Narcissism in a Nuclear World

Narcissists can be kept in check if we have the courage to hold them accountable.

Source: Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels

As destructive as narcissism is in almost all cases, there are some upsides to its existence. Indeed, the field of evolutionary psychology dictates that if narcissism had not produced some survival and reproduction advantages to our ancestors, it would have been weeded out by natural selection long ago. While not excusing or diminishing the abomination of bloodshed caused by narcissists, in our nuclear era one comfort we can take is that their traits may at least prevent an all-out world war from erupting.

Research demonstrates that narcissists and psychopaths tend to rise to power (Grijalva et al., 2015). In fact, not only do many dictators and politicians fall into this category, but managers of corporations as well (Cragun et al., 2020). When we examine this phenomenon, it makes sense.

For one, narcissists are great at self-promotion. They have no compunction about touting their own accomplishments (real or imagined), in addition to claiming credit for the accomplishments of others. Next, there is an insatiable emotional void within them. No amount of power, money, adoration, etc. will ever be sufficient for them to feel whole and fulfilled. So they are driven to excel in the extreme.

Their sense of self-worth is completely dependent on their current social standing, so they tend to demonstrate a gross ambition to climb the ladder of power. Narcissists are not self-aware enough to be conscious of the black hole of inadequacy with them, so they project an air of unflagging confidence, which can woo others and inspire blind devotion.

The mechanism of human power dynamics consists of the masses rallying around selected narcissists, whether out of fear, apathy, or adoration. These groups, led by narcissists, fight each other until the group with the strongest narcissists win. Historically, as a reward for their brutality, titles of nobility and other honors were conferred upon narcissists and their cronies.

Even in modern times, international relations retain the quality of childish bullies constantly jockeying for power. Low-level cyberattacks, military posturing, the “buzzing” of airspace, and other immature chicanery are common even among supposedly friendly nations. On an individual level, how many of us would act in such a ludicrous manner with our opponents, let alone our friends? Very few, because very few of us are narcissists.

Putting the obvious moral violations aside, the prevailing group in a conflict would traditionally be rewarded in an evolutionary sense. They received increased land, treasure, and other resources, which also had the effect of reinforcing their economic system. This system likely needed to have maximized efficiency in order to have won the conflict. While empathetic leaders would have made sacrifices to reduce the suffering of their people, from a purely mathematical standpoint it didn’t matter how many additional people died or how many injustices were committed, as long as ultimately the group would emerge stronger. Only a narcissistic leader would fit the bill to make such callous decisions.

Therefore, narcissists have been honed by evolution to be the embodiment of dispassionate calculation. Although they can and do exhibit intense rage, it’s never aimed at anyone they believe can actually hurt them. A narcissistic middle manager, for example, might get humiliated by their boss but will exhibit deference in the moment, only to later lash out at their own subordinates. They do what they believe will advance their interests in the end. Despite what they may profess, there is no ideology or cause worth sacrificing their position. The benefit to us in the modern era is that, if it is clear to them that they will be worse off due to a conflict, they will avoid it. And that’s why it’s unlikely that a full-scale nuclear exchange will occur.

There are, of course, caveats and nuances that cannot be fully explored here but are available in the research. For one, it is possible that narcissistic leaders can lose touch with the reality of consequences for their actions (Glad, 2002). So the fact that the narcissist will suffer severe repercussions has to be made clear and beyond a doubt. Another factor is that no preemptive strike, accident, or misunderstanding would put the narcissist in a position in which they feel cornered and calculate they will be worse off by failing to retaliate.

There are certain jobs, such as screening inappropriate images and videos for social media companies, which typically cause an employee to develop PTSD (Newton, 2020). But someone in that role who has no sense of empathy would be a much better fit. We might say that, to some degree, the ability to restrict empathy is necessary in fields like police work and even medicine, where employees deal with traumatic situations on a daily basis. Ideally, in these helping professions, the employee has also been trained to respond with increased empathy when possible.

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Although most narcissists superficially wrap themselves in some ideological cloak, to them it’s an insignificant means to an end. A true ideologue could rise to power in a nuclear state but it's unlikely because rising to power usually requires putting one’s self-interest ahead of all of other considerations for years as one ascends the ladder. This is a sort of natural litmus test that weeds out non-narcissists in leadership.

As a general rule, it’s safe to say that with the prevalence of narcissistic leaders, as compared to ideological ones, evolution has erected some barriers preventing the annihilation of humanity as a species. The narcissistic autocrat believes in nothing beyond their self-interest, and for us, that’s a useful weakness. We just need to make sure that narcissists are repeatedly punished for their transgressions instead of appeased and that they remain clear that future consequences will remain swift and sure.