You know, I have often wondered if P's can read emotions on others very well. Oh, I know they have trouble recognizing sad facial features. But it seems to be more pervasive than just that. It is as though your inner life has no meaning for them at all, nor do your emotional reactions, or even your body posture. I don't think they read others in such a way that the "resonate" with them. And often their manipulations are so thin, that if you are expecting it, they can't charm you any more. I don't know anything for sure, but both my father and my ex-P seemed such thin shadows of real people, and I guess that is the shallowness so often exhibited. And I think it is our own shocked reaction or disbelief at the audacity that blinds us to the paper thin manipulations of a P.
And being in close proximity to a P and getting to know them, the thing that always struck me the most odd is the lack of response that they exhibit to the real you, to your concerns, your desire to share, your reaching out to them, to your humanity. And their lack of appropriate response is 100%. And so to me, P's often come across as almost cut-out cardboard people.
Anyway, just rambling here.
Diane1969