You also need to be willing to lie, cheat, steal, kill, use people, betray them.
This is false.
If we are talking about how to become rich, famous, and a historically significant person, I suspect that neither of us speaks with real authority. And of course, just being evil is not by itself a guaranteed path to the top! But I’m sure it helps to clear the way.
You also need to be willing to lie, cheat, steal, kill, use people, betray them.
This if false.
I would say ‘overstated’. I assert that most people who became famous, rich and a historical figure used those tactics. More so the ‘use people’, ‘betray them’ and ‘lie’ than the more banal ‘evils’. You don’t even get to have a solid reputation for being nice and ethical without using dubiously ethical tactics to enforce the desired reputation.
Personally, I find that being nice and ethical is the best way to get a reputation for being nice and ethical, though your mileage may vary.
I don’t have a personal statement to make about my strategy for gaining a reputation for niceness. Partly because that is a reputation I would prefer to avoid.
I do make the general, objective level claim that actually being nice and ethical is not the most effective way to gain that reputation. It is a good default and for many, particularly those who are not very good at well calibrated hypocrisy and deception, it is the best they could do without putting in a lot of effort. But it should be obvious that the task of creating an appearance of a thing is different to that of actually doing a thing.
This if false.
Yes. And domain-specific expertise is something that can be learned and practiced, by applying agency to one’s life. I’ll add it to the list.
If we are talking about how to become rich, famous, and a historically significant person, I suspect that neither of us speaks with real authority. And of course, just being evil is not by itself a guaranteed path to the top! But I’m sure it helps to clear the way.
Sure. I’m only disagreeing with what you said in your original comment.
I would say ‘overstated’. I assert that most people who became famous, rich and a historical figure used those tactics. More so the ‘use people’, ‘betray them’ and ‘lie’ than the more banal ‘evils’. You don’t even get to have a solid reputation for being nice and ethical without using dubiously ethical tactics to enforce the desired reputation.
Personally, I find that being nice and ethical is the best way to get a reputation for being nice and ethical, though your mileage may vary.
I don’t have a personal statement to make about my strategy for gaining a reputation for niceness. Partly because that is a reputation I would prefer to avoid.
I do make the general, objective level claim that actually being nice and ethical is not the most effective way to gain that reputation. It is a good default and for many, particularly those who are not very good at well calibrated hypocrisy and deception, it is the best they could do without putting in a lot of effort. But it should be obvious that the task of creating an appearance of a thing is different to that of actually doing a thing.