I recently read a book called "Evil Genes" by Barbara Oakley. One of the interesting stories she tells is about how some of the research into Machiavellian behavior got started.
The original research group decided to focus on "everyday" manipulative, lying, power-hungry behavior. Looking for test subjects, they found plenty of instances, but ended up picking a category of people to study - their own PhD advisors.
The point is, mild versions of psycho/socio-pathic behavior are unfortunately commonplace. Changed my perception of people's behaviors in very fundamental ways.
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I recently read a book called "Evil Genes" by Barbara Oakley. One of the interesting stories she tells is about how some of the research into Machiavellian behavior got started.
The original research group decided to focus on "everyday" manipulative, lying, power-hungry behavior. Looking for test subjects, they found plenty of instances, but ended up picking a category of people to study - their own PhD advisors.
The point is, mild versions of psycho/socio-pathic behavior are unfortunately commonplace. Changed my perception of people's behaviors in very fundamental ways.