The Four Cardinal Vices of Being a Cad

The Four Cardinal Virtues are:

Prudence - able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time.

Justice - proper moderation between self-interest and the rights and needs of others.

Temperance or Restraint - practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation.

Fortitude or Courage - forbearance, endurance, and the ability to confront fear and uncertainty, or intimidation.

Now let's invert those qualities and see what we have.

People who aren't prudent act inappropriately. Do I really have to explain that? In fact, do I really have to explain any of the inversions? People who aren't just, who lack self-restraint and so are impulsive, and who are cowards?

Does the phrase, "selfish and inconsiderate" come to mind?

I know some guys who are cads when it comes to women. They lie, try to manipulate, they have very little self-control, they're self-centered, and they're cowards. They live their lives the exact opposite of the Four Cardinal Virtues. Not surprisingly they ruin their lives.

I've been reading the Manosphere for the last few months and there is lot of dangerous nonsense in it. I see praise for the Dark Triad - narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Supposedly women drool after these guys, who are the worst of cads.

Talk about deluded.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental illness. These people essentially have two selves - grandiose on top, devalued on bottom. They're narcissistic blowhards covering up their feelings of shame and humiliation.

These are the traits of Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation.

Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals.

Have excessive feelings of self-importance.

Exaggerate achievements and talents.

Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love.

Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment.

Need constant attention and admiration.

Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy.

Have obsessive self-interest.

Pursue mainly selfish goals.

As for Machiavelli, that is a political philosophy and those who think it has much to do with narcissism and psychopathy don't know much about The Prince. In fact, I suspect they've never read it.

Now we come to psychopaths. There is nothing admirable whatsoever about a psychopath. They have no shame, no guilt and no conscience. They're human beings only on the outside. Inside, they're monsters.

These are the traits of a psychopath (Anti-Social Personality Disorder):

Callous unconcern for the feelings of others.

Gross and persistent attitude of irresponsibility and disregard for social norms, rules, and obligations.

Incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, though having no difficulty in establishing them.

Very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of aggression, including violence.

Incapacity to experience guilt or to profit from experience, particularly punishment.

Markedly prone to blame others or to offer plausible rationalizations for the behavior that has brought the person into conflict with society.

I've said this before: all serial killers are psychopaths. They kill dozens of people (Gary Ridgway killed at least 71 women) and they torture, mutilate, rape corpses and sometimes eat them.

The nonviolent psychopaths still have no empathy, guilt, shame or conscience. But they still cause horrendous problems that spread out like circles in a pond when you throw a rock in.

Now why is it when women show the Dark Triad traits all men know the catastrophic problems they cause in relationships? Then why do men exhibiting them think it will be a good thing in their dealings with women?

The theory behind the Dark Triad is that all women are instinctively attracted to them. Certainly some are - the worst ones, the more immature and disturbed ones. But for a long-term relationship, since it doesn't work for men with such women, it's not going to work for women attracted to such them.

All of this belief in the Dark Triad is based on evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary theory is not a science and psychology just barely. I can come up with evolutionary explanations by the dozens - all logical, all coherent, all foolish.

There are very popular sites on the Internet - such as Shrink4Men and Dr. Helen - which give men advice on how to identify and deal with these demented, Dark Triad women.

There appears to be a constitutional bases to psychopathy, but it is activated by society, specifically horrendous child abuse - being humiliated and shamed. They cover those feelings up with a conscienceless grandiose self.

The only conclusion I come to is that the self-appointed "leaders" of the Manosphere are insecure men, with feelings of shame and humiliation, who are trying to cover it up by pretending they are Jedis of the Dark Triad.

It ain't gonna work. For one things, it's not possible to turn yourself into a narcissist or a psychopath.