There is one particular person on social media who often says something that confirms my belief that he is one of the most ignorant and foolish individuals on the planet, completely lacking self-awareness.
But it is my fault, not his, that I carry this negative opinion.
Robert Greene is an American author of books on strategy, power, and seduction having written seven international bestsellers. Published in 1998, his “The 48 Laws of Power” is one of those books that people love to hate, not unlike Niccolo Machiavelli’s “The Prince.” You know much of it makes sense, but you do not want to accept it.
One “48 Laws of Power” idea is that you should “never put too much trust in friends and learn how to use enemies. Friends are likely to be envious and betray you. The best thing is to hire your enemy, as they will try to prove they are trustworthy.” Further, “get others to do the work for you, but always take the credit.”
Greene’s sixth book, The Laws of Human Nature, was released in 2018. From one reviewer: “The book examines people’s conscious and unconscious drives, motivations, and cognitive biases. The new book is about all your flaws and how to turn them around.”
From other reviews: “In life, we’ll inevitably come across difficult people who make us feel frustrated, upset, confused or helpless. How can you understand human behavior, make sense of others and your own emotions/actions?”
Why is all this important? “The 18 laws of human nature help us understand why humans behave the way we do. The insights will help you to become a better judge of character, manage your thought patterns, empathize with others, and motivate/influence them more effectively.”
The First Law has been repeatedly offered as a secret to stock market profits: “Law Of Irrationality: Master Your Emotional Self.” Greene postulates that we are driven by irrational emotions. People are irrational. Remember the market “greed” and “fear” idea? He speaks of being aware of inflaming factors or “high-grade irrationality” when sudden gains/losses bring extreme optimism or pessimism.
If you are often having bouts of extreme optimism or pessimism, it may be a sign of (a) Bipolar disorder or (b) Extreme emotional immaturity. See a health care professional, grow up, or stay away from the stock market.
Number six also applies in the stock market and is something that I have spoken of many times. This is the “Law of Shortsightedness” or that people are bad at long-term thinking. We often tend to overreact to present circumstances and ignore what will happen in the future. But it also applies to having what I call a historical perspective.
If you cannot see things in the context of the past, you will not be able to equally put things in perspective of what might happen in the future. That is another reason why I am focused on cycles and patterns that put the world and situations in context. For stock traders, if you cannot see historical support and price resistance levels, you are being shortsighted and that is not desirable.
Perhaps the “Law of Conformity” is the one that can be both critically important to personal survival and highly damaging and difficult to control. This law states that people tend to conform to the opinions and behaviors of those around them rather than thinking for themselves. We want to believe that we have unlimited free will, but we are molded to conform to groupthink and behavior. How do we know when to go with herd and when to make our own path?
The reason that it is my fault that my social media contact is so annoying to me is that he wears a mask (the Law of Role Playing) that fits the rigid conformity of his group, which I do not want to be a part of. It is much better to live and let live.
Stock market investors want to conform to be part of the “Traders Group.” Here is a suggestion. The horse runs the race but the jockey “runs” the horse. In the average horse race a good jockey contributes and is worth about 50 to 75 percent of the winner in the race. For the market, think like the “jockey” and not like a “trader.”
E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.