通常，混蛋都会把他们的特质展现在自己社会阶层比自己低以及匿名的陌生人身上。服务员、学生、职员、路上的陌生人——这些不幸的人首当其冲。尽管这个混蛋或明或暗地认为自己比周围的大多数人都重要，但他仅存的一点点自制力仍让他认识到，社会阶层比他高的人的观点也值得考虑。事实上，他经常由衷地尊重那部分人。也许，尊重的情感在我们的天性中根深蒂固，不会完全消失。也许，这个混蛋还保留着一点点顾虑，特别是对那些能直接或间接让他受益、获得成功的人。他至少足够在意他们对他的看法，在他们的视野范围内表现出战术上的尊重。不管结果如何，典型的混蛋会讨好你利用你然后踹掉你。公司的首席执行官很少知道谁是混蛋，但是秘书们对此却一清二楚。
因为混蛋倾向于忽视他下面的人的观点，他经常也不知道自己在他们眼中是什么样子的。这就导致了“双标”。他可能会对学生或秘书文件中最小的错别字大发雷霆，同时自己也会犯一大堆错误；他只是不会想到用同样的标准来衡量自己。他可能强调要准时，但自己总是迟到。他可以随意地斥责别人，指望他们宽宏大量地接受，而对他的任何抱怨都会招致他永远的敌意。这种不平等体现了混蛋的道德短视，而这种短视本质上源于他对他人观点的漠视。如果一个人真的把自己想象成下属，而不是自私和自我合理化，那么这种“双标”就会立刻显现出来，但这恰恰是蠢货惯于做不到的。
自命不凡是自私者忽视他人利益和欲望的借口
对于混蛋来说，尴尬几乎是不可能的，至少在他的下属面前是这样。尴尬要求我们能够想象被我们在乎的人消极地看待。随着混蛋愿意把别人视为真正的同龄人和上司的圈子缩小，他的羞耻感也随之缩小，而羞耻感是道德自我认识的一个关键切入点。
一个人越往上爬，就越容易变成混蛋。一种典型的混蛋想法就是：“我很重要！我周围都是白痴！”这两种说法都是为了掩饰混蛋的本质。认为自己很重要是无视他人利益和欲望的一个令人愉快的自我满足的借口。认为你周围的人都是白痴似乎是一个很好的理由来忽视他们的明智之策。当你在等级上提升时，你会更容易发现你的相对重要性(你的高薪、高位)和其他人的相对愚蠢(他们没有爬到你这么高)的证据。此外，拍马屁者往往会把坦率、真实的批评者排挤出去。
当然，这并不是强权混蛋盛行的唯一可能解释。也许混蛋在商业和学术上比非混蛋更有可能崛起——最真诚的甜心经常因为无法在别人的项目之上推进自己的项目而痛苦。但我怀疑，因果关系至少与此相反。成功可能有利于现有的混蛋，也可能不利于现有的混蛋，但我敢肯定的是，它会培养出新的混蛋。
Ⅲ
All normal jerks distribute their jerkishness mostly down the social hierarchy, and to anonymous strangers. Waitresses, students, clerks, strangers on the road – these are the unfortunates who bear the brunt of it. With a modicum of self-control, the jerk, though he implicitly or explicitly regards himself as more important than most of the people around him, recognises that the perspectives of those above him in the hierarchy also deserve some consideration. Often, indeed, he feels sincere respect for his higher-ups. Perhaps respectful feelings are too deeply written in our natures to disappear entirely. Perhaps the jerk retains avestigialkind of concern specifically for those whom it would benefit him, directly or indirectly, to win over. He is at least concerned enough about their opinion of him to display tactical respect while in their field of view. However it comes about, the classic jerk kisses up and kicks down. The company CEO rarely knows who the jerks are, though it’s no great mystery among the secretaries.vestigial [veˈstɪdʒiəl] adj. Vestigial is used to describe the small amounts of something that still remain of a larger or more important thing.残存的；残余的；留的
Because the jerk tends to disregard the perspectives of those below him in the hierarchy, he often has little idea how he appears to them. This leads to hypocrisies. He might rage against the smallest typo in a student’s or secretary’s document, while producing a torrent of errors himself; it just wouldn’t occur to him to apply the same standards to himself. He might insist on promptness, while always running late. He might freely reprimand other people, expecting them to take it with good grace, while any complaints directed against him earn his eternal enmity. Such failures of parity typify the jerk’s moral short-sightedness, flowing naturally from his disregard of others’ perspectives. These hypocrisies are immediately obvious if one genuinely imagines oneself in a subordinate’s shoes for anything other than selfish and self-rationalising ends, but this is exactly what the jerk habitually fails to do.
Thinking yourself important is a pleasantly self-gratifying excuse for disregarding the interests and desires of others
Embarrassment, too, becomes practically impossible for the jerk, at least in front of his underlings. Embarrassment requires us to imagine being viewed negatively by people whose perspectives we care about. As the circle of people whom the jerk is willing to regard as true peers and superiors shrinks, so does his capacity for shame – and with it a crucial entry point for moral self-knowledge.
As one climbs the social hierarchy it is also easier to become a jerk. Here’s a characteristically jerkish thought: ‘I’m important, and I’m surrounded by idiots!’ Both halves of this proposition serve to conceal the jerk’s jerkitude from himself. Thinking yourself important is a pleasantly self-gratifying excuse for disregarding the interests and desires of others. Thinking that the people around you are idiots seems like a good reason to disregard their intellectual perspectives. As you ascend the hierarchy, you will find it easier to discover evidence of your relative importance (your big salary, your first-class seat) and of the relative idiocy of others (who have failed to ascend as high as you). Also, flatterers will tend to squeeze out frank, authentic critics.
This isn’t the only possible explanation for the prevalence of powerful jerks, of course. Maybe jerks are actually more likely to rise in business and academia than non-jerks – the truest sweethearts often suffer from an inability to advance their own projects over the projects of others. But I suspect the causal path runs at least as much in the other direction. Success might or might not favour the existing jerks, but I’m pretty sure it nurtures new ones.
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