I agree with you. Smart people with dark traits become really good at painting their objectives in moral, altruistic terms. They tend to limit the display of their "dark traits" through actions to infrequent events where they stand to gain significantly and will suffer the least blowback.
This is because they understand that most people build trust by observing small actions. So the smart+dark personality combos follow the script until they can make a move where it really counts. And when they do pounce, they're good at subsequently coloring what they did through a kinder lens.
These people would be nearly impossible to pick out in a survey, because they make it their business to be impossible to pick out.
> painting their objectives in moral, altruistic terms.
Makes me think of hamburger companies removing plastic straws, but not promoting vegan burgers. instead, continuing in effect chopping down the rain forest to grow farm animal food -- meaning, they've sensed what people want to hear (saving the world from plastics) but don't actually care
You're talking pattie makers/distributors there, and they don't give 2 cents about what people want directly. They care about what sellers are ordering.
The sellers care about what people want, but they either hear "Just the usual, Sam" or if they're picking up more interest in the veggie stuff, they might broach it, but until the suppliers/distributors get enough signal/investment to ramp up, they won't make a bold move, because sticker shock due to potentially competitive pressure and very low supply.
Businesses, done right, involve very little mustache twirling, and lots of spreadsheet jockeying and getting things acquired and staged where they need to be.
Why can't those people with dark traits be open and honest in a setting where they are anonymous? Unless you are arguing they are so good at covering their tracks that they end up convincing themselves their moral compass is right.
Gee, one could've almost mistaken one of these people for a regular nice person who has encountered bumps along the road (I say this with a deadpan face).
This is because they understand that most people build trust by observing small actions. So the smart+dark personality combos follow the script until they can make a move where it really counts. And when they do pounce, they're good at subsequently coloring what they did through a kinder lens.
These people would be nearly impossible to pick out in a survey, because they make it their business to be impossible to pick out.