These days, we connect with friends, family, and colleagues through digital media. We are proud that we are always connected and and these days, there are countless ways to stay connected. We are proud of adding more and more connections to our network. In the world of social media, we are getting addicted to follows, likes, feelings in the shape of the heart & different icons, the count of connections, etc.
But somewhere, somehow, we forget where the real people are. Are we even connected to them? Or how many genuine connections, friends, follows, hearts, or many of those emojis do we own?
This begs the question: Where are the real people? This sets me into a quest to understand who they are, where they might be, and why do they seem so hard to find and I’m willing to bet you’ve had moments too — times when you’ve wondered the same, faced situations that made you question what’s real and who’s truly genuine.
To the world, you are what you appear — But only a few glimpse who you truly are
Have you ever looked at someone in a position of power and thought, “How on earth did they get there?” We’ve all witnessed it. People who seem thoroughly incompetent are rising to positions of authority while more capable individuals remain stuck in the shadows. Why is this happening? First, I thought this was something that started happening recently. Then I stumbled upon the studies of “Niccolo Machiavelli,” an author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise The Prince, written around 1513 but not published until 1532, five years after his death.
That book is not merely an ancient philosophy — it’s a real psychological force and mindset that shapes our world from boardrooms to politics.
Unlike the other philosophers, Machiavelli wasn’t concerned with how rulers should behave in a perfect world. Instead, he focused on how power actually worked in the real world. He understood that perception always matters, and that is the way to control the crowd. “To the world, you are what you appear — But only a few glimpse who you truly are.” This is the key.
“Appearing competent is often more important than actually being competent”.
Machiavelli observed that rulers who display too much intelligence often create problems for themselves. Because intelligence usually comes with certain traits that can become liabilities. Traits like critical thinking, ethical considerations, and self-awareness.
Imagine what happens when a genuinely intelligent person enters a power structure. They tend to see complexities where others see simplicity, they point out limitations where others make blanket promises, they question themselves and the choices we make, whereas others project absolute confidence in everything they say or do.
This is where you might notice that the loudest voice that simplifies situations becomes most influential. Why is this happening?
In the 1990s, psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger identified what we now know as the Dunning-Kruger effect, the cognitive bias
“The people with limited knowledge in a particular domain overestimate their ability /competence, while genuine experts tend to underestimate their awareness of how much they don’t know !”
Like Socrates used to say, “I know that I know nothing,” this made him a philosophical genius, but ultimately sentenced him to death by the Athenian democracy.
You could see this in politics and in the tech industry. The politician who claims to have solutions to everything and the founders who speak in absolute visionary terms often secure massive funding and support over more measured, experienced counterparts.
The self-proclaimed leaders, Me Me Culture or Narcissism
“Narcissism and non-competence are the strongest predictors of who emerges as a leader in unstructured groups.” This is not my statement, it is from 2012 researchers at Stanford and the University of Houston. They found that the groups that were led by these narcissists didn’t win; they just thought they were winning.
The confidence signals and cognitive bias help these incompetent individuals initially rise to power.
Machiavelli observed something crucial about power structures: incompetent leaders tend to surround themselves with even less competent subordinates. In “The Prince,” Machiavelli wrote, “The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” The weak leaders deliberately select weaker subordinates to ensure they never face threats to their authority. You might have observed the same around you in politics, in corporations, organizations etc.
Reality Vs Certainty
When dealing with real-world problems, uncertainty is real, and that is the reality. We can’t predict what exactly will happen. But according to human psychology, we crave certainty even when certainty isn’t possible. Because of the same reason, when in crisis, either a political crisis or a project crisis, people rally behind the leader who says, ‘I can fix this, and I alone can fix this’. But the reality is that the complex situations with no easy answers will require careful thought and inevitable trade-offs instead of self-proclamations. You might have seen incompetent people rise to power and fall flat on their faces. The world has seen this during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The political figures and leaders who offer simplistic solutions and promise everything with no downsides will win public support. Those who offer everything with certainty, regardless of feasibility, are jarring.
These days, these kinds of leaders and solution providers are everywhere you can see them in politics, in corporations, on social media, and LinkedIn is no exception.
Fake personas all over.
University of British Columbia researchers found that psychopathic traits like, lack of empathy, were positively associated with rapid advancement when combined with social charm.
Studies conducted in corporate offices show that “manipulative leaders often outpace their intelligent, moral, ethical peers”. Game theorists call this “A race to the bottom”, when unethical tactics prove successful, others face pressure to adopt similar approaches or be left behind over time. This can transform entire systems, making unethical behavior the norm rather than the exception. This is a serious issue — we are normalizing extreme thinking & intolerance, which in turn fuels sociocultural conflicts and violence. This trend can be observed across nearly every country around the world.
You might have even noticed a version of this on LinkedIn. In the initial days, those who created a persona of an expert on LinkedIn started landing jobs. Fast forward to now, LinkedIn is full of experts, and it’s difficult to find the real ones.
Machiavelli recognized that most people evaluate others based on surface impressions rather than deep understanding, especially in complex domains where few have the expertise to make informed judgments. He said, “Systems that reward short-term performance over long-term outcomes create fertile ground for incompetent leadership with superficial charm.”
Machiavelli has been misunderstood for centuries. He wasn’t advocating for the dark patterns instead, he was describing and exposing them by understanding how power actually works. He believed we could create better systems of governance if it’s not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles. This profound observation reminds us that authority itself deserves no inherent respect. Power must be earned through worthy use, regardless of who holds it.
The intersection of Machiavellian political philosophy and modern psychology reveals uncomfortable truths about human nature and social systems. The uncomfortable truths are precisely what we need, if we hope to create a better future. The path forward isn’t pretending these dynamics don’t exist; it’s understanding them deeply enough to transcend them. It’s designing systems that account for human vulnerabilities rather than exploiting them. It’s developing personal practices that strengthen our resistance to manipulations. Most importantly,
“It’s recognizing that while stupidity may sometimes gain power, intelligence coupled with moral courage remains our best hope for creating societies where merit truly matters.”
Reference materials:
The prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Dunning-Kruger effect by the psychologists David Dunning and Justin Kruger
Research materials from Stanford and the University of Houston
Research about psychopathic traits in humans from various research materials and universities like the University of British Columbia, and other psychology papers
Surface scratching basics about Game Theory
Impact of Cognitive Bias on people and decision making
Many YouTube videos on these research papers
Trooming 