What can I say about Dark Triad that hasn’t been extensively written about by guys who’ve spent far more time on it than I have.
Google says the best person on it is this guy. I know the concept from Red Pill Forums and their 2 of the big R’s.
We were talking a bit about on McQueen’s forum today, so that’s what got me to think thinking about it today.
For those unfamiliar, Dark Triad Game is using the 3 “bad” psychological traits to your romantic advantage.
- Narcissism – Ultraconfidence without justification
- Machiavellian Behavior – Seeing people and situations as a chess board, and manipulating them for your own gains
- Psychopathy – Lack of empathy, lack of remorse, lack of fear.
Together the 3 combine like Voltron and make you a master player. Or so it’s thought.
I don’t think trying to emulate a Dark Triad guy is the way to go about it – but I cannot deny that going this route gets you girls. I actually think it’s worse than paying for it = but that’s my moral judgment. You’re allowed to think and pursue whatever you want. It’s your life.
And for the thinking player, you can read those traits and see how they fit into the game perfectly.
The downsides to Dark Triad Game
- Narcissism – Very fragile when it comes to criticism
- Machiavellian Behavior – You don’t connect with people on a truly emotional level
- Psychopathy – Not feeling empathy for the girls you go attempt to go out with, or go out with – can land you in a heap of trouble
That’s how it’s framed in contemporary pick up lit. How do I see it though?
Like anything else discussed online, I see it as a tool.
- Confidence without justification is the essence of fake it till you make it.
- Seeing people as parts in some great machine is not dehumanizing, but rather it considers human society as an organism unto itself.
- Both the lack of fear and lack of empathy are core. Lack of fear, means that you approach.
- Lack of empathy is trickier – but the key here is to recognize that guys play out a losing scenario in their minds before they even talk to a girl.
- It is their empathy, putting themselves in the shoes of strangers, and assuming that if the man steps up, she’s going to be hurt and bothered.
So overall I don’t really have problems with bringing these ideas into the style of game that I suggest. Though I hate economic and war metaphors, in this case, the market rewards a guy that understands what these things are. The man that is confident, that understands what motivates people, and also gets over “leadership discomfort” – ends up running things.
-Archie
“The man that is confident, that understands what motivates people, and also gets over “leadership discomfort” – ends up running things.”
So true. Well put.
Archie,
How would you rate yourself on the Dark triad traits? Do you think you have shifted more into that direction since you started gaming?
I feel like Dark Triad traits are something that either comes naturally in a guy or they need some extraordinary circumstance (War or bad breakup) to cause them to become that way. You can’t really fake those traits.
I’m far more Machiavellian than I was before the game.
But I think prior to considering the needs of other people, I just cared about myself.
The “people as chess pieces” that’s looked down upon, I think it’s the wrong way to look at it.
Once I know what someone wants, I can give it to em.
I think another aspect people forget about is that each of these traits is also a clinically defined psychological disorder. The true clinical narcissist is ruled by their need to feed their ego and self image, they are pathologically attached to projecting how they want to be seen and become completely unbalanced when challenged on this. The machiavellian often over estimates his own abilities when seeking to manipulate others and gets tripped up when he encounters someone who isn’t a complete fool. A smart machiavellian knows his limits and adjusts, but a narcissist or psychopath doesn’t believe they have any. Psychopaths not only do not feel empathy, or remorse, they are incapable of it, and a lack of fear when confronted with serious enough danger is also a liability.
People forget that characters like Hannibal Lecter are fictional. Real life psychopaths rarely have any redeeming qualities or genius level intellectual gifts.
Agreed. I think one of the pop culture takes on dark triad often says that a lot of CEO’s and successful business people use the Triad for “good”. So they aren’t all mouth breathers either.
As a piece for game, the questions are
1) can they be developed (I think so)
2) Should they be? (Maybe moving further along those scales is good. Hollywood movie masterind is bad)