THE DARK TRIAD

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THE DARK TRIAD 

How the dark triad traits generate . . . 

(1) ignorance, insanity, a sense of victimhood, and the act of mistaking “the dark traits” as virtues, thus leading persons who are unawake, unaware, and unconscious to take the false for the true and to have totally distorted perceptions 

and also generates . . . (2) duality. 

Today, #1 will be discussed. Tomorrow #2 will be discussed. 

Ironically, as the discussion of “The Dark Triad” unfolds here, for the second time in a week a site visitor has sent a recently-published article on the very same topic. Yesterday, a copy of that second article was forwarded to me. 

It is entitled . . . 

“Dark Personalities Are More Likely to Signal Victimhood” and the author notes that “research suggests a link between dark triad traits and victim signaling.” The article by Ron Henderson (no kin) is from “Psychology Today” but was posted on Aug 27, 2020. 

THE ARTICLE 

A new study led by Ekin Ok at the University of British Columbia has found people who signal virtue and victimhood are more likely to have dark triad personality traits. The dark triad comprises narcissism (entitled self-importance), Machiavellianism (strategic exploitation and duplicity) and psychopathy (callousness and cynicism). 

People with dark triad traits can be seductive. A study led by psychologists at the University of Durham found that women rated the same man as more attractive when he had dark triad traits. In each case, the dark triad man was perceived to be about one standard deviation more attractive than an ordinary man. 

[What?!! Okay, so are you seeing how sociopathic, psychopathic men like Ted Bundy fooled so many women into believing that he was a wonderful, charismatic, charming man and why many wanted to be in a relationship with him or even marry him? 

Dr. Joseph Troncale shared the following which might help explain the phenomenon of “18 to 28-year-old women being attracted to dangerous men” or “younger humans misreading and being fooled by other humans so frequently.”

Troncale wrote: “In 1954, the limbic cortex was described by neuroanatomists. Since that time, the limbic system of the brain has been implicated as the seat of emotion, addiction, mood, and lots of other mental and emotional processes. It is the part of the brain that is - phylogenetically - very primitive. Many people call it the 'Lizard Brain' because the limbic system is about all a lizard has for brain function. It is in charge of fight, flight, feeding, fear, freezing up, and fornication.” 

You can also add “and the near-instantaneous, basic attraction of one human to another.”] 

To continue with Henderson’s article: 

In psychologist Justin Lehmiller’s book Tell Me What You Want, he reveals the most fantasized-about superhero among women is Batman. In contrast, gay men preferred Superman and Captain America. One possible reason that women like Batman is because he would score higher on dark triad traits compared with other superheroes. 

Another study by researchers Carrie Haslam and V. Tamara Montrose found that although narcissistic males do not make good partners, women aged 18 to 28 desire them more than other men. The researchers asked women about their dating experience and desire for marriage. They wanted to see whether these factors influenced their attraction to narcissistic men. 

They found that young women with more dating experience and a greater desire for marriage were more attracted to narcissistic men. They write, “Despite future long-term mating desires which are unlikely to be achieved with a narcissistic male and possession of substantial mate sampling experience, females view the narcissistic male as a suitable partner.” Dark triad traits appear to be advantageous in some contexts. 

In their recently published paper, Signaling Virtuous Victimhood as Indicators of Dark Triad Personalities, the authors suggest that Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy might be beneficial for obtaining resources. In their introduction, they acknowledge that being viewed as a victim can lead to a loss of esteem and respect. But, they continue, in modern Western societies being a victim doesn’t always lead to undesirable outcomes. 

Sometimes, being a victim can increase one’s social status. And justify one’s claim to material resources. They argue that “contemporary Western democracies have become particularly hospitable environments for victim signalers to execute a strategy of nonreciprocal resource extraction.” One reason: Strong egalitarian values lead many in the West to believe that any differences in outcomes are illegitimate. 

Another is that one of our key values is the alleviation of human suffering. Saying that you don’t have as much as others and that you are suffering for it, can be a shrewd way to obtain material resources. The researchers examine victim signaling, which they define as “a public and intentional expression of one’s disadvantages, suffering, oppression, or personal limitations.” 

They also examine virtue signaling, defined as “symbolic demonstrations that can lead observers to make favorable inferences about the signaler’s moral character.” They argue that signaling both victimhood and virtue would maximize one’s ability to extract resources. People feel the most sympathy for a victim who is also a good person. 

The researchers developed a Victim Signaling Scale, ranging from 1 = not at all to 5 = always. It asks how often people engage in certain activities. These include: “Disclosed that I don’t feel accepted in society because of my identity” and “Expressed how people like me are underrepresented in the media and leadership.” 

They found that Victim Signaling scores highly correlated with dark triad scores. This association held after controlling for gender, ethnicity, income, and other factors that might make people vulnerable to mistreatment. 

Participants also completed a questionnaire that measured Virtue Signaling. They rated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with statements about moral traits like being fair, compassionate, and honest. A sample statement is “I often buy products that communicate the fact that I have these characteristics.” They also found that Virtue Signaling was significantly correlated with dark triad scores. They replicated this association in a follow-up study. 

This time they used a different, more robust, dark triad scale. They then found a stronger correlation between the dark triad traits and victim signaling. The researchers also found that victim signaling negatively correlated with Honesty-Humility. This is a personality measure of sincerity, fairness, greed avoidance, and modesty. This suggests that victim signalers may be greedier and less honest than those who do not signal victimhood. 

Beyond measuring responses to questionnaires, they also had participants play a game. Basically, it was a coin flip game in which participants could win money if they won. Researchers rigged the game so that participants could easily cheat. Participants could claim they won even if they didn’t, and thus obtain more money. Victim signalers were more likely to cheat in this game. The researchers again found that these results held after controlling for ethnicity, gender, income, and other factors. 

Regardless of personal characteristics, those who scored higher on dark triad traits were more likely to be victim signalers and may be more likely to deceive others for material gain. The researchers then ran a study testing whether people who score highly on victim signaling were more likely to exaggerate reports of mistreatment from a colleague to gain an advantage over them. Participants were told to imagine they worked with another intern. And that they were competing to land a job. 

Participants were told, “You keep noticing little things about the way the intern talks to you. You get the feeling the other intern may have no respect for your suggestions at all. To your face, the intern is friendly, but something feels off to you.” Then participants engaged in the feedback performance of the intern. Then they completed the Victim Signaling scale. Victim signalers were more likely to exaggerate the negative qualities of their competitor. They were more likely to agree that the intern “Made demeaning or derogatory remarks,” or “Put you down in front of coworkers.” 

Nothing in the description of their colleague indicated that they performed these actions. But victim signalers were more likely to report that they did. As the authors note, real victims exist. And they have no intention of deceiving or taking advantage of others. Still, alongside victims, there are social predators among us. 

In whatever milieu they find themselves in, they will enact the strategies that maximize the rewards of material resources, sex, or prestige. People with dark triad traits will tailor their strategies to obtain these benefits, depending on their social environments. Today, those with dark triad traits might find that the best way to extract rewards is by making a public spectacle of their victimhood and virtue. 

[For a relevant example of this phenomenon at play, it has already been noted how blindly his followers worship the current Commander-in-Victimhood-Chief in the U.S. who is driven by the “dark traits.” Meanwhile, the facts above should make clear why the pointing out of his dark traits has no effect on the “lizard-brain-driven” followers who are enamored by him.] 

So it is, and so, too, is there more evidence about Maharaj’s assertion that the distorted mind is the center of human misery and suffering and the ability for cons to so easily fool and manipulate the masses. This understanding is not new. The Advaitin Shakespeare in 1599 showed via the reaction of the masses to the funeral speeches in his play entitled Julius Caesar exactly how fickled and unstable and gullible the masses are and how easily they are fooled. 

Again, so it is.

To be continued.

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Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of god," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns.

THE EXPLANATION

If looked at as nouns, they point to illusions and are, therefore, a total waste of time to even discuss; if looked at as verbs which are resulting in certain sane but rare behaviors among humanity, then they are worthy of some attention during the relative existence.

Meaning? There are members of certain groups who say things such as "My concept of god in the past was of a weak god, an absentee god, A Santa Claus-type god, a mean, punishing, vindictive god, etc. Today, I am in close contact with a loving and caring god whom I worship and praise and glorify and give thanks to."

The reply to that usually goes like this: "If you are in contact with a god that wants to be worshipped and praised and glorified, then you're dealing with someone like yourself - a narcissist - and hanging out with narcissists will never bring an end to your narcissism (that narcissism evidenced by the fact that you think you are "godly").

Next, in the phrase 'loving and caring god,' any supposed god that truly had her or his act together would tell you that the totally irrelevant part of that phrase is 'god' and that the only part that is relevant is the "loving and caring" part.

"That is, a non-narcissistic their god / their goddess would say, "I care not an iota about being worshipped and praised and glorified by you or anyone else. How arrogant and insecure and needy would I have to be to want that? Forget the man-made, dreamed up noun 'god' and focus on the 'god as a verb' understanding and then go forth and let loving and caring be verbs - not adjectives - and let them generate the act of love and the act of caring and let those actions manifest through you." 

Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:

"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"

--Yeshu'a (Jesus)

and 

"Heaven and earth shall fade away."

--Yeshu'a (Jesus)

and 

"Heaven and hell are not geographic places

but are states of mind, nothing more than

concepts dreamed up by men."

--Pope John Paul II 

"There is no hell."

--Pope Francis, the current pope

in an interview with journalist Eugenio Scalfari,

a writer used by the Pope to issue off the record

teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium. 

[That said, would that the popes who have shown the courage to reject a core concept of their dogma - namely, "hell" - would find the additional courage required to question the very existence of their institution in light of the centuries-long cover-up of their history of raping children and in light of the mental and emotional and psychological scarring of billions of their members past and present.

And that need for courage also applies as questions need to be asked about why so many other sky cults are still being supported and allowed to continue to exist as well. When certain types of programming and conditioning have been shown to blind the masses, they should end. Will they? Not likely. Why?

Because what the masses think and say and do is most influenced by the international crime families which hold sway over the masses as criminals conduct their planet-wide operations. What are the major international crime families and which are the most influential and have the largest memberships?

The Mafia / La Cosa Nostra; the Catholic Church (with it 1.2 billion followers) whose Vatican Bank worked for decades with the Mafia while laundering mob earnings (for a 15% all-profit charge by the Bank); Protestant and Evangelical Churches (with over 1.2 billion followers) like the one I was raised in where the youth director molested and sexually assaulted young girls; big business which has long created environments in which people have been abused; powerful political bodies like the U.S. Congress, etc., etc., etc.)

With all of those crime families, neither the followers nor the leadership ever voluntarily step down or shut down their criminal activities. Be they gangs, organized crime families, religions, big business, politicians, etc., they all want control and they all want power and they all want money, and nothing internal will interfere with the driving forces at play.

The masses must demand that all those in charge must step down and their groups and institutions must shut down, and there's the real problem because the continuation of their crimes are enabled not as much by the people running such crime organizations as they are enabled by the masses of people who - wanting some perceived "payoff" - remain involved with them and give them money and support them and aid and abet the continued existence of those criminal enterprises and thus facilitate the ability of church criminals and political criminals and other types of criminals to continue to commit their crimes.] 

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