I need to find a job that pays a little more money. I hate being part of management or having to work with people who are high up the ranks. I feel like I'm always protecting myself or trying not to be noticed out in the open.
Interesting article reminded me that the preditors have to be careful not to be noticed too.
Predators among Us
by Katherine Ramsland, psychologytoday.comApril 7
This past week, I spoke at a homicide investigators conference, on the topic of covert intelligence in smart predators. By this, I meant that the criminal IQ of some offenders defies any measurement device we currently have.
On a related note, I wrote a brief article a few years ago about how certain people can blend in and hunt invisibly among us for prey. So, I’m revisiting it.
Because of some books I’ve written, I’ve been asked if I can tell if someone is a vampire, i.e., a clandestine member of the vampire subculture. I’ve also been asked if I can spot a psychopath. But these aren’t really the right questions. Not all members of either group are dangerous or out to get me. Instead, people should be asking if I can spot and protect myself from a predator.
Both “vampires” and psychopaths include predatory types. The clever ones know that they shouldn’t be easily spotted. They're aware that they can best feed off others by moving with the crowd. If predators are conspicuous, they're less effective at getting what they want.
With access to the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) in various books and on Internet sites, people think they can just go down the list of 20 traits and behaviors and identify a psychopath. In fact, TV shows are full of people who do it.
The truth is, most of these supposed assessments are superficial and inaccurate. Spotting (and deflecting) a truly clever predator is no easy task.
While we’ve seen plenty of exhibitionists who claim to be vampires, as well as nasty narcissists who strut their stuff publicly enough to invite a psychopath diagnosis, a member of either group who really wants to stay hidden can fool even the experts.
If they remain under the radar, they can extend their manipulations of others for a longer period of time – perhaps indefinitely – and tap quite a range of victims. Look at the number of psychopathic CEOs over the past two decades who've fed off people’s gullibility and resources to enrich themselves. They were most successful when no one suspected them.
“Vampires” of any stripe who wish to imbibe from others for a long time and from a wide range of people benefit from dressing normally, acting normally, and waiting for an opportunity to operate under the radar. They'll be friendly, not fiendly.
In The Science of Vampires, I devoted a chapter to what I called "psychological vampires." These are the people who con, manipulate, and deplete us without remorse, and usually with ease.
They are the seducers, the white-collar criminals, the con artists, and even the serial killers who know how to play us with devices like trust, charm, empty promises, pseudo-intimacy, and false excuses. They can only manage this if we believe they’re trustworthy, genuine, honest, and without guile.
Thus, they must seem “normal,” not different. They’ll mimic normal relationships until they’ve earned our trust before they make their move. They deplete us without remorse and then move on to someone else. That’s why the most clever and successful predators blend in.
So, the answer to the queries is, yes, you can spot the ones who want to be noticed, but they definitely don’t succeed in exploiting us as well as those who stay in the shadows and act normal. They are closer than they appear.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shadow-boxing/201404/predators-among-us
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