P.T. Elliott - The Sociopaths Guide to Getting Ahead: Tips for the Dark Art of Manipulation

Copyright 2018 by P. T. Elliott

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Rain Saukas

Cover photo credit: iStock

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-2538-6

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2539-3

Printed in the United States of America

I really do admire you a bit. Youre an intelligent person of great moral character who has taken a very courageous stand. Im an intelligent person with no moral character at all, so Im in an ideal position to appreciate it.

Joseph Heller, Catch 22

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Im resourceful Im creative, Im young, unscrupulous, highly motivated, highly skilled. In essence what Im saying is that society cannot afford to lose me. I am an asset.

Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho

A re you a sociopath in the office, feeling trapped? Feeling vulnerable and exposed? Its to be expected. Because right now its dangerous to be you.

The proliferation of safe spaces, delicate snowflakes, and the prosocial culture encroaching on many work environments may require you to curb your ruthless instincts more carefully than ever before. The alarming increase in support for introverts and sensitives in society threaten your natural, simple, greed is good approach to business. While some people proudly proclaim they are not politically correct, dont be fooled. The increased demand for prosocial behavior is not an arbitrary trend, nor is it likely to slink away, because more than 80 percent of US jobs are now service jobs. And service jobs require repeated customer interaction have HR ladies creaming in their jeans over their conveniently touchy-feely findings, and growing expectations for this kind of surface-level niceness really puts a cramp in your style.

At the same time, you are more famous and popular than ever. This is your second problem. Exposure. People want to be like you because you arent afraid to take what you want. In fact, you could argue the entire how to get ahead branch of the self-help industry is designed to enable normal people to behave like sociopaths, even while claiming that it can all be done while still being a good person. Your secret coping and manipulation mechanisms are constantly being studied and copied move for move. The new, scientifically grounded insights these books cite in abundance are in reality fantastic tips for perfecting the art of manipulationand thats your territory. This book will help hone your natural skills and innate understanding to beat out those who are trying this behavior on for size, but lack your amoral fortitude and preternatural calm under pressure.

In our current political situation, you are going to be studied, discussed, and aped more than ever before. President Trump uses many of the psychological tools described in this book to great effect. He understands embodied cognition (using posture to express power), confirmation bias (people seeking out a loud expression of what they already believe), cognitive dissonance (ignoring contradictory ideas and uncertainty), halo effect (assuming that a good businessman will be a good leader), and bias (relying on stereotypes). All of which will be discussed in the following pages.

Its also good to be you.

Unfettered by fear or a sense of guilt, you can reclaim these tools and use them in ways only a true sociopath can in order to get in on the secret these books always promise, the dark beating heart at the core of the self-help movement: How to get want you want because you want it no matter what (or who) stands in your way. Heres the rub. Its impossible for everyone to get what they want, just because they want it. As soon as two people want the same thing, youre already at an impasse. Luckily, youre not weighed down by a conscience which might stop others from doing crummy things to people to get what they want. Advantage, sociopath. Just like the con who understands that he can work a mark by lending his own confidence, you too can manipulate the emotions and motivations of others in order to get what you want, instead of what they want. Using the latest in social psychology, cognitive science, and social economics, we are going to remind you how.

If you are a sociopath and not in jail, its because at a young age you realized you are someone special who needs to tread carefully and hide your true nature in order to survive.

Dale Carnegie really opened up the art of how to get what you want with his famous book How to Win Friends and Influence People widely read and admired by millions and he did it in the nicest possible way. Even so, maybe his most arresting pupil was Charles Manson. Manson studied Carnegie in prison at a self-help class arming Manson with the simple idea that the most effective way to get someone to do something you want them to do is to make them think its something they wanted to do themselves. This bit of powerful advice enabled Manson to overcome his petty criminal carjacker fate and become leader of the insanely dark and influential sex-death cult, the Manson Family. (US penal system, betcha didnt see that one coming.)

As sociopaths, you know a lot of this stuff intuitively, but its time for you to up your game and take your evolutionary advantage one step further. Intended for sociopaths ranging from those running an honest business to the street thug looking to become criminal mastermind, this book will help you find ways of getting ahead without getting caught. It is designed to help you navigate the current work environment in a way that is maximally beneficial to YOU , without resorting to the classic behaviors you have used in the past. Following the tips in this book could mean the difference between prison and promotion.

PART ONE

GETTING IN

CHAPTER 1

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT YOU

If thats trueif you dont know who I amthen maybe your best course would be to tread lightly .

Walter White, Breaking Bad

Y oure familiar with the terms. Employed frequently and freely, their popular meanings are sloppy yet evocative: sociopath, psychopath, narcissist, Machiavellian, antisocial, maladjusted, disordered, pathological, incorrigible, malevolent, amoral asshole, con, degenerate, bad seed, blackhearted, rogue, creeper, psycho. Dark, nasty words they dont teach at charm school. Even the ancient Greeks named you the unscrupulous. Youve been called many things, but lets face it, you dont actually care.

You dont naturally waste time with feelings except when trying to fathom the feelings of others in order to take control. Being called names doesnt really hurt your feelings, because you dont really have any serious feelings to begin with. To be a successful sociopath, you need to know who people imagine you are in order to effectively conceal yourself. You are not safe unless you learn to be a master deceiver. This is why we will start here: with you, and the telltale indicators used by shrinks, neuroscientists, journalists, and other nosy jerks to sniff you out.