#The_Laws_of_Human_Nature by Robert Greene - Review

 

    This is another book that I would classify under the 'fast-read' category because of its narration about human tendencies rather than laws. For an efficient slow reading, one must be in his early 20s as later on he might learn by himself these facts of life. It just appeared to me that with each chapter I was assigning people around me with all the laws and characters the author was mentioning. As most of his 'reviews' were around human nature one might find some or other author of these types of thoughts or reviews around the literature of his time. I found some of his despairs in the voices of some Urdu writers like Akbar Allahabadi, Meer Taqi Meer, and Khaleel Gibran (Persian). But this book is not void of worth as the author has classified the tendencies into laws that can serve to forewarn a beginner who experiences rational emotions around him as he starts working.

 Here is the list of 'laws' from this book

 1. The Law of Irrationality

Often people are dominated by emotions and behave irrationally without realizing it. This is the source of bad decisions and negative patterns in life. Example: Athenes prospered when it was led by Pericles in 400 BC, who is believed to have been a very rational man. After he left the political arena Athenes started to regress.

 2. The Law of Narcissism

Many people are narcissists and thus focus and admire on themselves. This hinders success when interacting with others is essential.   Example: Joseph Stalin — the premier of the Soviet Union — was a very charming and influential person. He was also a narcissist who killed many people during his reign. Leo Tolstoy — a Russian novelist — and his wife Sonya were both narcissists. Their relationship was complicated.

 3. The Law of Role-playing

People tend to wear the mask that shows them in the best possible light hiding their true personality. Example: Milton Erickson — an American psychiatrist and psychologist of the 20th century — was paralysed when he was young and became a master reader of people body language.

 4. The Law of Compulsive Behaviour

People never do something just once. They will inevitably repeat bad behaviour.    Example: Howard Hughes Jr. — an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, film director, and philanthropist — had a weak character since his childhood. He managed to disguise it in his early career which brought him success. However, it manifested later in his life and resulted in many failures including Hughes Aircraft Company.

5. The Law of Covetousness

People continually desire to possess what they don’t have.  Example: Coco Chanel — a French fashion designer and businesswoman — became so successful not only because she created great products but because she understood that people desire what they don’t have and created an air of mystery around her work.

6. The Law of Short-sightedness

People tend to overreact to present circumstances and ignore what will happen in the future. Example: The South Sea Company — a British joint-stock company founded in 1711 — became known as the South Sea Bubble. It was obvious that the company could not succeed long-term but it didn’t stop many people from investing in its shares.

7. The Law of Defensiveness

People don’t like when someone is trying to change their opinion. Example: Lyndon Johnson — the 36th president of the United States — gained his influence and power by focusing on others, letting them do the talking, letting them be the stars of the show.

8. The Law of Self-sabotage

Our attitude determines much of what happens in our life.  Example: Anton Chekhov — a Russian playwright and short-story writer — had a tough childhood but despite that was able to change his life by changing his view of the world from negative to positive.

9. The Law of Repression

People are rarely who they seem to be. Lurking beneath their polite, affable exterior is inevitably a dark, shadow side consisting of the insecurities and the aggressive, selfish impulses they repress and carefully conceal from public view. Example: Richard Nixon — the 37th president of the United States — always had a positive image in the public. Everything changed after the Watergate scandal which revealed his hidden personality.

10. The Law of Envy

People are envious.  Example: Mary Shelley — author of the novel Frankenstein — was betrayed by her close friend who envied her.

11. The Law of Grandiosity

Even a small measure of success can elevate our natural grandiosity — an unrealistic sense of superiority, a sustained view of oneself as better than others. This can make us lose contact with reality and make irrational decisions.  Example: Michael Eisner had to resign from the CEO position of The Walt Disney Company. In the author’s opinion, the cause is Eisner’s grandiosity elevated by previous successes.

12. The Law of Gender Rigidity

All of us have masculine and feminine qualities. But in the need to present a consistent identity in society, we tend to repress these qualities, overidentifying with the masculine or feminine role expected of us. Thereby we lose valuable dimensions to our character.  Example: Caterina Sforza became an Italian noblewoman and Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola. Such titles were unusual for women in her time. In the author’s opinion, her masculine qualities helped her to achieve this.

13. The Law of Aimlessness

People become most successful when they have a sense of purpose in their life. Example: Martin Luther King Jr. is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience. His calling directed his actions and helped him go through many failures in his life.

14. The Law of Conformity

We have a side to our character that we are generally unaware of and is related to social life. We tend to become different people when we operate in groups of people such that we unconsciously imitate others. Thus we act and believe differently. Example: Gao Yuan’s story in his book Born Red showed that people in groups behave emotionally and excitedly.

15. The Law of Fickleness

People are always ambivalent about those in power. They want to be led but also to feel free; they want to be protected and enjoy prosperity without making sacrifices; they both worship the king (leader) and want to kill him.    Example: Elizabeth I — Queen of England and Ireland in the 16th century — had to constantly prove herself as the leader of the country.

16. The Law of Aggression

On the surface, the people around you appear so polite and civilized. But beneath the mask, they are all inevitably dealing with frustrations. They have a need to influence people and gain power over circumstances.    Example: John D. Rockefeller — an American oil industry business magnate — used aggressive strategies to gain power and control.

17. The Law of Generational Myopia

You are born into a generation that defines who you are more than you can imagine and this generation wants to separate itself from the previous one to set a new tone for the world. In the process, it forms certain tastes, values, and ways of thinking that you as an individual internalize. As you get older, these generational values and ideas tend to close you off from other points of view, constraining your mind. Example: King Louis XVI of France is shown as an example of someone out of tune with the times. He fell victim to the French Revolution when France was declared to be a Republic and abolished the monarchy.  Keep yourselves updated?

18. The Law of Death Denial

Most people spend their lives avoiding the thought of death.  Example: Mary Flannery O’Connor — an American novelist and short story writer — was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus when she was 27. Her proximity to death was a call to stir herself to action and she used this aspect to teach her selves what really mattered and to help her steer clear of the petty squabbles and concerns that plagued others.

    Some of the chapters can drag you as the author repeats the same point, and you get the feeling that the book could have been made shorter without loss of content. It is also difficult to tell which ideas are supported by solid science/research and which are not, as this is not referred to anywhere. Some ideas are backed by solid historical and scientific evidence, such as a chapter on narcissism, but in other sections, the ideas are more ambiguous, as, for example, when the author seems to believe that Milton Erickson recovered quicker from polio through the mental stimulation of his nerves.

     Also, there could have been more evolutionary psychology as there is nothing more fundamental to our nature and this could have included the cognitive biases. But overall the book can be enjoyed as there is a lot of advice related to the ‘laws’ mentioned.