The Open Curriculum

The Mind · Level 3

The Laws of Human Nature

Robert Greene · 2018

Thesis

People are driven by a small set of emotional forces, among them self-love, envy, conformity, aggression and the fear of death, that operate below awareness and repeat across history, and a person who learns to recognize those forces in others and in themselves can stay calm and act strategically instead of being ruled by them.

The main ideas

Irrationality

Greene's first law is that people are irrational far more often than they believe: emotions shape their thinking before they know it. His model is Pericles of Athens, who cultivated what Greene calls an "inner Athena," a habit of calm, practical judgment named for the goddess of wisdom. Pericles pursued a patient, defensive strategy in the war with Sparta. After he died of the plague, the Athenians abandoned his restraint and launched the disastrous expedition to Sicily.

Greene names six biases through which emotion distorts thinking: confirmation, conviction, appearance, group, blame and superiority bias, the last being the belief that one is free of the others. He adds inflaming factors that raise the emotional temperature: childhood trigger points, sudden gains or losses, provocation by charismatic figures, and the effect of crowds.

The mechanism is that emotion arrives first and reasoning is recruited afterward to justify it. Because the process feels like thinking, people rarely notice it. The rational self is not a fixed trait but a capacity built by noticing one's own emotional reactions and delaying action until they subside.

Implication: before a consequential decision, identify the emotion attached to it and ask what you would decide if it were absent. Treat a feeling of certainty, especially in a group or after a sudden gain or loss, as a warning.

Narcissism and defensiveness

Everyone needs to feel admired, and Greene places people on a narcissistic spectrum. Deep narcissists are trapped in their need for attention; Joseph Stalin, in Greene's account, was charming on the way up and ruthless and paranoid once in power. Healthy narcissists draw on self-regard but can turn their attention outward. Greene's example is Ernest Shackleton, whose crew was stranded in the Antarctic ice in late 1915. Greene presents him as a healthy narcissist who turned his attention to his men's moods and needs.

The law of defensiveness follows. People resist being persuaded because it threatens their self-opinion. Greene's case is Lyndon Johnson as a senator in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He won over Richard Russell by sharing his conservative values and his love of baseball. He won over Hubert Humphrey by talking about Franklin Roosevelt and progressive causes. In each case he confirmed the man's view of himself before asking for anything. Greene's strategies for softening resistance begin with deep listening.

The mechanism is that self-love is a constant, so it can be turned into a tool. Attention directed at another person's feelings becomes empathy, and empathy shows what will persuade them.

Implication: when you need someone's agreement, find what they believe about themselves and frame the request so that agreeing confirms it. Argument that threatens their self-image hardens resistance.

Reading people

People wear masks, and Greene argues that the truth leaks through nonverbal signals. His model reader is Milton Erickson. Paralyzed by polio as a youth, Erickson spent his recovery observing the people around him, learning to read the gap between what they said and what their faces and bodies showed. He later became a psychiatrist and hypnotist known for that skill.

The law of compulsive behavior adds time. Character is revealed by patterns repeated across years, especially under stress, not by a single impression. Greene's case is Howard Hughes, whose ventures repeatedly failed because of the same compulsion to control every detail. Each failure was blamed on circumstances, while the pattern behind them stayed constant.

Greene catalogues toxic types whose patterns warn of trouble, among them the hyperperfectionist and the relentless rebel.

The mechanism is that people can manage their words but not their habits. Under pressure, the habitual response reappears, and a person's history is the best predictor of it.

Implication: judge people, especially before hiring or partnering, by what they have repeatedly done, particularly under stress, and give less weight to what they say or how they present.

Desire and shortsightedness

People want what they cannot easily have. Greene's case for the law of covetousness is Coco Chanel, who cultivated mystery around herself and her work, withholding enough to keep people wanting more. Desire grows with distance and fades with familiarity, so a person or product that is always available loses its pull.

The law of shortsightedness holds that people see what is immediately in front of them and discount what follows. Greene's case is the South Sea Company in 1720. Its share price rose in a speculative frenzy promoted by its director John Blunt, then collapsed. Isaac Newton sold his shares at a profit. He then watched the price keep climbing, bought back in near the top, and lost heavily when the bubble burst.

The mechanism is that immediate signals, such as rising prices, the success of others or the fear of missing out, are vivid. Longer-term consequences are abstract, and the mind weights the vivid. Newton's intelligence did not protect him.

Implication: when you feel urgency to act, step back and ask how the situation will look in a year. Distrust any decision whose main reason is that others are profiting. To keep others' interest, leave something unsaid and do not be too available.

The dark side

Greene argues that everyone has a shadow, a term he takes from Carl Jung for the traits people deny in themselves. Repressed, those traits do not disappear. They emerge in moments of stress. Greene's case is Richard Nixon, whose hidden resentments and need for control produced the Watergate scandal. Nixon's own taping system recorded the evidence that brought him down.

Envy is the most hidden of these traits, and Greene notes that it occurs most commonly and painfully among friends. His case is Mary Shelley, betrayed by a close friend who envied her. He identifies five envier types: the leveler, the entitled slacker, the status fiend, the attacher and the insecure master.

Grandiosity is the belief that one's success is entirely one's own work. Michael Eisner became chief executive of Disney in 1984 and succeeded early with Frank Wells as his partner. He then came to see the success as his alone and fired Jeffrey Katzenberg. Katzenberg went on to found DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen.

The mechanism is that denial removes the possibility of control. Traits a person admits can be watched and channeled; traits they deny act without supervision.

Implication: identify your own envy, resentment and grandiosity, and treat them as forces to be managed. After a success, list what luck and other people contributed before you take on larger risks.

Attitude, gender and purpose

Greene argues that attitude shapes circumstances more than circumstances shape attitude. His case is Anton Chekhov, who grew up with a harsh and aggressive father. Chekhov changed his response, coming to understand his father instead of resenting him.

The law of gender rigidity holds that people suppress the traits their culture codes as belonging to the other sex, and are diminished by it. Greene's model is Caterina Sforza, the Renaissance ruler of Forlì and Imola. She combined what her era considered masculine boldness with feminine traits, and that combination made her effective.

The law of aimlessness holds that people without a purpose drift and fill the gap with distractions or the opinions of a group. Purpose, in Greene's account, comes from a person's primal inclinations, the interests and tendencies present from early life. Martin Luther King Jr., his case, struggled with inner conflict until his inclinations and his work aligned into a sense of calling.

The mechanism common to all three is that a person's outer life follows inner orientation. A defensive attitude, a suppressed side of the personality or an absent purpose each narrows what a person can do.

Implication: before trying to change your circumstances, examine your attitude toward them. Look for the inclinations you have shown since childhood and organize your work around them.

Groups and leaders

Individuals change in groups. Greene's case for the law of conformity is Gao Yuan, who as a schoolboy lived through Mao's Cultural Revolution. He watched his middle school descend into factional violence. Groups pull members toward shared emotions and simplified enemies, and dissent becomes dangerous.

The law of fickleness holds that people both want to follow leaders and resent them, so authority is always fragile. People worship the king and want to kill him. Greene's model is Elizabeth I, who held authority through what he calls its twin pillars, vision and empathy: a clear sense of direction, combined with close attention to the needs of those she led.

The law of aggression holds that hostility often hides behind a friendly front. John D. Rockefeller, in Greene's account a sophisticated aggressor, rose from bookkeeper in Cleveland to the head of Standard Oil, maneuvering partners such as Maurice Clark out of his way. Greene traces the drive to a childhood of poverty and an unreliable father.

Implication: in a group, notice when your opinions start to match everyone else's, and keep your judgment independent. As a leader, show both direction and attention to followers' needs. Watch for aggression behind cooperative surfaces.

Generations and mortality

The law of generational myopia holds that each generation is shaped by the spirit of its time, the zeitgeist, and reacts against the one before it. People rarely see this in themselves. Greene's case is the French Revolution, read through Georges Danton, who rode the revolutionary spirit, set against Louis XVI, who failed to understand the new generation's mood and was executed in 1793.

The last law is death denial. People avoid thinking about their mortality, and the avoidance makes their lives smaller. Greene's case is Flannery O'Connor, diagnosed with lupus at 27. Greene presents her awareness of an early death as what sharpened her focus on her work.

The mechanism Greene draws from both is perspective. Seeing oneself as a product of one's generation loosens its hold. Seeing one's life as finite gives each choice urgency and makes petty concerns fall away.

Implication: identify the assumptions your generation takes for granted and test them against the generation after you. Use awareness of mortality to decide what is worth your time.

Limits

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