What’s Your D-Score?

I came across this the other day:

Then later, I also came across this article (and link to study) which found that all the “dark” personality traits are all linked back to:

In other words, all dark traits can be traced back to the general tendency of placing one’s own goals and interests over those of others even to the extent of taking pleasure in hurting other’s – along with a host of beliefs that serve as justifications and thus prevent feelings of guilt, shame, or the like. 

I’ve long thought that most problems can be attributed to an abuse of power. And any abuse of power is really just a matter of selfishness, placing your own needs above anyone else. Is that the core of human problems? Can it be so simple?

It’s tempting to think so. Simple explanations are easy to understand and easy to explain. Everyone loves the cliff’s notes version or the sound bite answer. Life is rarely simple though. However, in this case, I think it works.

We’re not talking about solutions. And the study talks about a spectrum. Everyone is selfish to a degree (find yours). You have to be. If you don’t think about your needs at all, you die of starvation. Pure selflessness is no better than pure selfishness. But recognizing how far along this spectrum someone is can help frame a debate.

I also like that it’s a D-score. They talk about dark factors. But really, it’s a measure of how big of a dick someone is. And that’s the real take away. Don’t be a dick. And don’t reward people who are.

Unfortunately, because of the way humans tend to work, the bigger the selfish asshole, the more power they’re able to acquire. Fortunately, in general, we’ve gotten better about at least making these assholes pretend to not be assholes.  Maybe Trump being the biggest openly narcissistic asshole will end up being a good thing. Those in power are now being less careful to cover up their assholery.

Can you imagine Brett Kavanaugh being appointed during the Bush administration given all the people who were opposed to him? I mean, the American Bar Association withdrew their support. But that didn’t stop them from appointing him because they no longer care about hiding the assholery.

IF people recognize this it likely will be a good thing in the long run. People won’t be able to get away with as much asshole behavior anymore. Maybe it won’t make a difference in November. Maybe we’ll end up in World War 3 or a post-apocalyptic dystopia before anything good can happen. But maybe, just maybe, people will stop tolerating as much assholery and as we move forward, they’ll be less of them around.