One issue is that people make quick and simplistic judgments about these
people. “We have a tendency to use the halo or devil framing of
individuals we meet – we want to simplify our world into good or bad
people,” says Paulhus, who is based at the University of British
Columbia in Canada. But while Paulhus doesn’t excuse cruelty, his
approach has been more detached, like a zoologist studying poisonous
insects – allowing him to build a “taxonomy”, as he calls it, of the
different flavors of everyday evil.
Paulhus’s interest began with narcissists – the incredibly selfish and vain, who may lash out to protect their own sense of self-worth. These self-absorbed tendencies are linked to two other unpleasant characteristics – Machiavellianism (the coolly manipulative) and psychopathy (callous insensitivity and immunity to the feelings of others). Together, they found that the three traits were largely independent, though they sometimes coincide, forming a “Dark Triad” – a triple whammy of nastiness. This seems to fit the Ben, Widmore, Eloise personalities in LOST.
Paulhus’s interest began with narcissists – the incredibly selfish and vain, who may lash out to protect their own sense of self-worth. These self-absorbed tendencies are linked to two other unpleasant characteristics – Machiavellianism (the coolly manipulative) and psychopathy (callous insensitivity and immunity to the feelings of others). Together, they found that the three traits were largely independent, though they sometimes coincide, forming a “Dark Triad” – a triple whammy of nastiness. This seems to fit the Ben, Widmore, Eloise personalities in LOST.
Is there a thing called "everyday evil?" Cruel behavior in seemingly normal people rather than criminal
or psychiatric cases. ” People who score particularly high on
narcissism, for instance, quickly display their tendency to "over claim"
– one of the strategies that helps them boost their own egos. In some
experiments, Paulhus presented them with a made up subject and they
quickly confabulated to try to appear like they knew it all – only to
get angry when he challenged them about it. “It strikes you that yes,
this fits into a package that allows them to live with a distorted
positive view of themselves.” This seems to fit Locke's personality in LOST.
If one writes a report on LOST, one could consider it a case study on evil and its sub-groups of anti-social behavior. The entire spectrum of good and evil behavior was on display during the course of six seasons, with some of the characters actually starting off good but turning to evil. One could claim that Ben started off as a normal kid, but the environment of his alcoholic father caused Ben to change into a sociopath.
