Sorry, folks, that's rather raw, but whatever. A friend was telling me about her troubles with her man and suggested that the guy had "manic-depression". I responded, "How about, he's just an a@@hole?" I mean, come on. Why the need to pathologize everything and everyone?

Ace points to this research that men with this "dark triad" get more women:

A "dark triad" of unpleasant personality traits lie behind James Bond's success as a womaniser, say researchers.

Two studies suggest that men who are narcissistic, psychopathic and Machiavellian tend to have large numbers of sexual conquests.

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Narcissists are self obsessed and manipulative, psychopaths are impulsive, thrill-seeking and callous, and people with a Machiavellian nature are deceitful and exploitative. There is evidence that the traits have an up-side - they lead to men having a prolific sex life and fathering more offspring. As a result, they have not been "weeded out" by natural selection.

Oh, and the research subjects were 200 college-age men not 50 year old 007 types. You know, the dudes who have sex with as many women as possible, will say anything to get laid and just generally seek conquest are at first worshipped, then they are viewed as dicks, and then they end up being viewed as just plain lame. I mean, it's one thing to be that guy in college. It's another thing to be, well, an old dude hanging out at the bar this way.

Narcissistic? Psychopathic? Machiavellian? How about pathetic a@@hole? Forget the elaborate research and diagnoses. Some people are just jerks. The need to pathologize is the need to shoe-horn anti-social, jerk behavior into evolutionary theory. These guys mess up the theory. They're uncooperative. They're self-seeking. So, in theory their behavior would open them up to harm because they are, well, a@@holes who no one likes and no one wants to help.

But the researchers miss the obvious. These thrill-seeking dudes can channel their testosterone into noble roles--killing lions, making heroic treks, winning feats of strength. So these guys spread their seed, but they were often warriors and maybe even general protectors like 007 even if they didn't commit to one unit to protect. So they're jerks, but maybe they have some redeeming characteristics which is why they have yet to be weeded out of the gene pool. Ace says:

Shock: Dicks Get More Tail.

Psychopathy? Really?

It actually sounds like this is just extroverted sociopathy or even just plain old being a bastard. They really seem to be overselling the "dark triad' thing with that "psychopathy." Isn't it enough to be sociopathic without wanting to butcher people and wear their genitals as hats?

Nerdy researchers, I have a newsflash: These guys survive and will continue to thrive. Psychologically "normal" guys often finish last. It sucks.

Cross-posted at Dr. Melissa Clouthier