Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene

The complex mess of the human mind – is there a more important aspect of life to understand?

📖 I’m working through the latest addition of Robert Greene’s book – The Laws of Human Nature. About a ⅓ in and finding it fascinating. 

We are a social species. Deeply understanding ourselves is seldom achieved, let alone understanding the inner workings of others in our lives.

👁 The reality is, we’re all a bundle of selfish needs, anxieties, vulnerabilities, and a drive to be worthy. There are three qualities of our Self-Opinion that are near universal – “I am autonomous, acting on my own free will”, “I am intelligent in my own way”, and “I am basically good and decent”.

🚪To suggest one of the above isn’t true in someone, or to make someone feel inferior to you will cause conflict, tension, or at very least a closing up of that relationship.

This book works through the 18 Laws of Human Nature, as understood by Greene. It’s done meticulously through observing behaviours of notable people of the past.

That’s Greene’s MO. He’s obsessed about history, and in particular historical leaders – of politics, psychology, business and states.

🔑 All the keys to our future and our self-realisation lie in the study of the past. I didn’t appreciate that growing up – I was bored to tears in history lessons.

I guess, however, that understanding the complex mess of the PERSON(s) behind an historical event is infinitely more interesting than the dry facts of what happened.

😬 In reading this book, you will naturally self-reflect. Reflecting on the ugly (yet natural) aspects of YOUR personality and inner motivations, as well as seeing people around you through a new light…

…seeing both their very human struggle leading to their behaviours, as well as spotting their strategies to influence and progress.

👌🏼 If you too enjoy digging deeper into the inner workings of people, I think you’ll enjoy the lessons and insights this book offers. 

P.S. It IS a history book by nature, and it is loooong. I fully appreciate the writing style may be too serious, dark, and brutally honest of the human condition for some. Give the free intro a go and see if the style is compatible. 

#WeAreAComplicatedBunch

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