system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Hypercharismatic people

Has there been any research/writing done on "hypercharismatic" people? The likes of Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson who seemingly had a special kind of charismatic ability to possess and manipulate people, to lead a personality cult even in their personal lives and hence without propaganda tools -- is this a very rare personality trait or merely a combination of narcissism and high intelligence? Or possibly both?
gpt
You can't really go wrong starting with Max Weber's *On Charisma and Institution Building* for a sociological perspective on the phenomenon, especially his observation that the 'charisma' of an individual derives from the symbolic needs of a society (or social (sub)grouping thereof), especially when it is threatened. For example, Hitler and Manson were charismatic, sure, but only *for certain 'kinds of people'*, under particular sociohistorical circumstances. According to Weber, a group's need for a charismatic figure precedes his or her appearance and rise to power as such.

To put it bluntly, in this sense charisma is highly contextual. Charles Manson may have been charismatic to runaway teens in Southern California of the 1960's, but he was definitely *not* charismatic to lawyers, judges, and juries in subsequent courtroom proceedings.