The Laws of Human Nature with Robert Greene

How Human Nature Works

Human nature is the desire to receive, also called “desire to enjoy,” and it functions by receiving what is beneficial to itself and rejecting what is harmful. Everything in our lives is built upon this calculation where we first try to distance ourselves from harm, and then seek how to draw ourselves closer to what is beneficial.

Human nature also includes a multilayering of systems that work simultaneously on still, vegetative, animate and human levels. One of those systems is our bodily one, which operates involuntarily. If our bodies are healthy, then they know what is good for them and draw that goodness to themselves. After the bodily system, there is the emotional system, which also functions relatively according to instinct. From the emotional system, we move to the mind, and from the mind to the intellect, and so on. That is, we have systems over systems that concurrently work on receiving what is beneficial and rejecting what is harmful.

Such is human nature and the essence of our lives. Our every desire, thought and action operates according to the calculation, “How can we receive what is most beneficial to us and reject what is harmful?”

Thank you to both of you. Love, love, love the part about our shadow self. Truly appreciate the humanity of Scott!

The host got the same laugh as the asian pastor from i pronounce you chuck and larry💀

Thank you, this podcast is making my graduation in psychology so much rich and insighful! Cheers from Brazil🇧🇷

Beautiful

Because I show the lawyer seyem to you uot speak zasway I Good lawyer

Did Robert really compare Putin to trump? Putin has killed thousands upon thousands of people. Never compare a legit dictator to a Democratic president. As narcissistic as he is it's not fair

I am coming from a Jordan Peterson Podcast and filtered for most popular of your videos. Great I have found you though this. I like your style I have seen so far. I don't like iTunes or patreon as I found PayPal sending money to a friend more fitting and you have no money being taken out of it. If I find your PayPal I will be glad to support your efforts you put in this! Cheers!

A very enlightening conversation. Thank you.

This Was Just What I Needed To Hear

Huge fan

What an epic conversation! So deep, sincere and meaningful! Questions have been up to the point, if I ever haven't given up learning English, it is to be able to understand such great authors as Robert Greene. Thank you so much Scott, your questions are so wise!

Just discovered this channel and will apparently be spending the day here with some perennial favorites. Thank you!

Young interviewer. Greene was gracious while delivering practical info.

great interview, but i found the interviewer annoying with his little inserts of cring-ey mistimed jokes (i am in the 40 minute mark, and he has done that twice), focus on pronouncing german sentences i could not care about (yeah i get it, you know a sophisticated German Philosopher's work in great detail, lets move on please), and hints of "i know that too" comments.

i have been watching a lot of robert greene interviews the past week ... this is the only interviewer that annoyed me enough to leave this comment. It probably speaks a lot about mine and the interviewer's shadow.

search "gemeinschaftsgefühl English translation", google pronounces in German.

im not too sure i would call, just being ourselves that is not hurtful to anyone, our dark side.. if it is just not following a 'order'.. dark side/shadow are parts of ourselves i feel that can be hurtful to others if we don't discipline our animal side..

This interviewer man...

Thanks Mr Greene

Loved this interview

this interview with robert greene is monumental! thank you so much, really loved it.

Greene did great, but doesn’t realize a lot of us voted for Trump because of Obama. His “shadow” was very evident. Constant bombing of countries, using the FBI and IRS against citizens, wiretapping at will, lying about his healthcare plan to get it passed, Fast and Furious, etc., etc., etc. Is it truly something hidden in us that we would want us to get away from those things?

Loved it

Im attracted to big booty

Thanks for recognising a narcissist even within myself,I always looked at others to have such characteristic ,not knowing that we all practice such behaviour to some extent

Thanks to quarantine:had it not there I couldn’t have managed to discover such a mind wizard

Oh the interviewer is really overwhelming,the way he s showing his own personal dark side is unbearable:hat off to Mr greene for allowing him to spoil his wisdom

the 33 strategies of war rule 2 never fight your last battle , I need that since my ex girlfriend who I was totally inlove with is a cop caller and I kept thinking it would go away and we’d be together forever . Nope and allso once a cop caller always . We are each one teach one 😋 thanks everybody

This men is world of knowledge about human behaviour

The interviewer sucks! Robert was great

Terrific interview, Greene doesn't mind the questioning and dialogue, he's the real gem!

Great interview. I could listen to his insights all day. Thankyou x

Not putting the comment about interviewer, avoiding to be judgmental. :P

Nice that Robert is putting up with interviewer, truly practicing what he teaches 👍

It's never enough! Read my mind 👌 😉

👌

Woah, introverts are deeply narcissistic? That really is eye opening. Crushed a personal misnomer.

Spectacular interview. I’m gobbling up the Greene.

I loved it

"The Element", Ken Robinson. Could be a good tool in defining, or creating the road map to ones purpose, esteem, higher need (Maslow's).

"Ego is the Enemy", Ryan Holiday. Might help start the journey of self reflection on the 'Shadow self.

"The Obstacle is the way", Ryan Holiday. Might also compliment the acceptance and challenging of the hidden self.

Only a few seconds in, I thought of the same example of the malignant character elements. He poses the prime example of the Ultimate cluster of pretty much all of the most Cancerous ones. I might propose that he becomes attractive to a portion of the Community, as what they see in him resonates from within themselves.

If we surmised that we could somehow plot human nature on a distribution (simplicity sake, a Normal Dist.), that factored in the malignancy, benality, and the constructive levels of each characteristic, we could statistically propose that there is always going to be people on the dysfunctional end.

Where this becomes dangerous or highly disruptive, or to steal from Physics, tending towards "Entropy", is when this hypothesised distribution becomes significantly skewed. Especially within a democratic type society. I might suggest that Socrates may have foreseen this to some degree.

The root problem to pretty much all major human problems, lie within psychology. It's the discintergration of a stable or benign personality, and the trend towards the malignant state.

The solution, instill in school (ideally everywhere, but impractical), concepts of human nature, how to read and make sense of what drives our own impulses, and what stage it becomes detrimental. With a basic understanding at young age, it will be less of a stock when older, and possibly easier to recognise and correct (by self or with professional). On the other side, it may help people accept, adjust to other people's character flaws, acquit them and learn from their example. It may also aid in people feeling comfortable to approach people to inform them of their behaviour, as they may feel it will be safely recieved by the person, and not further exacerbate any relationship, environment, or state of mind.

Something needs to be done globally now, as this concept isn't just an issue for the human interface.
It is what increases and perpetuates all global problems from crime, environment destruction, resource depletion, threat of war, unstable economics, trafficking (drugs, humans, weapons), poor health (in particular mental health), widening gap between socio-economic classes, and the growing poor quality of life.

Psychology is the "Obstacle", and mastering the "Laws of Human Nature" is the Key!!!

No need for any fancy statistics and meta analysis to prove this to anyone. No need for longitudinal study, or double blinded RCT..... just look at USA today, and the state of corruption in Government, and the hyperbolic nature of Politics. And I remind you, people have been killed from this Political and social nightmare. No longer does leadership and management take a defined structure, role, or form, and worse still is that 99% of the population actually realise it (because they don't know what it should look like).

So to the Sublime.... Due to the theory of "Entropy", nothing means everything, and everything means nothing.

So boring. We hear poilitics alllll day and you divide your audience immediately. Y'all should break down yourselves and why ppl like you fixate on bitching when you don't get your way. Fuck you

I don't think the interview did a good job.

Great podcast. Thank you for doing what you do. P.S. Bought the book "Laws of Human Nature." Can't wait to get into it.

The I'd, Ego and Super Ego... Minus the Oedipus complex or death desire nonsense

Good work

Furthermore, there is an easy yardstick to determine (to a high degree of accuracy), those characteristics that are genetic, and those that are not. If a certain characteristic is very difficult (or impossible) to change, I.e., eye color, skin color, hair texture, height, body type, IQ, musical/art ability, “narcissism”, “psychopathy” . . it is most likely inherited.
If it is relatively easy to change . . language spoken, religion, educational level etc . . It is most likely acquired.