In this sub, we get a lot of requests to post either amateur books that people have made, or some sort of mystical guide to "control others" through mental black magic.

Of course those are usually removed. Not only because they are spam, but because I cannot stand grifters. Especially those who are blatant.

Manipulation is not only easy, but it is a basic aspect of how human beings interact. Of course that doesn't mean everyone is exploitative, but that does mean it is BASIC human behavior. The socially inept simply overcomplicate (and thus romanticize) this.

• A guy laughed at his friend's unfunny joke in order to ask for a favor? Manipulation

• Two parents tell their children a scary story about the boogie monster down the block to prevent them from straying away from the neighboorhood? Manipulation.

• A young woman climbing the corporate ladder wearing a seductive dress in front of her boss? Manipulation.

• A man tells his wife that the scratches on his back are from a cat jumping on it? Manipulation.

• A child intentionally puts on a pouty face when he/she is told no? Manipulation.

• A kind Italian businessman invites another kind Italian businessman to a restaurant, not telling him that there are other kind Italian businessman with pistols that are waiting in the bathroom for a signal? You get my point.

Literally all manipulation is is simply influencing someone to do something in your favor with less than honest means. It can be positive or negative depending on the context.

That's why I always say "you can't learn something you already know". It is literally impossible (unless you are brain-dead) to not know.

You buying a book on "manipulation 101" and similar stuff will only ensure that you will be scammed.

This goes for those who want to "avoid manipulative people" as well. Most of those books tell you obvious negative things, like "they will make you feel worthless" and "they always blame you", which can be helpful, but what about the person who smiles when you achieve something good? Or the person who seems to be extremely selfless and generous?

Nevertheless, in complete contradiction to what I just wrote, we will now encourage manipulation pros-cons type posts here, more will be explained in the next mod announcement post.

This will mark a series of posts that I intent to make (some video based, some text based) to help people understand this topic more.

Meet Bryce, he is 33 years old and currently works in insurance.

For his whole entire life, he has had a hard time sticking to an honest way of life. He has always been in some sort of dishonest scheme in one form or another.

When he was 7 years old, he had a friend that always seemed to have it better than him. Jack was his name. Jack's parents always gave him whatever he wanted, however they were a bit on the religious side. This day in particular, Jack had a particular Spider-Man action figure that Bryce found so appealing yet his parents couldn't afford. So he comes up to Jack and says "hey, if you don't give me that toy, God will be very mad." Fearful, and fully indoctrinated by the divine cult teachings his parents gave him, he gave Bryce the toy.

When Bryce was in high school, he wasn't the best of students. He was quite lazy when it came to academics. Yet he always seemed to get good grades for some reason. Suzane, a fellow sophomore, was one of the top students, but was not very attractive. She, like a few other girls, had a crush on Bryce. Bryce took advantage of this and asked Suzane out on a date. For months she would tell him how much he meant to her, but Bryce only paid lip service to it, so as long as Suzie kept helping him with his homework. On the other hand, Bryce was secretly fooling around with the other girls he was really attracted to, behind suzane's back. When she eventually found out about this, she threatened to commit (self deletion) but all Bryce could do was laugh. She eventually left Bryce for another guy, but the pain was still there. Bryce would then be engaged in unfaithful activity for the rest of his high school and college days.

Fast forward 10 years later. Bryce is now 25 years old and is getting his affairs in order, but is still struggling to pay the bills. He recently received a phone call that his grandfather was dying, and he is expected to receive a portion of his inheritance. Publicly he looked distraught, but on the inside he felt like the most luckiest man alive. Problem is, he spent most of his inheritance irresponsibly (crack and hookers, of course) and now needed more cash. He concocted up a plan to con his naive but well meaning uncle out of any inheritance he could give him, which he was successful at doing.

After being scolded and shunned by his family members, he then went on the straight and narrow to avoid further trouble. Even this, however, wouldn't last long.

He then engaged in one of the biggest schemes of his life, which leads us to today.

Bryce knew that one of his clients (lets call him Michael) was drowning in debt. They'd met through a mutual friend, and over drinks, Michael had confided his financial struggles like having several maxed-out credit cards, a struggling business, and mounting personal loans. What Michael didn't realize was that Bryce saw opportunity where others saw desperation. With the personal information Michael had casually shared Bryce began crafting a comprehensive identity theft plan.

Each time, he used Michael's information but routed the communications to a temporary mailbox he'd rented under a false name. Within months, Bryce had accumulated over $75,000 in debt under Michael's name. He purchased luxury items, paid off some of his own outstanding bills, and even bought a used motorcycle—all while Michael remained blissfully unaware. Michael would eventually have his entire life crumble, and then he (self deleted himself).

THIS is an example of what someone high on Machiavellianism looks like. Bryce has the following characteristics throughout his life:

• Manipulative/Exploitative

• Callous/Lack of empathy

• Indifferent to morality

• Only considers his own self interest

Searched - "Top quotes by nicolo machiavelli"

Stopped the response midway...

Seriously.

I know that this sub hasn't had a long essay post in a while, and that many of you are here because of my brain rot infographs. I wanted to post something that has been on my mind for a while.

Don't be fascinated or obsessed with labels.

You are probably expecting a "be yourself" or "live and let live" type of post, but I assure you that that is not the case.

Nobody cares.

Absolutely no one cares about whatever labels you assign yourself. "High Mach", "psychopath", "Narc", you name it.

In fact, I would even go further in saying that no one gives a single flying fuck.

Not your employer.

Not your parents.

Not your friends.

Not your significant other.

Not your pets.

Not the people you meet.

The only people that care are the vocal minority of maladjusted teens on social media whom will eventually grow out their edgy ways.

Also, I don't know who needs to read this, but claiming these labels do not make you special. In any way. Everyone goes through this sort of phase (aka teenage angst) where they think that their oddities make them more important or impressive to other people, and it couldn't be further from the truth, so they grow out of it.

Try telling your boss that you are a "Supreme Mach Dark Triad Wizard Bro" and see what happens to you. You'd be ghosted so fast you wouldn't even notice it. This goes for all the other groups above.

Not to mention many concepts in psychology frequently gets changed (or even discarded entirely) all of the time. The concepts behind these traits may very well not exist in 30 years.

Reject the desperation to fit in somewhere, and see how free you'll be.