The authors of the study noted Picasso as an example of an artist who went fully batshit when he went cubist. That movement kicked the art world and its established norms firmly in the giblets, but it seems to have worked out well for Picasso, because he was willing to look at the way things were and then do the exact opposite of everything times five. It's also worth noting that Picasso was the kind of guy who would literally refer to himself as God sometimes, and was also noted for being something of a monster on a regular basis. But was he a psychopath? You can't fully diagnose mental illness posthumously, but there's a lot of evidence to suggest that he was more than your run-of-the-mill asshole who made doodles.
Otherwise, architects were the people who scored the highest when it came to the Dark Triad, and the personality traits more strongly associated with creative achievement seemed to be narcissism and psychopathy. Of course, as I said at the top, psychopaths are a tiny minority in society, so the guy who designed your house is still probably not a psychopath.
Probably.
Related: The 5 Types Of Sociopath Invented By The Internet
1
You're Friends With Your Ex
Man, I've told you about my ex before, but if you need a refresher, after we broke up, she wanted the toilet mat back from our bathroom. So it's safe to say we didn't remain friends. But if we had, maybe that would mean one of us was a psychopath. Because that's what psychopaths do: They stay friendly with their exes. Please take a moment to think back through all of your own relationships.
The reasoning here is that some people who opt to stay friends with exes don't do so for reasons of evolved maturity and basic human kindness. Instead, their motivation is rooted in more of those classic dark personality traits. They keep in contact with an ex because it's a convenient resource for things like money, sex, or information.
The thing you need to remember about a psychopath is that they can be very charming. Part of their insidiousness is their ability to play your emotions. These are the ones who are just kind and giving enough that it ensures they'll be in your orbit when they inevitably need something from you. You break up one day, and next thing you know, they're at your place every other day to piss on that toilet mat again.
Just remember, that doesn't mean all your exes are psychos, and there's probably been a handful of legit cases where people broke up and remained mostly friends in a non-disturbing way. Still, I'm pretty sure these findings explain every one of Ross' actions on Friends.
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Ian Fortey
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