Fame, Fortune and Machiavelli

In “What do you want out of life?” article is raised the argument that getting to fame and fortune is directly related to the amount of pain you are willing to endure to get it.

And rightly so, I’ve always been of the same opinion. And always imagined that the people with the fame and fortune have been trough some serious painful processes to get where they are. To the point that they are a little bit unbalanced compared to other people to be able to endure it continuously.

This makes me wonder why endure the pain to get to the end goal, if most of the times the end goal is to reach a painless place. As a good illustration of what i mean see the “fisherman and the businessman” story

I believe the trading of pain for fame is correct (and right) in general, but I think this view is also naive to a certain extent, there’s also a darker side to get to fame, a kind of a shortcut, enter Machiavellianism.

Machiavellianism

“Its better to be feared than loved”

Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait which sees a person so focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals.

Is a kind of chess game but with people, where by saying the right words at the right time to the each person differently you get to manipulate opinions, influence others and get what you want at the end.

Is quite toxic in a culture, and it tends to spread and contaminate others.

I hope is a dying trait, but i suspect it reappears in cycles and is still alive in politics, companies and organizations.

Until the Future brings us automated brain scans to identifying it and thus help fit the right people into the right cultures, the best is to be aware and try to avoid it.

References

• http://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/machiavellianism-psychology.htm
• “The Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli
• http://sett.com/machiavelli/quotes-48-laws-of-power
• “The Power Paradox: The Promise and Peril of 21st Century Power”, Dacher Keltner, Talks at Google: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vJKyw6kFkw