The above interesting post analyzes the character of Trump from an evolutionary standpoint. Trump apparently has no fixed stance on core issues except for "America First" which is a proclaimed vision and not his value.
There is a general belief that man ought to have character and values that are strong and hence to some extent non-negotiable.
Another other way to lead life, like animals do, is to have a personal goal (eat and procreate) with little in the way of values.
Spencer Johnson, in Who Moved My Cheese takes a view that supports moving to where the cheese is. Of course there is no point looking for cheese where it isn't available. But I believe the correct interpretation of the story is that one should constantly optimize the search for cheese.
Trump does that. He moves to where the cheese is unrestrained by any rules. Is this not how animals flourished?
Trump does that. He moves to where the cheese is unrestrained by any rules. Is this not how animals flourished?
Cheese being a metaphor for what you want a lot of.
An article
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hes-a-gut-politician-trumps-go-to-negotiating-tactics-not-working-in-shutdown-standoff/2019/01/09/c7bb5ff2-142b-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html) in Washington Post says this "President Trump has long said that keeping opponents off balance is the best way to win a negotiation."
This behavior is not illegal but seems immoral and it's part of Trump's arsenal to get cheese. It's immoral because, in exchange for money, he doesn't use only goods or services that he provides in exchange - but he uses intangible items such as keeping people off-balance while negotiating a contract. He creates a better offer for himself when he keeps people off balance.
When we blackmail people we do the same, that is keep people off balance. We will come back to this later
When we blackmail people we do the same, that is keep people off balance. We will come back to this later
In a human society we are caught between looking for cheese on one hand and anchoring ourselves to "things" (maybe our values) on the other. Which of these two is the right way? Hang on to our values while facing starvation or go for cheese at the expense of our values?
I have assumed that going for cheese is inextricably linked to a violation of (our) values. Is this assumption unwarranted? When we are sharply focused on cheese (the end), aren't we violating values (means)? Can you be the best cheese "getter" if you wouldn't violate your values?
Some humans are driven by getting cheese. Some are driven by values. It's a rare person that can do both.
I interpreted Nathan Lents as saying that animals and humans are punished when
- They relentlessly, at the cost of others of their species, pursue cheese. And
- When their numbers increase beyond a cutoff limit. Beyond this limit, the rest of the species get together to snub these cheese getters out.
What I gather is that focusing on cheese is a great strategy (whether anyone can choose to be like a Trump or whether Trumps are wired to be that way is a different matter) so long as there aren't too many of them.
Yossarian's thought in Catch-22 that "if you won't chase cheese then someone else will grab it and you will lose out and hence in order not to be a sucker, you have to chase cheese" may be fine so long as the number of such cheese chasers don't exceed a certain limit.
By cheese chasers, I refer to people that chase at any cost.
As per the blog post by Nathan Lents, mentioned at the top of this post, there seems to exist a quota for such cheese chasing. Once the limit is exceeded, cheese chasers would be punished. Would it happen in their lifetime or over hundreds of years (evolutionarily), I have no idea.
I come now take up the issue of immorality which I touched upon earlier. Philosophically, what can you do if your self actualization comes from chasing cheese? Trump does it one way. The fictional character Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged did it another way. Hank adhered to one set of morals - that he will never take anything for free nor give anything for free. Even Trump could claim the same thing. Trump negotiates and that doesn't mean he gets things for free.
When we keep people off balance we short change them. Rearden made people pay more for his metal. Trump tries to make people pay more by keeping them off balance. Both Trump and Rearden are insensitive to others' concerns. They are focused only on getting their cheese.
Could Rearden also be considered a NS? If yes and if there were many Reardens, would society conspire to put them in their place (just as Nathan Lents mentions about NS)?
If self actualization is our goal in life, can we really constraint it with morals and our impact on others? Are Narcissistic Sociopaths (NS) to be denied self actualization? The quest for self actualization doesn't understand artificial borders and constructs such as America, Russia. If self actualization required that Trump collude with Russia then so be it.
Does it mean that society cannot accept more than a certain quantum of people actively operating in the self actualization mode? If that were the case, self actualization can necessarily not be an achievable goal for more than a small fraction of mankind.
In this post, I started with a macro concept about the evolutionary success of a NS such as Trump as explained by Nathan Lents. I tried to explain Trump's behavior as essentially chasing cheese.
Then I tried to explain how Ayn Rand's character Hank Rearden could also be considered a NS because he also chased cheese relentlessly. Ayn Rand's philosophy is at a micro level which she details through her heroes.
Then I theorized that cheese chasing is essentially an act of self actualization. And that Cheese chasing is an act of NS.
Finally, I concluded that self actualization as acted out by NS cannot be achieved by most of mankind, based on evolutionary theory.
Addional reading
By cheese chasers, I refer to people that chase at any cost.
As per the blog post by Nathan Lents, mentioned at the top of this post, there seems to exist a quota for such cheese chasing. Once the limit is exceeded, cheese chasers would be punished. Would it happen in their lifetime or over hundreds of years (evolutionarily), I have no idea.
I come now take up the issue of immorality which I touched upon earlier. Philosophically, what can you do if your self actualization comes from chasing cheese? Trump does it one way. The fictional character Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged did it another way. Hank adhered to one set of morals - that he will never take anything for free nor give anything for free. Even Trump could claim the same thing. Trump negotiates and that doesn't mean he gets things for free.
When we keep people off balance we short change them. Rearden made people pay more for his metal. Trump tries to make people pay more by keeping them off balance. Both Trump and Rearden are insensitive to others' concerns. They are focused only on getting their cheese.
Could Rearden also be considered a NS? If yes and if there were many Reardens, would society conspire to put them in their place (just as Nathan Lents mentions about NS)?
If self actualization is our goal in life, can we really constraint it with morals and our impact on others? Are Narcissistic Sociopaths (NS) to be denied self actualization? The quest for self actualization doesn't understand artificial borders and constructs such as America, Russia. If self actualization required that Trump collude with Russia then so be it.
Does it mean that society cannot accept more than a certain quantum of people actively operating in the self actualization mode? If that were the case, self actualization can necessarily not be an achievable goal for more than a small fraction of mankind.
In this post, I started with a macro concept about the evolutionary success of a NS such as Trump as explained by Nathan Lents. I tried to explain Trump's behavior as essentially chasing cheese.
Then I tried to explain how Ayn Rand's character Hank Rearden could also be considered a NS because he also chased cheese relentlessly. Ayn Rand's philosophy is at a micro level which she details through her heroes.
Then I theorized that cheese chasing is essentially an act of self actualization. And that Cheese chasing is an act of NS.
Finally, I concluded that self actualization as acted out by NS cannot be achieved by most of mankind, based on evolutionary theory.
Addional reading
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201706/do-you-have-be-self-centered-be-self-actualized
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/it-totally-belittled-the-moment-many-look-back-in-anger-at-trumps-tossing-of-paper-towels-in-puerto-rico/2018/09/13/8a3647d2-b77e-11e8-a2c5-3187f427e253_story.html
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