If you were surprised or shocked by my post quoting Harvard psychologist Marcia Stout on the tendency toward sociopathy in human beings — her statistic is 4 percent, or 1 in every 25 people — please make sure you’re sitting in a supportive chair with both feet planted firmly on the floor before you read this post.

 

Sociopathy is not the only way that human brains can run amok. In “A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths,” in the online Atlantic, April 2025, Arthur C. Brooks explains what psychologists call the “Dark Triad.”

 

The Dark Triad consists of Narcissism (it’s all about me), Machiavellianism (I’m willing to hurt you to get what I want), and Sociopathy (I feel no empathy for your situation nor remorse after I hurt you).  7% of the population tend to show above average levels of these three tendencies.  In other words, seven percent of us are up to no good. Furthermore, all three of these tendencies are strongly tied to sadism (enjoying other people’s distress or pain).

 

In her research on betrayal and trauma theory at the University of Oregon, Jennifer Freyd developed the acronym DARVO — Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender — to explain how such folks operate. When caught in the wrong they deny any and all wrongdoing then go vehemently on the attack, claiming they’re the ones being abused, not the actual victim.

 

Sound kinda familiar?

 

“This ploy is everywhere in politics, media, and the internet — anywhere, in fact, with a considerable population of bad faith actors. Some scholars argue that we now inhabit a “culture of offense,” a way of turning a claim that some behavior or statement is offensive into, in effect, a right to be offended.” –Arthur C. Brooks, online Atlantic, April 2025, “A Defense Against Gaslighting Sociopaths.”

 

Sounds very familiar.

 

 

See “Rules will be necessary to handle the ruthless,” below.