The Daily Stoic - Why You Need To Understand Power

Episode Date: December 26, 2018

The actor Josh Peck recently had Robert Greene on his podcast to discuss the book, The Laws of Human Nature. It’s a fascinating interview, but one of the most revealing parts is when Josh asks Robert about how Robert squares his interest in Stoicism with the rather ruthless and Machiavellian messages of his books.  As Robert explains, we need to understand how the world works, especially if we intend to stick to a path of virtue.  “Marcus Aurelius had a quote, I can't say it exactly, but he says, when a boxer gets in the ring with another boxer and he gets punched, he doesn't complain and go, ‘god dammit, you hit me. I don't deserve to be hit.’ He accepts that. That's the game of life. Well, we should see that in life in general: when people hit us, that's just who they are. People are who they are. We shouldn't judge them. We should just accept them like we accept a rock or a stone or that boxer. That's what people are like, that's what we’re going to get. And the Stoic attitude of accepting the world as it is and working with how things are permeates the 48 Laws Of Power. It’s very much like Marcus Aurelius—advocating that you feel a level of detachment. In fact, I believe I use that quote from him. So it's not far off from Stoicism. But the latest book is more in that Stoic spirit than the 48 Laws. It's more about accepting that this is nature. The Stoics have a word, logos. This is the way that the universe is, this is what permeates the laws that govern all behavior. And so I'm very much in that spirit of kind of looking at people with some distance, but all my books are approaching life with a little bit of detachment because I feel like that's what will make you happier and also more successful in general.”What Robert is really saying is that although each of us should commit to being good and honest and fair, it’s naive to assume that everyone else has made a similar promise to themselves. In fact, we know from the opening of Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations that most people are greedy and selfish and rude and short-sighted. It’s essential that we understand these forces and the effects they have on the world. Not only to prepare for them and defend ourselves against them, but to remember that when we have important work to do or changes we are trying to bring about in the world, these same forces will be there as a kind of headwind. We can’t take this personally. We can’t let it upset or discourage us. We’ll need to know how to slip past this resistance, how to use its momentum against itself, how to turn that negative energy around and convince those small-minded people to side with us, against their immediate impulses. That’s what a true amoral study of history helps us do. Virtue may be the highest good to the Stoics, but not everyone else agrees. In fact, the people that don’t outnumber the people who do. And if we don’t understand how power and persuasion work, they will win. Today and forever. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Why You Need to Understand Power The actor Josh Peck recently had Robert Green on his podcast to discuss the book, The Laws of Human

Nature. It's a fascinating interview, but one of the most revealing parts is when Josh asks Robert about how Robert squares his interest in stoicism with the rather ruthless and Machiavellian messages of his books. As Robert explains, we need to understand how the world works, especially if we intend to stick to the path of virtue. I'll give you here the quote from the podcast. Marcus Aurelius had a quote, I can't say it exactly, but he says, when a boxer gets in no ring with another boxer and he gets punched, he doesn't complain

and go, God damn it, you hit me, I don't deserve to be hit. He accepts that, that's the game of life. Well, we should see that in life in general. When people hit us, that's just who they are, people are who they are. We shouldn't judge them. We should just accept them like we accept a rock or a stone or that boxer, that's what people are like and that's what we're going to get. And the stoic attitude of accepting the world as it is and working with how things are permeates the 48 laws of power, I'd advise

you to go back and read the preface. It's very much like Marcus Aurelius, advocating that you feel at the level of detachment. In fact, I believe I use that quote from him. So those, it's not far off from stoicism, but the latest book is more about, is more in that stoic spirit than the 48 laws. It's more about accepting that this is nature. The stoics have a word logos. This is, this is the, the Stoics have a word logos. This is the way the universe is.

This is what permeates the laws that govern all behavior. And so I'm very much in that spirit of kind of looking at people with some distance, but all my books are approaching life with a little bit of detachment, because I feel like that's what will make you happier and also more successful in general.

What Robert is really saying is that although each of us should commit to being good and honest and fair, it's naive to assume that everyone else has made a similar promise to themselves. In fact, we know from the opening of Marcus Reales' meditation that most people are greedy and selfish and rude and short-sighted, it's essential that we understand these forces in the effect they have on the world, not only to prepare for them and defend ourselves against them, but to remember that when we do have important work we are doing or changes we are attempting to bring about in the world, that these are the same forces that will be there

as a kind of headwind. We can't take this personally. We can't let it upset or discourage us. We'll need to know how to slip past this resistance, how to turn that negative energy around and convince those small-minded people to side with us against their immediate impulses, even against their nature.

That's what a true, immoral study of history helps us to. Virtue may be the highest good to the Stohex, but not everyone else agrees. In fact, the people that don't outnumber the people who do, and if we don't understand how power and persuasion works, they will win today and forever. Epic Titus' line was how much longer are you going to wait until you demand the best for yourself? I think he was really saying how long are you going to wait until you demand the best of yourself? And for that reason we've created this new 14-day Stoic challenge,

which is going to kick off on January 1st. I hope you'll check it out. It's 14 days of awesome Stoic-based challenges. That can make you a better person, a better learner, a better thinker. Whatever it is, I think you'll like it. I'm going to be doing it. It's an awesome community that goes along with it. If you want to check it out, you can go to dailystoic.com slash challenge. But remember this closes on at 11.59 p.m. on December 31st. If you want to kick the year off right, I hope you join us dailystowoc.com slash challenge. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily Stowoc early and ad free on Amazon Music.

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