[MichaelApproved]

Seems like it would take a lot more energy to be manipulative than it would be to excel at something.

[amirmc]

It only seems that way. Sometimes being manipulative is easier than trying to excel (otherwise we'd see more people doing well

[MichaelApproved]

But in order to keep that person you have to make a chaotic environment. Who wants to deliberately have crushing debt?

It's more like if you're already a loser, you can use some of that to your advantage by dragging someone else down with you.

[philwelch]

But a lot less ability!

[gaius]

Manipulative people are highly optimized for it. Like the way your graphics card can do matrix operations without breaking a sweat that would bring your main processor to its knees.

[aprrrr]

Depends on your talents.