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Choose Your Games Wisely

adammaj.com · 320 words · saved by 1 readers

It describes concepts that both reflect reality and are useful in many contexts. It’s hard to the deny that the book is insightful, and probably worth reading. What I find so distasteful is that it propagates a set of principles optimized for zero-sum environments. Ideas like “never outshine the master” and “mask your intentions” are relevant in political and corporate environments where emergent power hierarchies and manipulation are inevitable. And in these environments, it’s definitely in your best interest to operate under these principles. If you don’t, you’ll probably lose to someone who does. Because of this, I would never opt into participating in these environments. Of course, some degree of politics is inevitable in any environment, but I don’t want to actively choose to play in an environment where the primary game is so zero-sum. This feeling implies a broader principle, which I’ve personally adopted: don’t enter environments where you’ll have to play games you don’t want t

I’ve always disliked The 48 Laws of Power , but not because it’s a bad book. It describes concepts that both reflect reality and are useful in many contexts. It’s hard to the deny that the book is insightful, and probably worth reading. What I find so distasteful is that it propagates a set of principles optimized for zero-sum environments. Ideas like “never outshine the master” and “mask your intentions” are relevant in political and corporate environments where emergent power hierarchies and manipulation are inevitable. And in these environments, it’s definitely in your best interest to oper

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