Projects and Powergames

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Projects and Powergames

• Discussion on The 48 laws of power

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Todays lecture

• Discussion on some laws from the book 48 Laws of
  Power by R. Greene

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Laws 1- 16

• Law 1 - Never Outshine the Master
• Law 2 - Never put too Much Trust in Friends,
  Learn how to use Enemies
• Law 3 - Conceal your Intentions
• Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary
• Law 5 - So Much Depends on Reputation Guard it
  with your Life
• Law 6 - Court Attention at all Cost
• Law 7 - Get others to do the Work for you, but
  Always Take the Credit
• Law 8 - Make other People come to you use Bait
  if Necessary
• Law 9 - Win through your Actions, Never through
  Argument
• Law 10 - Infection Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
  
• Law 11 - Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
• Law 12 - Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to
  Disarm your Victim
• Law 13 - When Asking for Help, Appeal to Peoples
  Self-Interest,
• Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
• Law 14 - Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
• Law 15 - Crush your Enemy Totally
• Law 16 - Use Absence to Increase Respect and
  Honor

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Laws 17- 32

• Law 17 - Keep Others in Suspended Terror
  Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
• Law 18 - Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect
  Yourself Isolation is Dangerous
• Law 19 - Know Who Youre Dealing with Do Not
  Offend the Wrong Person
• Law 20 - Do Not Commit to Anyone
• Law 21 - Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker Seem
  Dumber than your Mark
• Law 22 - Use the Surrender Tactic Transform
  Weakness into Power
• Law 23 - Concentrate Your Forces
• Law 24 - Play the Perfect Courtier
• Law 25 - Re-Create Yourself
• Law 26 - Keep Your Hands Clean
• Law 27 - Play on Peoples Need to Believe to
  Create a Cult like Following
• Law 28 - Enter Action with Boldness
• Law 29 - Plan All the Way to the End
• Law 30 - Make your Accomplishments Seem
  Effortless
• Law 31 - Control the Options Get Others to Play
  with the Cards you Deal
• Law 32 - Play to Peoples Fantasies

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Laws 33 - 48

• Law 33 - Discover Each Mans Thumbscrew
• Law 34 - Be Royal in your Own Fashion Act like
  a King to be treated like one
• Law 35 - Master the Art of Timing
• Law 36 - Disdain Things you cannot have
  Ignoring them is the best Revenge
• Law 37 - Create Compelling Spectacles
• Law 38 - Think as you like but Behave like others
  
• Law 39 - Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
• Law 40 - Despise the Free Lunch
• Law 41 - Avoid Stepping into a Great Mans Shoes
• Law 42 - Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will
  Scatter
• Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
• Law 44 - Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror
  Effect
• Law 45 - Preach the Need for Change, but Never
  Reform too much at Once
• Law 46 - Never appear too Perfect
• Law 47 - Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for
  In Victory, Learn when to Stop
• Law 48 - Assume Formlessness

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Law 1 - Never outshine the master

• Do not go to far to display your talents
• Kings and queens want to feel secure and superior
  in their positions
• Do not outshine your master or avoid monsters
  if you are naturally charming
• Do not take masters love to you for granted
• Act naïve and commit harmless mistakes
• Publicly elevate your master
• Reverse outshine a falling star

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Law 2 - Never put too Much Trust in Friends,
Learn how to use Enemies

• To have a good enemy choose a friend he knows
  where to strike (Diane de Poitiers)
• We usually do not know our friends as well as we
  think we do
• Friends agree to avoid arguments. Honesty rarely
  strengthens the relationship, you might never
  know how your friend really feels.
• Kindness unbalances the relationship
• Your friends except everything from you, your
  enemies expect nothing
• Problem when hiring a friend

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Law 3 - Conceal your Intentions

• No clue about your action no defense against
  them
• Talk about your fake goals - let people focus on
  decoy

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Law 4 - Always Say Less than Necessary

• Less is more

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Law 5 - So Much Depends on Reputation Guard it
with your Life

• Solid reputation
• Your reputation precedes you
• If you stain your reputation be in the shadow of
  a man with good reputation till you whitewash
  yours

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Law 7 - Get others to do the Work for you, but
Always Take the Credit

• I do not need to be mathematician I could always
  hire one Edison
• Take and secure credit for your inventions and
  dont let others steal it from you
• Time is precious, take advantage of other
  peoples work to further yours. Use the knowledge
  of the past.
• You will not get far by doing it ALL yourself
• Find people with the creativity you lack
• politicians do not write their speeches
• Take the credit for the work of those below you
  while give credit for your own labor to those
  above you.

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Law 8 - Make other People come to you use Bait
if Necessary

• Aggressive actions ! effective actions
• Let others to react to your moves
• When you have other people to come to you, you
  becoming the one controlling the situation
• Master your emotions, never be influenced by
  anger
• Manipulation
• beware of the pickpockets, placing baits
  example
• (Reversal) If a time is against you. Make your
  enemy respond to your terms. Fast attack cane be
  great weapon, it forces people to react without
  much time to think with lead them to make
  mistakes.

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Law 9 - Win through your Actions, Never through
Argument

• People might show that they agree with you
• The truth is generally seen, rarely heard
  Baltasar Gracián

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Law 10 - Infection Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky

• Emotional states are as infectious as diseases
• Humans are extremely predisposed to the moods,
  emotions and even the way of thinking of those
  with whom we spend a lot of time
• Unhappy and unstable has stronger effect on
  people
• Victims or self-causing miseries
• You will be associated with those people
• Attention for chronic-dissatisfaction
• Quarantine yourself
• Generous souls attain greatness
• No reversal

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Law 11 - Learn to Keep People Dependent on You

• Seek out weak masters to create dependency and
  indispensable
• Create a need for yourself
• Power relationship between people
• Power ! independence
• Intensive, extensive talents
• Master might not love but hate you. Fear is
  controllable but not love
• Reversal Monopoly Interdependence vs.
  Independence

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Law 12 - Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to
Disarm your Victim

• Creating distraction
• Giving before you take
• First impressions and reputation
• Establish honest relationship in the beginning by
  Honesty, selfless acts, generosity
• Play on peoples emotions, but make gesture seem
  sincere
• Reversal reputation the honesty of dishonesty

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Law 13 - When Asking for Help, Appeal to Peoples
Self-Interest, Never to their Mercy or Gratitude

• Show the other person that s/he can gain
  something from it too
• Dont you care?- NO! unless there is something
  for me
• BUT! Do not appeal to greedy to their charity or
  charitable to their greed

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Law 15 - Crush your Enemy Totally

• Kill or be killed
• Reversal let enemies destroy themselves

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Law 16 - Use Absence to Increase Respect and
Honor

• Value through scarcity
• First establish a need then disappear
• Dont let people take you for granted or a habit
• Love never dies of starvation but often if
  indigestion
• If you are seen too often people will stop
  noticing you
• Reversal established presence first or be
  forgotten

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Law 17 - Keep Others in Suspended Terror
Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability

• When you are predictable people have a sense of
  control over you
• Sudden and unpredictable is always terrifying
  earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorists
• Animal has only instincts, thats why humans are
  able to hunt them
• Humans can consciously alter behavior
• Create sense of confusion in your enemies
• Reversal your pattern behavior will put people
  asleep, but use with a great caution

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Law 19 - Know Who Youre Dealing with Do Not
Offend the Wrong Person

• Most important skill in gathering and conserving
  power
• When judging never rely on your instincts
• Never trust appearances

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Law 20 - Do Not Commit to Anyone

• Desire is like a virus
• Accept attention but do not create feeling of
  obligation to anyone
• Remoteness is power
• Game between 2 sides
• Reversal dont take it too far, both parties can
  turn against you. People might start to loose
  their interest in you.

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Law 21 - Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker Seem
Dumber than your Mark

• No one likes to feel stupid
• Never by mistake insult a persons intelligence
• A perfect disguise appearing a less intelligent
  than you are, even a bit of a fool
• Reversal be smarter than your competition in the
  beginning

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Law 22 - Use the Surrender Tactic Transform
Weakness into Power

• In the battle with brutal and aggressive do not
  resist or fight back
• Surrender is part of a bigger plan, you appear to
  surrender
• Inwardly you stay firm but outwardly you bend
• Its teaches you self-control and patience
• Turning the other cheek...

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Law 25 - Re-Create Yourself

• Do not accept the roles that society impose on
  you
• On the way to Self-creation
• Be in control of your appearances and emotions
• Create memorable character that stands out, take
  your time to create a suspense
• Adapt your mask to the situation

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Law 29 - Plan All the Way to the End

• Plan to the end, ending is everything
• People tend to plan according to their
  imaginations and not the real facts
• Formulate the path to the end and stay focus
• Clear plan decrease improvisations and anxiety
• Be open for adaptations, having in mind the same
  outcome/objectives

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Law 31 - Control the Options Get Others to Play
with the Cards you Deal

• Give options to choose from two evils, which
  serve your purposes
• A or B people tend not to focus on the missing
  options
• Unlimited vs. Limited options
• Controlling the options
• Color the choices
• Force the Resister
• Alter the Playing Field
• Shrinking Options
• The Weak man on the Precipice
• Brother in Crime
• The Horns of a Dilemma
• Reversal limiting peoples options might limit
  yours as well

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Law 32 - Play to Peoples Fantasies

• Reality change is slow and gradual. It requires
  hard work, luck, self-sacrifice and a lot of
  patience
• Fantasy a sudden transformation will bring a
  total change in the ones fortune, bypassing
  work, self-sacrifice, and time in one fantastic
  stroke
• Reality society is fragmented and full of
  conflicts
• Fantasy People can come together in a mystical
  union of souls

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Law 34 - Be Royal in your Own Fashion Act like
a King to be treated like one

• The way you carry yourself will often determine
  how you are treated
• If we believe that we are destined for great
  things, our belief will radiate outward
• Always make a bold demand, set your price high
• Radiate confidence not arrogance or distance
• Reversal know how far to take it. Otherwise you
  can become an easy target. You do not elevate
  yourself by humiliating others.

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Law 35 - Master the Art of Timing

• Never seem to be in a hurry
• Long Time
• There is no such a thing as a ones-in-a-lifetime-o
  pportunity
• Success that build slowly but surly is the only
  one that lasts
• Forced time
• Taking your time or deadlines
• End time
• End must be quick

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Law 36 - Disdain Things you cannot have
Ignoring them is the best Revenge

• If there is something that you want but cannot
  have show less interest in it
• Its never really interested me in the first
  place
• Keep calm, never show that something has affected
  you
• If there is something you want but you cannot
  have, the worst thing you can do is draw
  attention to your disappointment by complaining
  about it
• When attacked by an inferior, make it clear to
  the people that the attack has not even
  registered
• On the contrary treat your mistakes light
• Reversal show contempt in public but keep an eye
  on the problem privately, dont let the
  disappointment grow

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Law 37 - Create Compelling Spectacles

• Words stir up arguments and divisions images
  bring people together
• Pay attention to visual things Colors and
  symbols
• Find a symbol to represent your case the more
  emotional association, the better

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Law 38 - Think as you like but Behave like others

• Complete free expression is a social
  impossibility (hiding your intentions)
• Put mask that is most appropriate for the group
  in which you find yourself
• Reversal you have unshakable position of power,
  then its ok to stand out

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Law 40 - Despise the Free Lunch

• What has worth is worth paying for
• Offers tricks
• Friends ask for favors
• For a small sum I can give you an advise how to
  become rich/beautiful/find love your
  life/successful
• Greed does not pay!

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Law 41 - Avoid Stepping into a Great Mans Shoes

• Innovators are more attractive than followers
• Family traditions (disadvantage)
• getting lost in the past
• no room to create your own name
• Distinguish yourself from predecessor
• Look for new opportunities
• Dont copy since circumstances never repeat
  themselves exactly
• Reversal use predecessor name till you reach the
  power. Keep an eye on your young as he will do
  the same to you

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Law 42 - Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will
Scatter

• Troublemakers are hiding in the group, disguising
  their action among the reaction of others
• Isolate the enemys power and shrink the support
• Be careful for revenge

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Law 43 - Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others

• When meeting new person, give a chance to that
  person to talk about himself, instead of talking
  about you
• Seduce people by working on their emotions (love,
  hate, jealousy) and playing on their intellectual
  weaknesses
• Never assume that the tactic worked with one
  person will work with other
• Show how action will benefit them
• Self interest is the strongest motive
• Have allies at all levels
• the time will come when you will need them

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Law 46 - Never appear too Perfect

• Appealing as a person with no faults or
  weaknesses creates envy
• Dealing with envy
• There will be people surpassing you
• There will be people that you surpass
• People that envy you will work against you

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Law 48 - Assume Formlessness

• Be flexible and adaptable, dont take things for
  granted - Everything changes
• Formlessness will not allow your enemy to have
  something solid to attack
• Unpredictability will keep the audience in
  suspense
• Never take nothing personally or show any
  defensiveness
• Formlessness is a tool. Never confuse it with a
  go-with-the-flow style or twist of fortune.
• See events through your own eyes
• Reversal keep long-term strategy in mind

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Discussion

• If every human would follow these laws, the world
  would collapse