fighting the lack of good ideas
Law 21 No one likes feeling stupider than the next person. The trick, then, if to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives. –Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power (review)
Law 20 It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you. –Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power (review)
Law 19 There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive of outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents…
Law 18 The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people, find…
Law 17 Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your…
New record for longest blog title I’ve ever had. I think. First, the pros: it’s concise, finishing at a mere 91 numbered pages, including sample questions and the index. Second, the cons: it’s 63 pages of bullet points with little-to-no explanation of terms, examples, etc. William Manning appears to have done an admirable job of…
I finished the Newsflesh trilogy this week, which culminated in Mira Grant’s book Blackout. The basic storyline and character development continued apace, and the story does end admirably. If you’ve read the first two, you should finish the trilogy. This one adds human cloning as a core plot point, and does it well. However, I…