Sep 23, 2019
In a vast modern world, where we're constantly encountering strangers and trying to work out where they're coming from and how we can operate and cooperate together, we're living quintessentially unnatural lives compared to the tight-knit communities in which we evolved. It's as though we're living behind enemy lines: everyone's playing some kind of game we don't quite understand, saying one thing, but doing another; smiling while they hold a knife behind their backs...
Help is at hand! This episode provides us with the vital tools we need to understand what people really think, really feel, and the motivations they're often trying frantically to hide. From unconscious body-language to the micro-expressions which betray their true feelings, Robert Greene dissects the role playing and hierarchy games that surround us daily.
People are essentially emotional sieves: the emotions will leak out, whether they like it or not. And it's vitally important that we focus on that emotional leakage rather than believing the words alone.
As ever, The Laws of Human Nature also turns the spotlight back on you. This episode drills down into what you'recommunicating without realising it. Robert forces us to recognise that we are all consummate actors, but we've forgotten that we're acting. We know certain tones and expressions that get results; we know how to present our 'best side' in a given situation. We play so many different roles all the time... But too often this means we become trapped in them, forgetting that they're all just a game based on the culture in which we're swimming.