Nobody’s An A@@hole Anymore

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.

****

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

Share this!

Enjoy reading? Share it with your friends!