What is Dark Psychology?
Dark psychology is the same as psychology.
When learning about psychology, it’s best to already assume there is darkness in the mix.
However, ‘dark psychology’ sounds edgier.
It has a cooler marketing appeal.
With social skills, it’s a game of understanding the mind.
Most fields are like that.
Look at the top performers in any field & they’ll often say:
‘It all comes down to mindset.’
Because the more we chase greatness within a field, the more mental facilities we need to use.
To use these mental faculties, we need to understand these mental faculties.
Not only understand our own mind.
But understand the minds of others.
Allow us to enter the land of psychology.
More specifically, dark psychology…
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the systematic understanding of the mind
The most powerful word in the line above is ‘systematic.’
When I hear system, I think patterns.
That means we aren’t just throwing a bunch of random stuff on the wall & hoping something sticks.
Instead, we are learning the processes of the mind.
To understand the mind, there are different models.
Models add structure to a hazy field.
The different models of the mind aren’t all too different.
Mainly the language is different.
In my book, Level Up Mentality, I break down the mind from the perspective of an engineer.
The 4 important components are:
- Identity- this is our self-image.
- Intellect- critical thinking faculties.
- Memory – database of experiences.
- Sensory Processing System – the ability to spot objects.
These 4 parts work together.
Just like the fingers on a palm make up the entire palm.
Emotions & What is Dark Psychology?
The identity (self-image) is a spectrum.
‘Spectrum?’
Yeah, instead of picturing an ON & OFF switch.
Picture a light dimmer.
Scientology has this very useful chart called the emotional tone scale.
This chart breaks down the variety of emotions that a human experiences.
It is organized from light to darkness.
This is how the identity works.
On a daily basis, a person hops around this emotional tone scale.
The same person who is enthusiastic can become fearful.
Hopping around the emotional tone scale is a built in feature of the mind.
Emotional intelligence comes down to transcending the dance of the emotional tone scale.
When you transcend the dance of the identity, that’s when you can use ALL emotions as fuel to move towards a grand vision.
When it comes to dark psychology, we are predominately focusing on the bottom part of the emotional tone scale.
We make ourselves aware of the darkness that friendly faces can exhibit.
Different Philosophies of a Human
There are different philosophies to understand a human.
2 of the popular ones are:
- Humans are naturally sinful creatures, and they need something divine to pull them out of darkness.
- Humans are naturally pure creatures, but ignorance causes them to do sinful activities. Knowledge pulls them out of darkness.
Both these philosophies factor in dark psychology.
How do you perceive it?
Are people sinful or ignorant?
It doesn’t matter how you perceive dark psychology.
The goal is to come to face with it.
Understanding that humans are capable of questionable or dark traits frees you.
‘Free me? Heck, it scares me!’
It scares you at first.
But soon, it begins to feel good to have the truth wash over you.
Inviting in darkness allows us to gain power over it.
This is like using a tiny thorn to remove the other thorn that is stuck in your toe.
Strategy.
How to Learn Dark Psychology
There are a lot of methods to learn dark psychology
I believe the 2 best methods are through:
- Personal experiences
- Knowledge acquisition
Let’s go through both.
Personal Experiences
Personal experiences come down to:
- Seeing when others exhibited dark psychology towards you.
- When you exhibited dark psychology towards others.
This, my friend, is called the school of hard knocks, aka street smarts.
Where you learn beyond the safe boundaries of school.
If you introspect enough, you’ll see a few moments like this.
It’s easy for the ego to automatically just focus on how we were done wrong in the past.
- But did you ever do someone wrong?
- Gaslight them?
- Steal from them?
- Spread lies about them because they were better than you in a facet of life?
How honest you are will determine how well you learn dark psychology.
Knowledge Acquisition
This is a fancy phrase for research the past & present.
I’m sure there are tons of people in history and in the modern world who do questionable things.
There was a realtor recently who randomly went around killing homeless people.
Dictators, serial killers, rapists, etc.
All places to learn dark psychology from.
Even those courthouse clips where someone is about to get sentenced to prison.
How is their body language?
Are they remotely remorseful?
Content allows us to get acclimated with the dark parts of reality.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Dark Psychology & Improving People Skills
Having a systematic understanding of the mind is earned.
It’s one thing to read a book and call it a day.
It’s another thing to live the knowledge & understand the mind on an intimate level.
All knowledge eventually comes down to understanding the mind.
It’s a curiosity that does not discriminate.
It’s impossible to learn about the full coin when you keep staring at the heads.
Eventually, you’re going to have to flip it and stare at the tails.
It’s impossible to learn about the full mind when you keep staring at the light.
Eventually, you’re going to have to flip it and stare at the darkness.
Darkness is a section in my book, The Charisma King.
This is a book that teaches you the fundamentals of how to get along with others.
I don’t only talk about who to connect with.
But I also discuss who NOT to connect with.
You’ll learn how to spot the red flags in someone.
This book has a blend of dark psychology with practical social skills strategies to help you navigate the world of people.
Learn more in the Charisma King!
Get Here
– ArmaniTalks 
