Robert Greene, one of the most influential authors in the world of human behavior, has knocked it out of the park with his follow-up to his last book, Mastery.
In his new book, The Laws of Human Nature, Greene conducts a deep dive into the 18 individual “fundamental laws” of human beings that dictate all of the decisions we make throughout our lives. Utilizing the same mixture of deep research, bringing to life characters historical as well as contemporary, and adding his unique voice to the mix it should come as no surprise to anyone that The Laws of Human Nature is skyrocketing of the New York Times bestseller list – and deservedly so.
The Law of Irrationality perfectly highlights the approach that Greene takes throughout the book. First deconstructing the law itself, highlighting how challenging a time humans have looking at things as they really are as opposed to how they want them to be – colored through the lenses of their own emotions and experiences – Greene that goes on to describe how beneficial it can be to adhere to the law and how disastrous it can be to rebel.
The overwhelming majority of the book focuses on humans as social creatures above all else. In a way that he is able to, Greene deconstructs and demystifies a lot of our “normal” experiences and highlights how human beings in general are so apt to repeat the same mistakes they’ve made throughout their lives – even when they know better.
Some readers are going to find that his title to be very Machiavellian in nature. The same criticism has followed Greene with almost every single title he has published, and it’s something that he seems to enjoy rather than run from. You’ll definitely learn how to better influence, how to better persuade, and how to better understand the people that you come in contact with on a daily basis by the time you’re done with The Laws of Human Nature.
Green also makes sure that readers are aware that the overwhelming majority of us struggle to succeed in our personal lives not because of others, but because of ourselves. It’s easy to get cynical, it’s easy to lose confidence, it’s easy to see our own shortcomings that others miss – mostly because we live with ourselves (and our inner monologue) a lot more than anyone else could or would. The war for positivity is critical, and it’s important not only to fight the war to remain positive but also to win individual battles as often as possible.
A significant portion of the book dives into the different energies that all of us have as well, breaking things down into the bicameral feminine and masculine sides that so many of us understand what really don’t appreciate. The author dives into how critical it is to embrace and accept both of these energies to achieve our best self and how much discontent comes from denying that either exists.
At the end of the day, The Laws of Human Nature are another critically important title to read from author Robert Greene.
In an interview where he was asked if he had an option to choose between not writing this book and never having to deal with a stroke because of it, the author chose to continue to write the book. That’s how important he feels it is, and judging from early reviews he isn’t wrong.
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