Short post today as I still work on family stuff.

A tumblr reader asked the following question:

Salutations. It’s been months, probably, since I became one of your rather followers than readers. Frankly, I enjoy reading your thoughts now and then, when I stumble upon such on my dash. — Do you believe one can manipulate a psychopath without being one?

My response was brief:

Thank you for your kind words.

I do think that a neurotypical can manipulate a psychopath. The key to manipulation is understanding the hopes, wants, and needs of another and exploiting them to achieve a desired result. The psychopath has such wants and needs like anyone else. The NT may not be as adept at manipulating – in general – but psychopaths are not invincible either.

What do you, my readers, think?  I, unlike many, do not treat psychopathy as some superpower.  For my NT readers, have you manipulated a psychopath before?  What about my psychopaths, have you ever been manipulated by an NT?  How did it feel?