Machiavelli personality test
I only scored a 68. Not a very good score for someone so completely evil… I did note that there was not a single question about killing squirrels on the test, so it’s obviously biased against my particular brand of evil.
Machiavelli personality test
April 20th, 2006
Perhaps, you’re just the Diet Coke of evil after all. :p (I only scored a 62.)
April 20th, 2006
I scored a 68 as well. I thought I would be worse since I had to dispose of my soul and heart when I entered this profession.
April 20th, 2006
The Machiavelli personality test has a range of 0-100
Your Machiavelli score is: 87
You are a high Mach, you endorse Machiavelli’s opinions.
Most people fall somewhere in the middle, but there’s a significant minority at either extreme.
Rooster, I have a thought regarding reconciliation of your score with your profession. Perhaps the type of law you practice is milder, perhaps even kinder than that entered into by higher scoring members of your profession. I would certainly describe it that way since you do tend to help those who’ve exhausted other reasonable options. Think of it this way; when one thinks of helpful, one usually does not associate it with attorney.
April 20th, 2006
Well, that is certainly true. My comment was more tounge in cheek. I believe I still have a heart and soul, albiet a small cold black one.
Your results, however, are a bit disturbing.
April 20th, 2006
I have had people here in the office take the test and report back their score. Of course when they ask me why I want them to take the test I create a plausible scenario that will get them to take it without asking further questions… ;-)
The range seems reasonably narrow. The 87 score by Marcus Vindictus is the highest one I’ve seen. So far everyone in my office falls between 56 and 78 (but I do work with accountants). This makes my current working span 30 points. Since everyone is a little bit evil we need to leave a few points on the bottom, so we could offset -30 then expand the span by a factor of 1.5. Leaving Mark’s score in the mid eighties and moving my score down to the mid fifties.
Of course I’m just playing with the numbers. I am still waiting to get my mother’s test results back. I will assume she is the least evil and that Mark is the most. Then I can decide on final numbers.
April 20th, 2006
At an early age, I became intimately familiar with the philosophy of cynicism. I found it a helpful coping mechanism. I was probably no more than 11 or 12 when I first heard of Nicolo Machiavelli and his thoughts on the court, politics, and human nature. I found some of his writings and it was a natural extension from cynicism for me.
My present to my late wife for her graduation from college was a copy of Machiavelli’s, “The Prince”. I suggested she read it, learn it, and live it, in order to thrive in the corporate world. I did this because it seemed prudent, particularly because she frequently expressed her desire to climb the corporate ladder and gain positions where she could wield influence and form policy. That book was always at hand and she told me she occasionally referenced it when trying to plan or make sense of something going on at work. The book is in my library now, as it was among her things given me by her co-workers when they cleaned out her office space.
During my days of regular work in the consulting business, I would typically be interviewed by the owner of the client, or a manager of some sort. I would always make a point of noting the books they kept in view. Many do this to give an impression of being well read, and some actually have read and understood the titles. I did not see, “The Prince” as often as I would have liked, but I always worked well with those who did have it and had read it. I would test them by asking questions relevant to the subject matter.
Even if you find yourself disagreeing with either his methods or reasoning, and there are flaws if you look hard enough, he gave us some exceptionally interesting and often amusing writing. For a particularly insightful, humorous piece of his, I recommend his, “Mandragola”, or “Mandrake”. I introduced my current girlfriend to Machiavelli by taking her to a performance of this work in play form at the Atlanta Shakespeare Tavern a few years ago. It is spectacularly funny. Take the time to find and read it. You’ll be well rewarded for your effort.
I am most curious as to why you assume one’s capacity for evil is greater if they score high on this test we’ve all taken. I dare suggest you have fallen for the common connotation associated with the adjectival form, “Machiavellian”, which is frequently used in popular media. More accurately, it is frequently misused and abused.
Heh, heh, heh. I have them now. They’ll read all the fine rubbish and never notice the noose of authority slipping about their necks. Whoops, I wasn’t supposed to type that bit…
April 20th, 2006
As Marcus Vindicutus’ current girlfriend, it might be interesting to know that my score was higher than 5 ( it was 58). So maybe I have a chance not to be totally dominated by him. Maybe we should capture the test for future polling…..it seems to me that as people age, they tend to get a little “meaner”.