Trump Is the Greatest At One Law Of Power — And It Could Destroy Him - Robert Greene
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What do Robert Greene's laws of power reveal about human nature?
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We have a hunger for something larger. The other motivating factor is every human being needs a degree of validation. The sense that you don't have any power in your life is deeply, deeply miserable for the human animal. Where one person doesn't feel like they have the power, but they don't feel strong enough to directly attack or deal with the person, they become indirect. They become passive aggressive. If you don't have power, you're going to find it somehow, some way, in some manner. You're going to do whatever you can to change that dynamic.
When you look at Trump, do you think that he's a man who uses these laws of power effectively?
I know that he has a very powerful character flaw, and the character flaw is going to constantly get in his way.
Robert, welcome to Trigonometry. Thank you for having me. We've been keen to get you on the show for a long time, as you know. You've written a large number of books exploring human nature, what motivates people in their actions, the nature of power. And that's a fascinating subject. What are the key things that motivate people to do what they do?
Well, it's complicated, obviously. But... People obviously want power. That's why I wrote my first book. I mentioned I speculate or believe that the sense that you don't have any power in your life, any control over any influence, over your spouse, over your children, over your friends, over your colleagues, over your boss, is deeply, deeply miserable for the human animal. So we want to be able to have a sense, a feeling, that we have some power over our environment, over the people around us. Now you can get power in various ways. You can use manipulation, you can play a softer, more seductive game. But it is my opinion that a great majority of people's behavior and actions are motivated by this desire to feel like there's a degree of control over their environment, okay?
And if you deny that need, if you can't seem to get it, if you don't have that power in your life, if you feel powerless, you can turn to some very negative forms of behavior. So I try to say that to be able to understand the game of power, to be able to feel like you can control people you can influence them you can move them in your direction will save you a lot of energy in life save you a lot of drama save you a lot of self-loathing and all kinds of bad patterns that you can fall into the other motivating factor is every human being needs a degree of validation they want We're a social animal. We don't really, our idea of existence as an individual is kind of a myth, it's sort of an illusion.
We are social animals. Everything we think is reflected through the eyes of other people, right? And so if people are alone, if they're isolated, their kind of sense of being a human being can dissolve, can fall apart. So we can't get validation or attention or love from ourselves. We need it from other people. So the sense of getting recognition, people validating you for your experience, for being who you are, is a deeply, deeply powerful motivating factor in human nature. I mean, these are generalizations. There are other things we can go into, but those I would say would be the two main things.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What do Robert Greene's laws of power reveal about human nature?
0:00–8:23
2
How does Donald Trump's approach to power exemplify Greene's laws?
8:23–11:50
3
What motivates individuals to seek power in their lives?
11:50–20:57
4
How do gender differences influence the perception of power?
20:57–33:39
5
What role does social media play in shaping power dynamics today?
33:39–41:32
6
How does the desire for validation impact human behavior?
41:32–54:51
7
What historical examples illustrate the consequences of losing power?
54:51–1:02:59
8
How can individuals find meaning and connection in a secular society?
1:02:59–1:09:09
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from TRIGGERnometry
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