Below we list the “point” of each of the Laws of Human Nature as described by Robert Greene in The Laws of Human Nature, and a representative virtue.

Master your emotional self: The law of irrationality. The virtue of reasonableness.
Transform self-love into empathy: The law of narcissism. The virtue of self-love.
See through people’s masks: The law of role-playing. The virtue of empathy.
Determine the strength of people’s character: The law of compulsive behavior. The virtue of temperance.
Become an elusive object of desire, but beware the fragile ego: The law of covetousness. The virtue of generosity.
Elevate your perspective: The law of shortsightedness. The virtue of prudence.
Soften people’s resistance by confirming their self-opinion: The law of defensiveness. The virtue of justice.
Change your circumstances by changing your attitude: The law of self-sabotage. The virtue of diligence.
Confront your dark side: The law of repression. The virtue of meekness.
Know your limits: The law of grandiosity. The virtue of humility.
Reconnect to the masculine or feminine within you: The law of gender rigidity. The virtue of flexibility.
Advance with a sense of purpose: The law of aimlessness. The virtue of having goals.
Resist the downward pull of the group: The law of conformity. The virtue of originality.
Make them want to follow you: The law of fickleness. The virtue of steadfastness.
See the hostility behind the friendly façade: The law of aggression. The virtue of fortitude.
Seize the historical moment: The law of generational myopia. The virtue of science.
Mediate on our common morality: The law of death denial. The virtue of joy.

These are not “laws” in the same manner that we apply the term to the laws of nature. With a law of nature such as gravity, we are saying that if you do this, you will inevitably get that: if you release an object, it falls to the ground. The Laws of Human Nature are not like that.

For one, these laws don’t apply to everyone in the same way. For example, the way the law of death denial affects a person depends on his cultural and religious. In general, Christians and samurai have a “friendlier” view of death than most other people, allowing for numerous exceptions even among the most fervent. Sensitivity to a law will also depend on circumstances, moods, personal state of health and many other factors.

Second, even a person who is by nature and experience deeply affected by a law, that person still has the choice how to respond. Thus, in the face of peer pressure and the law of conformity one can ALWAYS choose NOT to conform. It will be difficult where behavior according to the law is habitual, but behavior can always change.

And third, there is an optimal response to every law under every circumstance. Thus, it is ALWAYS desirable to be long sighted rather than short-sighted, to be independent rather than conformist, and to not fear death rather than to fear it. But when we say optimal we do not point to any extreme attitude. We go back to the Golden Mean: there must be an attitude between two extremes that is “best”. That point between two extremes might change according to the circumstances, but it is clear that neither extreme is desirable.

Navigating the Golden Mean is essentially a question of virtue, and so every Law of Human Nature points to a virtue, i.e., a habitual behavior, generally a response to some stimulus. A behavior that is performed by habit is easy and often pleasurable, and if it is a good habit, will more likely bring happiness than otherwise. Therefore, according to Aristotle, it ought to be the aim of every human to seek virtue, to seek to acquire positive habits.

That, in the end, is what the Laws of Human Nature are about. They are, indeed, about getting ahead in life.

By which we mean, happy in life.

(Q.C. 230829)