How Narcissists Hijack Your Brain - Dr Peter Salerno - #1068
Modern Wisdom
03/07/26
•105m
About
Comments
Featured In
Dr Peter Salerno is a social psychologist, professor, and researcher.
Why are narcissists so manipulative? At some point in your life, you’ve probably encountered a narcissist. They can take control of a situation so subtly that before you realize it, you’re caught under their influence. So how can you spot a narcissist early, and what can you do to protect yourself from their manipulation?
Expect to learn why people repeatedly tend to hurt others deliberately, which parts of the brain are actually involved in empathy and self-control, why the idea that “hurt people hurt people” is so attractive, why narcissists often pull someone close and then suddenly push them away, how to spot when flirting or drama turn into manipulation, if someone can be genuinely in emotional pain and still choose to hurt others and much more...
Timestamps:
(0:00) How Peter Discovered His Niche in Psychology (3:31) Which Personality Types Cause the Most Conflict? (10:05) What Causes Cluster B Personality Disorders? (12:54) Is Antagonistic Behaviour Genetic? (17:42) How Cluster B Traits Evolved Over Time (21:54) The Neuroscience Behind Personality Disorders (31:06) Do Narcissists Devalue Everything? (39:48) Are Personality Disorders a Choice? (43:48) What Are The Other Cluster Disorders? (46:50) Why “Hurt People Hurt People” Is So Compelling (53:30) What Narcissism Really Is (01:02:00) Narcissists vs Psychopaths: Who Is More Dangerous? (01:04:55) Which Personality Disorders Commonly Occur Together? (01:09:21) The Hardest Personality Disorder to Treat (01:12:38) How Real Change Happens in Personality Disorders (01:18:58) Who Get Stuck in Toxic Relationships? (01:24:11) How Sexuality is Utilised in Personality Disorders (01:28:26) Things Cluster B Personalities Rarely Do (01:32:43) How Cluster B Personality Traits Develop (01:38:15) How Likely Are We to Be Histrionic? (01:40:16) The Biggest Sex Differences in Personality Disorders (01:44:53) Where to Find Peter
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom
Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom
Get 15% off your first order of my favourite Non-Alcoholic Brew at https://athleticbrewing.com/modernwisdom
New pricing since recording: Function is now just $365, plus get $25 off at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Previous Episode
Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University, a productivity expert and an author.
Has AI “workslop” damaged our ability to focus? When AI entered the workplace, many thought it would replace knowledge workers. Instead, we’re flooded with AI-generated noise that feels productive but often isn’t. In this new era, is the real competitive advantage simply the ability to focus?
Expect to learn what the future of work will be with major advancements in AI, what most people’s relationship with productivity is like at the moment, why your ability to focus is becoming increasingly more important, how people should deal with a lot of work messages, if new AI tools actually have been as transformative as they have claimed to be, if AI in the workplace has been a huge disappointment so far and why and much more...
Timestamps:
(0:00) Did Cal Predict the Attention Crisis? (3:57) Why Distraction Is Exploding Right Now (9:56) Can You Actually Retrain Your Attention Span? (14:30) Cal’s Top Focus Strategies (22:56) Should We Have Shorter Work Weeks? (33:29) Is Workslop Destroying Productivity in the Workplace? (48:53) Can AI Reliance Create More Opportunities For Us? (01:00:31) Why AI Should Push Us Toward Hard Thinking (01:03:33) You Need to Work Smarter, Not Harder (01:13:27) Why Organisations Obsess Over Busyness (and How to Stop It) (01:27:53) Is Quantum Computing Actually Useful in AI? (01:32:46) Why Reading is More Important Than Ever
(01:44:08) Where to Find Cal
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get up to 20% off the leading longevity and cellular health supplement at https://timeline.com/modernwisdom
Get up to $350 off the Pod 5 at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom
Get the brand new Whoop 5.0 and your first month for free at https://join.whoop.com/modernwisdom
Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Next Episode
Dr. Max Butterfield is an experimental psychologist and professor who studies relationships and decision-making.
Why does love make us do crazy things? Rom-coms make relationships look easy, but real love is far more complicated. So what actually makes a relationship work—and why does love make us act irrationally?
Expect to learn what science says about what people should do to recover from a breakup, if the Norwegian skier who confessed to cheating on his girlfriend was doing more harm than good to his relationship, what Dr Max wished more men and women knew about how to signal interest, why we ruminate so much and how to ruminate less, what healthy communication actually looks like and much more...
Timestamps:
(0:00) Did This Declaration of Love Backfire? (7:37) Why Grand Gestures are a Bad Idea in Dating (14:03) The Psychology of Breakups: How to Recover Faster (18:58) Is a Breakup Really Like Losing Someone? (20:31) Why Do We Ruminate So Much? (31:01) Does Rejection Actually Shape Us? (32:32) How to Signal Romantic Interest (37:52) Why Women Signal Beauty Through Clothing (44:30) Is She Actually Out of His League? (47:02) Relationship Red Flags You Shouldn’t Ignore (50:32) The Fascinating Evolutionary Approach to Relationships (56:36) Green Flags: What to Look for in a Healthy Relationship (01:03:51) The Power of a Psychological Reset (01:11:18) Does Direct Communication Improve Relationships? (01:16:27) The Hidden Role of Indirect Aggression (01:21:36) Why Intrasexual Competition is So Controversial (01:27:12) The Power of Healthy Communication in Relationships (01:38:33) What’s Next For Ben
Sponsors:
See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: https://chriswillx.com/deals
Get 10% discount on all Gymshark products at https://gym.sh/modernwisdom (use code MODERNWISDOM10)
Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period from Shopify at https://shopify.com/modernwisdom
Get up to $50 off the RP Hypertrophy App at https://rpstrength.com/modernwisdom
Get 15% off your first order of my favourite Non-Alcoholic Brew at https://athleticbrewing.com/modernwisdom
Extra Stuff:
Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: https://chriswillx.com/books
Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom
Episodes You Might Enjoy:
#577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins
#712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson
#700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman
-
Get In Touch:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast
Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact
-
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted