The world's biggest problem? Powerful psychopaths. Says Brian Klaas. He delves into psychological research into psychopathology and how, as you go up in corporate and political power, the percentage of psychopaths goes up. Psychopaths are attracted to power, and once they attain it, they become even more psychopathological, because, apparently, having power changes people in the direction of being more psychopathological. He covers common topics people bring up in this area, such as Lord Acton's famous quote, self-selection bias, survivorship bias, physical appearance and our preference for leaders, and the so-called "dark triad" (psychopathy + narcissism + Machiavellianism).
After that, he moves away from psychopaths as individuals and talks about systems of power, because he believes the way to address the problem of psychopaths seeking power is to address the systems that control who is allowed access to positions of power. Everything from voting systems to job screening systems to how police officers are recruited.
The world's biggest problem? Powerful psychopaths. | Brian Klaas - Big Think
