 1:32pm
It’s a lot easier to work into a conversation than “Existence precedes essence.”

The only proper response is "I'll drink to that!"

LDAHL
7-6-18, 2:04pm
The only proper response is "I'll drink to that!"

Bibo ergo sum.

catherine
7-6-18, 2:09pm
Honestly, I'm not interested in my dark side. I've done the 12 Steps of AA/Al-Anon, and I certainly have been to confession. I didn't find the test to be very illuminating, because it didn't include passive-aggressive evil, which is my particular brand of evil, or the evil of denial.

Read M. Scott Peck's People of the Lie.

Geila
7-6-18, 2:14pm
Well, I got "shockingly saintly" which in real life translates to "unfortunate doormat" so my goal would be to elevate my dark side to be more balanced and healthy. That could be fun.

nswef
7-6-18, 2:46pm
That's what I got Geila...thought the same as you, I'm not at all good at confrontation even in my own interests.

JaneV2.0
7-6-18, 3:02pm
I got dinged, apparently, for wanting not to blab any secrets or go all full disclosure on the public's collective ass. If that's what's considered "vile," I'll own it.

ApatheticNoMore
7-6-18, 3:06pm
Infrequently vile

I get angry, and also I BELIEVE in the necessity of manipulating people, like I literally believe it's how most people survive, period, and really often the only way to survive. However, I am not at all good at it.

Tenngal
7-6-18, 3:22pm
Infrequently vile............probably true except when someone messes with one of my daughters.

catherine
7-6-18, 3:31pm
Infrequently vile

I get angry, and also I BELIEVE in the necessity of manipulating people, like I literally believe it's how most people survive, period, and really often the only way to survive. However, I am not at all good at it.

This is why I am such a BAD salesperson. Salesmanship depends on the ability to manipulate people. Even down to selling Girl Scout cookies, I resist manipulation. I typically will tell people "I know you probably hate marshmallow but just in case you like it, I'm selling these S'more cookies. I know they have sugar in them, and you probably won't be happy with the fat content either, BUT you wouldn't, by any chance, be interested in buying some of these cookies, would you? What?? You LIKE S'more's? Wow! Awesome! Well, please don't feel you have to buy more than 1 box from me. I have other friends that are selling them, too. You might prefer buying from them. But in any case, THANK YOU for buying from me. This might put me out of the 'dishonorable discharge' category of cookie salesmanship in my Girl Scout troop."

My DD once sent me and my DS an article on why you should never apologize. Until then, I never realized how much I apologize for everyting--mostly for things that aren't even my fault. My son is the same way, and I see it in him, but I was unable to see where he got it from.

iris lilies
7-6-18, 3:56pm
I got one of the flavors of Saintliness, which is stupid.

I dont care about manipulating people, cosying up to the rich and famous, having others praise me or putting me in the center of attention because I DONT MUCH CARE aBOUT THE REACtION OF OTHERS.

That isnt saintly behaviour, that is behaviour of the uninterested.

catherine
7-6-18, 4:04pm
I got one of the flavors of Saintliness, which is stupid....
I DONT MUCH CARE aBOUT THE REACtION OF OTHERS.


That is a quality of the saintly, hate to tell ya.

JaneV2.0
7-6-18, 4:04pm
I couldn't manipulate my way out of a wet paper bag; like Catherine, I'd make the poorest salesperson the world has ever known. Like Iris Lily, I'm disinterested in the trappings of the rich, and in being noticed. Just point me to the library.

Zoe Girl
7-6-18, 5:51pm
Surprisingly saintly here, it seems understanding we do better together and having a firm grip on karma helps. I really don't wish anyone harm, but I may wish boundaries. But like iris i really don't care what people think of me, sometimes i find i need to in order to not get fired.

iris lilies
7-6-18, 7:45pm
That is a quality of the saintly, hate to tell ya.
Whoever is defining “saintliness” that way needs to go back to theology school, then. Sorry! I am not attacking you,
I just find that info to be strange and wrong.

gimmethesimplelife
7-6-18, 8:02pm
Well, well, well.....chiming in from the 85006 with my results...color me infrequently vile. I was a bit surprised by this and retook the quiz and ended out with the exact same results. I guess I never said I was a saint, no? Rob

gimmethesimplelife
7-6-18, 8:15pm
I've thought about this a bit and I think it boils down to all my years of waiting tables...….where you have to play games and manipulate people non stop in a bid for economic survival. It's a simple and as brutal as that - there is no waiting tables without manipulating to survive. The nature of the job does not allow for survival without manipulation. Am I a good manipulator? I've survived a very brutal business for many years, longer than most folks do......I'm not sure this is a good comment upon myself, but regardless, it's true, and once on a floor in a tipped serving position I am indeed very good at manipulating people - mostly to bump up the check, to avoid a guest ordering anything time consuming or problematic that could potentially slow me down/go wrong through no fault of my own/create customer complaints which are completely unwarranted but given that this is the United States, I have very little if any chance of achieving justice over.

Another good reason to manipulate guests as a server in a restaurant - you want to get that menu out of the guest's hands as quickly as you can - mere seconds can count here - before the guest inadvertently and of course most often unknowingly turns around and uses the menu against you as a weapon......weapon here not in the sense of physical harm but in the sense of complaints, special requests that slow you down/piss off the kitchen at you through no fault of your own, overly lengthy perusal of ingredients in a particular dish - it is all about maintaining a fake pleasant demeanor in spite of whatever insanity you are navigating your way through and moving quickly and manipulating guests to not cause issues/disturbances/unwarranted complaints.

The dark side of this? Manipulation becomes a skill that is in your survival tool set box, like it or not. No one says you have to use it, but it is indeed there and one of your options once you've lived in this nether dark world of survival enough years. I choose not to use it (often) but regrettably, I'll never be young again in the sense of this skill not being there and not being very close to fully honed. Good thing I choose to spend my energy on my home and on social justice.....I'm afraid of who I might become as a politician or now that I have thought it over better, who office work might force me to become in a bid for economic survival in America.

Very interesting topic, btw. Rob

PS I wanted to come back and state that one of the reasons I am content in my current position - very little need on my part to manipulate anyone...….it's all about moving fast and being productive, and those that can produce find me a fair supervisor that is (no pun intended here) straight to deal with and not about games/BS/power. Those who can't produce.....the job is set up to monitor production and after a few talks, I unfortunately have to call the temp service to let that particular person go, like it or not. But I also will say when I sit someone down for one of these talks, I am very very very clear about what it is that is not being delivered and what the particular employee would have to change/start implementing to ensure they never sit across from me in such a situation again. A favorite line of mine which is very sincere is that I'd much rather be expressing gratitude for your performance than sitting across from you here and now in this office. I then go on to tell said temp what needs to change so that such talks do not reoccur/escalate.

My point is that I make an honest effort to be decent and fair within the parameters I have to work with - especially since in the past I have had so many lousy bosses.....it's like I'm morally obligated to not be that way. And I also believe it would be very disrespectful to my neighborhood, my friends and family, the 85006, and the Austrian Flag to be an (expletive) supervisor. Rob

catherine
7-6-18, 8:21pm
Whoever is defining “saintliness” that way needs to go back to theology school, then. Sorry! I am not attacking you,
I just find that info to be strange and wrong.

I'll stack my 12 years of Catholic school against your training on saintliness. Most of my favorite saints were as brusque as you are, IL. Dorothy Day, Theresa of Avila, Bernadette Roberts (not a saint yet, but someday she will be. Actually Dorothy Day is not a saint yet either, but I have high hopes). Why would you think that saints care about what people think about them?? Their sights are on a different level.

Rogar
7-6-18, 8:26pm
Shockingly saintly. I suspect evil people manipulate their answers, though.

gimmethesimplelife
7-6-18, 8:43pm
I couldn't manipulate my way out of a wet paper bag; like Catherine, I'd make the poorest salesperson the world has ever known. Like Iris Lily, I'm disinterested in the trappings of the rich, and in being noticed. Just point me to the library.I don't share your lack of manipulative skills, but do I ever hear you as to be disinterested in the trappings of the rich and in being noticed. Also I could not agree with you more about being pointed to the library......a very happy day was June 16th for me in Phoenix as the main library downtown reopened that day after having been closed for ELEVEN months due to damages caused by a monsoon storm.

It's almost like I'd move into that library if I could.....Rob

iris lilies
7-6-18, 10:00pm
I'll stack my 12 years of Catholic school against your training on saintliness. Most of my favorite saints were as brusque as you are, IL. Dorothy Day, Theresa of Avila, Bernadette Roberts (not a saint yet, but someday she will be. Actually Dorothy Day is not a saint yet either, but I have high hopes). Why would you think that saints care about what people think about them?? Their sights are on a different level.
Hmmm, interesting!

Well yes, I can understand that being unconcerned about what people think of me may be a trait of saints, ok. I guess I can see that.

But I am thinking more about how I (the generic me) treats people BECAUSE of my lack of concern. I am not always kind and caring. That is a different thing I guess, and I cant help but think Jesus would not be proud of me at times. :)

bae
7-7-18, 12:34am
I'm an angel. Of course, that's what Satan would claim too :-)

ToomuchStuff
7-8-18, 2:47am
Light has no meaning without darkness.


This made me think of another thought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnaQXJmpwM4

Sad Eyed Lady
7-8-18, 10:47am
I couldn't manipulate my way out of a wet paper bag; like Catherine, I'd make the poorest salesperson the world has ever known. Like Iris Lily, I'm disinterested in the trappings of the rich, and in being noticed. Just point me to the library.

Agree with you JanaeV2.0 - just point me to the library lol! Oh, I was also shockingly saintly.

iris lilies
7-9-18, 8:27pm
This made me think of another thought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnaQXJmpwM4
This is making me crazy, who is that actress???!!

bae
7-9-18, 8:43pm
This is making me crazy, who is that actress???!!

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1890784/

Alan
7-9-18, 8:43pm
This is making me crazy, who is that actress???!!
English actress Michelle Dockery in the movie Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, based upon his book of the same name.

Disclaimer: I may be the only adult I've ever known to read all 41 books in the Discworld series this movie derives from.

jp1
7-9-18, 9:12pm
Mine was infrequently vile, which seems to be fairly common, at least among people on this thread. But as catherine pointed out the test didn't ask about passive aggressiveness. I suspect my score would've been more vile if it had. Like others here I"m not motivated by "important people" or the trappings of the rich or famous. But I absolutely have opinions on right or wrong and on what I think should happen to people I think have behaved poorly or inappropriately towards me or others and I'm not afraid to act on those opinions. For example, a few years ago I was walking on a very crowded sidewalk and a woman who was obviously in a hurry was cutting around people right and left and generally being a nuisance. When she cut me off I (mostly) accidentally stepped on the heel of her sneaker giving her a flat tire* (her heel came out of it when she lifted her foot.) I couldn't hide the smirk on my face at the well deserved inconvenience this was to her.

*do elementary school kids still call it a flat tire when they do this to someone?

iris lilies
7-9-18, 9:12pm
English actress Michelle Dockery in the movie Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, based upon his book of the same name.

Disclaimer: I may be the only adult I've ever known to read all 41 books in the Discworld series this movie derives from.


Oh Michelle Dockery, of course! She is far away from
Downton Abbey.

I know Pratchett is cool, just havent read any of them! Maybe one day.

catherine
7-9-18, 9:13pm
English actress Michelle Dockery in the movie Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, based upon his book of the same name.

Disclaimer: I may be the only adult I've ever known to read all 41 books in the Discworld series this movie derives from.


Lady Mary, Downton Abbey!!

Gee, Alan, 41 books from the same series?? I'm impressed. I read a dozen or so Nancy Drew books, but that's the most I ever read in one series.

iris lilies
7-9-18, 9:19pm
Mine was infrequently vile, which seems to be fairly common, at least among people on this thread. But as catherine pointed out the test didn't ask about passive aggressiveness. I suspect my score would've been more vile if it had. Like others here I"m not motivated by "important people" or the trappings of the rich or famous. But I absolutely have opinions on right or wrong and on what I think should happen to people I think have behaved poorly or inappropriately towards me or others and I'm not afraid to act on those opinions. For example, a few years ago I was walking on a very crowded sidewalk and a woman who was obviously in a hurry was cutting around people right and left and generally being a nuisance. When she cut me off I (mostly) accidentally stepped on the heel of her sneaker giving her a flat tire* (her heel came out of it when she lifted her foot.) I couldn't hide the smirk on my face at the well deserved inconvenience this was to her.

*do elementary school kids still call it a flat tire when they do this to someone?


I see no point to “An eye for an eye” justice carried out by me. I do, however, remove myself from those who do me harm for just about forever. My saving grace (Saintliness!!!?? Hahah!) is that I usually just dont notice if someone does me harm, they have to be pretty much in my face to notice. Cant think of the last time somene did harm to me deliberately.

The woman cutting around people on the sidewalk was not deliberately hurting you, she was extremely self centered and unnoticing and uncaring of her actions.

Alan
7-9-18, 9:41pm
Gee, Alan, 41 books from the same series??
Well, the number would have been higher if the author hadn't died.

ToomuchStuff
7-10-18, 12:27am
Well, the number would have been higher if the author hadn't died.
I thought there were only 36? He has been on my check out list, however I never have found a list of his work in either the order it should be read, or the order written (the one discussion group that was getting there, went off the rails and started mixing authors, were people were getting confused).
I also understand that some of them were children's books, specifically.
What would you recommend I start with?
Thanks

Alan
7-10-18, 7:55am
I thought there were only 36? He has been on my check out list, however I never have found a list of his work in either the order it should be read, or the order written (the one discussion group that was getting there, went off the rails and started mixing authors, were people were getting confused).
I also understand that some of them were children's books, specifically.
What would you recommend I start with?
Thanks
I did them in chronological order which can be found on the Discworld Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

While each book stands alone, they are all interconnected with recurring characters. I think the weakest stories dealt with the Wizards of Unseen University and the strongest ones dealt with the City Watch and their commander Sam Vines, followed by the stories around the witches led by Granny Weatherwax.
Pratchett fleshed out a younger character in the witches storyline for the youth market featuring a young witch and her band of protectors, the Wee Free Men which was very entertaining. And then there was the Death storyline featuring his adopted granddaughter Susan (seen in your clip), both of those characters show up in several other storylines.
If you should commit to reading them all, I'd start in chronological order. If you're not willing to make that commitment, I'd start with the City Watch storylines.

JaneV2.0
7-10-18, 8:56am
I'm always afraid to name a favorite; many have died too young; Randy Shilts, Thomas Thompson, Michelle McNamara. It'd depressing, I tell you...

ToomuchStuff
7-10-18, 11:00am
I did them in chronological order which can be found on the Discworld Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

While each book stands alone, they are all interconnected with recurring characters. I think the weakest stories dealt with the Wizards of Unseen University and the strongest ones dealt with the City Watch and their commander Sam Vines, followed by the stories around the witches led by Granny Weatherwax.
Pratchett fleshed out a younger character in the witches storyline for the youth market featuring a young witch and her band of protectors, the Wee Free Men which was very entertaining. And then there was the Death storyline featuring his adopted granddaughter Susan (seen in your clip), both of those characters show up in several other storylines.
If you should commit to reading them all, I'd start in chronological order. If you're not willing to make that commitment, I'd start with the City Watch storylines.

Thanks, going to start putting on my Amazon/used book store lists.
With the amount of time I currently have, the last sentence Death says here, made me think series:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnFr65RXdk8