[giulivo]

I enjoyed the post but there is one sentence I can't understand:

> 2/ Only surround yourself with brilliant and positive people. Negative and mediocre people are everywhere and their influence on you can be devastating.

The thing is that I'm potentially one of those "mediocre" people and I don't see why my influence should be devastating.

For instance, what is wrong about being negative? Not that my days are about it but, when I find myself thinking about the society we've built, I feel depressed and helplessness. Our society runs on poverty, climate change, INC governments, wars. We got to a point where some perpetuate violence on people and animals for living.

Not only that but from a certain perspective, I've a reason to think about myself as a mediocre person, cause I managed to get lot of good things from life, including a fun job but I'm not the "cool kid" and, as such, I think I'm quite a mediocre guy.

So my question is as follows, what are you suggesting here: the best way to avoid any negativity get to you, is to eliminate these gloomy people from your life ?

Sounds more a strategy for distraction.

[stevewillows]

This may be based on Law 10 of the 48 Laws of Power.

"You can die from someone else’s misery. Emotional states are as infectious as diseases. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead."

– Robert Greene / 48 Laws of Power

http://cgt411.tech.purdue.edu/covey/48_laws_of_power.htm

[bradleysmith]

I thought the same thing. Great read.

[stevewillows]

I listened to the audio book version - - the man sounds like the Devil himself. Great book though - - I recommend it to everyone I know.

[bradleysmith]

if you havent read it, He also did The Art of Seduction in a similar 'rules through historic case-by-case basis' style, but focused on relationships. its every bit as icky, and definitely just as good.

Robert Greene always reminds me of the quote by Sandy Lerner I heard on NPR somewhere:

"the first rule of any game is to know you're in one"

[stevewillows]

Icky is probably the best word to describe it. There is a certain power to understanding how to maneuver a situation and use it to your advantage.

With Laws, I found the 'never outshine the master' principal to be invaluable when meeting a new group of people.

As an aside, tomorrow is your first HN birthday. HB!

[bradleysmith]

I've always liked Law 9 'Win through your actions, never through argument'. It's good to remember most arguments won are Pyrrhic victories.

hah yeah thanks. I'd been lurking for years before I realized this was a community to stay with (and build reputation with) on the internets. I always think of how much I'd read it in college (graduated 09), and kick myself for not grabbing my name then. I think it was a year or two of following before I knew what y-combinator was :).

[olegious]

If you think of yourself as mediocre, then you'll be mediocre- people that think negatively about themselves are no fun to be around.

There is a difference between the ability to critically analyze yourself and thinking of yourself negatively.

[cgh]

Globally speaking, there is less poverty and warfare than there has ever been in human history, or to put it another way, humanity is more prosperous and peaceful than it's ever been. By all objective measures except environmentally, 2013 is shaping up to be the greatest year in human history. Really, the greatest issue facing humanity today is climate change, not the other stuff you mention.

So take some cheer in that, I guess.

[ekm2]

Globally speaking, there is less poverty and warfare than there has ever been in human history

I have always been curious how people come to this conclusion.

[Dewie]

The human mind is so great that it came up with all modern society, and so irrational that it chooses to be miserable about people dying of famine and in wars on the other side of the world when there is nothing that the person can do about it and his life is devoid of any remotely immediate tragedies. What is wrong about ignoring (really, not so much ignore as simply not watching the news) things that you will do nothing about (most people will only help the proverbial children in Africa for the odd fundraiser) anyway, and instead focus on the fact that you are living a life that is much more pleasant and prosperous than what the news chooses to focus on? Ignorance truly is bliss.

[konstruktor]

Are you sure the people on the other side of the world, living in famine, also consider your ignorance bliss? What is more irrational: Choosing to ignore grave suffering that we have the resources to end, many times over, for the sake of avoiding bad feelings, or at least acknowledging the suffering of others? I think the latter is an essential step in bringing modern society to a state that can truly be called civilised.

[Dewie]

I was specifically talking about people that wallow in the idea of suffering of others, while doing nothing about it. "Acknowledging" without actions helps no one. By consuming a lot of the fear inducing news, people are acknowledging the suffering of such a large amount of people, by such diverse groups, that they have absolutely no hope of making a meaningful impact on the suffering of all those groups. But instead of researching a particular problem (anything from the local homeless shelter to mosquito nets in central Africa) and giving something like a tithe of their income to that cause, additionally getting a little involved to make sure their money and efforts make an impact, most people would rather shake their heads and "raise awareness" on social media, and still have to have people literally coming to their front doors to socially cajole people into giving them money (because apparently all that 'awareness' that they got through the news weren't enough to get them to donate solely by their own accord).