Power, Sex and Psychopathy
Dr. Kate Balestrieri on infidelity, toxic relationships, sociopathic dynamics and internet culture.
Why do the worst people always seem to end up in the most prominent positions of power and influence? Whether we’re talking about politicians or social media influencers many of them have tendencies towards psychopathy. This week I had a chance to talk with the sex and relationship counselor Kate Balestreri about adultery, violence, power and psychopathy. Some of this, of course, relates to my ongoing coverage of Andrew Huberman, but the problem looms much larger than the activities of just one shady neuroscientist. I’ve come to think that just about anyone who rises to the top echelons of society is at risk. One of Balestreri’s most interesting insights for me was that how psychopaths often end up supporting and even trusting other psychopaths because they implicitly recognize kindred spirits (my words, not hers). You can find out more about Balestrieri at her website.
Logical Fallacies, Explained
In my ongoing fight against misinformation on the Internet, for the last few weeks I’ve been sneaking out short explainer videos on Wednesday on how to spot logical fallacies in the wild. So far I’ve covered the Dunning Kruger Effect, the Slippery Slope, Post Hoc Fallacy and Whaddaboutism, all in three minutes or less. If you are looking to understand how arguments work at a logical level, this playlist might be right for you. This Wednesday I’m going to dive into Argumentum ad Populum:the appeal to the masses.
Hi Scott.
Just recently started following ... and for my own area of reading and experience, from 34:00, this really becomes interesting. I have been living, in and out of social status from high (tenured professor) to marginalized (resigned in protest and jobless), for about 41 years. As a result, I've come to focus on the salience of dark-triad personality on group dynamics. Most people seem to overestimate their own capacity to understand outliers, as their own personal identity is the filter through which they see the world (eg. one's sense of humor or taste in music as being THE standard) ... and one result is that they underestimate the depths of ruthless, cunning, depravity the dark triads are capable of. I am convinced that since the stone age, the bulk of humanity has unwittingly been at war with outliers of our own worst human nature.
Just yesterday, I was asked to give an impromptu interview at a local Japanese community workshop, and I brought up the problem of the intersection between the rigidly hierarchical, compliancy-priority of the Japanese public school system (strictly following the Prussian model to military precision), dark-triad personality traits, and those who are trying to do the right thing in raising the young to be morally responsible members of a community.
It went over well, and though the group was small enough (maybe 20) and pre-selected to minimize dark-triads, I've been working as a community activist for some time, and even small communities or NPOs can be captured and traumatized and ultimately hollowed-out if not destroyed by dark-triad types.
GREAT interview. I particularly gravitated to that line about how psychopaths weaponize counseling, and include that in my assessment of collective human nature throughout history ... what can be weaponized, will be. (Thinking about the Maui Massacre now).
Looking forward to following you more closely.
Cheers from Japan.