Why the most dangerous people are the clever ones

Bad people are not stupid, the dangerous ones are brilliant. We comfort ourselves with the idea that bad people are stupid. It's a dangerous myth. Openness and intelligence are not good or bad in themselves, they're an amplifier. They magnify whatever you point them at. Point them at building and you get wonders.

Point them at harm paired with a cold low empathy streak and you don't get a clumsy villain, you get an inventive villain. Researchers call it malevolent creativity, the novel scam, the line no one's heard before, the elegant betrayal. The most dangerous personalities aren't the dim ones, they're the capable, charming, intelligent ones who can think their way around every safeguard, especially where no one's checking.

The trait is neutral, what someone points it at is not. Full episode, the finale on the channel.