Personality disorder

• Key data reported from the study suggests that tACS ameliorates chronic insomnia, and that age can impact the extent of the resulting improvement from tACS treatment.
• Older participants (ages 50 and over) experienced comparatively more significant benefits from tACS, in terms of enhanced sleep quality, efficiency and overall insomnia reduction (p
• This is attributed to the natural changes in sleep physiology that occur with aging and the distinct manifestations of insomnia symptoms in older individuals.
• The clinical study’s results, which were published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, showed that tACS meaningfully reduced the severity of insomnia and enhanced sleep quality and efficiency.

• Yes, says Basima Tewfik ,  an assistant professor of work and organization studies at MIT Sloan School of Management.
• Employee engagement has been a central focus of management theory for decades, credited with positively impacting everything from customer experience to profitability growth .
• However, most studies have looked at either employees’ general engagement over time or their engagement within the context of specific tasks in the moment.
• According to Tewfik, these approaches paint only a partial picture of the relationship between engagement and job performance.

• You won’t get paid for the extra hours but you’ve been assured there will be kudos from senior management.
• A Machiavellian personality is self-serving, opportunistic and ambitious – traits that can help them attain positions of power and status.
• Working for a Machiavellian boss is likely to be infuriating, stressful and bad for your mental health.
• By understanding what drives this personality, and how it differs from the other “dark personality traits”, you can limit the fallout.

Origins of Machiavellianism

• Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a diplomat in Florence during a period of power struggle involving the powerful Medici family.
• When the Medicis returned to rule the city in 1512 after almost two decades in exile, he was briefly imprisoned and then banished.
• “The lion cannot protect himself from traps,” it says, “and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.

Joining the ‘Dark Triad’

• However, while the three traits are lumped together due to their antisocial qualities, there are important differences.
• Narcissism is a set of traits as well as a personality disorder, characterised by egoism, self-absorption and the need to feel superior to others.
• Psychopathy is also a diagnosable personality disorder, defined by lack of empathy or conscience.
• The boss who assures you they have your best interests at heart might just be telling you what you want to believe.

How to deal with a Machiavellian boss

• A Machiavellian boss may seek to manipulate
  with flattery or bullying, promising reward or threatening punishment.
• So how to deal with a Machiavellian boss?
• The first lesson is to be clear about what drives a Machiavellian personality.
• You can’t trust a Machiavellian, and need to deal with them cautiously.
• But distrusting your boss and operating with a “strike before the other does” mindset will, if you’re a relatively normal person, be emotionally draining.

• It was almost perpetually at war, slavery was routine and women could only expect a low status in society.
• However, there is one important sense in which ancient Greeks were more advanced than modern European societies: their sophisticated political systems.
• The citizens of ancient Athens developed a political system that was more genuinely democratic than the present day UK or US.
• Our modern concept of democracy is actually a degradation of the original Greek concept and has very little in common with it.

Ancient democratic practices

• The ancient Athenians were very aware of the danger of unsuitable personalities attaining power.
• This was a way of ensuring that ordinary people were represented in government, and of safeguarding against corruption and bribery.
• Different members of the group would take responsibility for different areas and would act as a check on each other’s behaviour.
• The ancient Athenians also practised a system of ostracism, not dissimilar to some egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups (who were also aware of the danger of alpha males dominating the group).

A return to direct democracy

• In 2014, Alexander Guerrero, professor of philosophy at Rutgers University, published an influential paper advocating what he called “lottocracy” as an alternative to representative democracy.
• In this system, government is undertaken by “single-issue legislatures” assemblies that focus on specific issues such as agriculture or healthcare.
• Direct democracy means less individual power and more checks and limitations to individual authority.