Conversation

Replying to
Another way of framing B is that many of the manipulative elements of sociopathy are sublimations of violence, analogous to broad scale transitions from physical force as a means of control to, e.g., propaganda or economic control.
Replying to and
At least one mechanism for this: witting application of force invites resistance, unwitting manipulation does no, leading to selection for ever subtler mechanisms of manipulation. In the limit, manipulators cannot see themselves as such, but have been selected into their roles.
1
9
Replying to and
It also takes less effort or talent. Applying force takes strength and skill at aggression. Copying a behavior that seems to work without either allows sociopath behaviors to spread memetically across untalented populations.
7
Replying to and
“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.” — Whitehead. Manipulation operations definite.y count as important ones.
1
7
Replying to and
True! One distinction here is that mutual perception can mint power. Cargo cults were bootstrapped by a real observable + spurious association. Insofar as power calls forth deference, you get a stone soup dynamic (“I’m powerful because I act how we think powerful people act.”).