The age of psychopathy: why society increasingly relies on manipulation

Times change, and with them also changes our way of relating to each other... and of dominating each other.

A few years ago, sociologist Zygmunt Bauman defined the concept of "liquid modernity", a society that has reached such a level of technological development that all comforts are just a button away.

We are saturated with stimuli, information, leisure offers, we live connected to work and everything is so simple with technology that depth and reflection are no longer required, but simply speed: the need to adapt quickly, learn fast, be able to perform many tasks in a short time... Individualism and the manipulation of the behavior of others through all the means that technology puts within our reach prevail. The era of psychopathy has appeared..

The dehumanization of society

We live in a society that embraces much and squeezes little. We have social networks that allow us to contact hundreds of people daily, but that, due to this interface, these exchanges are shallow or intrasubjective, these exchanges are either shallow or inconsequential.. In fact, today, depth is not a value. The value of successful people is in many cases in the millions they move, the beauty, the material objects they flaunt or empty moments they brag about on Instagram.

If our ancestors needed intelligence to survive their world, today the need for social intelligence prevails. the need for social intelligence prevails. While language, logic, strategy, calculus... have been successfully reproduced in computers and new technologies, it has not been the same for other properly human skills, such as facial recognition, humor, and in short, those skills that require interpersonal exchanges. However, these qualities can also be affected by the dehumanization of jobs and relationships.

In the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, a concept called the "uncanny valley" suggests that when a humanoid looks too much like a human but not enough (subtle differences), it creates a sense of discomfort and unease in people. Therefore, it is not surprising that those individuals who today present a higher social intelligence, better social mimicry and adaptation, and why not to say it, a greater capacity for manipulation, get further in life, given that their seduction skills can disguise the fact that they move through more robot-like logics.

Characteristics such as pragmatism and utilitarianism, superficial charm (see Instagram), individualism and manipulation are reflected in our society on a daily basis in the same way that they define the psychopathic personality.

The new dynamics of violence: the age of psychopathy.

While violence has declined from century to century, crime is a rising value. And it is worth emphasizing the issue of violence: while a few centuries ago, armies used to kill each other with swords to conquer or usurp other kingdoms, today the borders of neighboring countries are almost entirely respected and there is even a certain alliance between them. Nevertheless, every country keeps an army up its sleeve and increasingly sophisticated weapons "just in case". The agreements between our rulers are as superficial as their handshakes and fake smiles. and false smiles. And the power that some exercise over others is based on economic power.

Crimes change and so we go from armed robberies to scams in large companies, exploitation, political corruption and the creation of laws that can sweep the whole racket under the carpet or scandals that distract the public from more important social issues.... Psychopathic ways of gaining profit and power by using others. which are becoming more and more common to the point of legalizing the fact that they trade with one's private information and data.

Society is evolving in a psychopathic way, and the best adapted individual will be the one who develops the traits that are socially valued today.and the best adapted individual will be the one who develops the traits that are socially valued today: the one who shows his best face while he doesn't give a damn about anything, and in particular about you. To understand this superficial charm, this quest for power being used and using others disguised as kindness that is dominating the world, this social face of hypocrisy, just watch the first episode of the third season of Black Mirror, Nosedive.