Great Genius Insights into Everything

Principles of Freedom in Dealing with Government

“The first principle in dealing with government, then, is: Don’t be awed by it. What little the government achieves is almost always due to the voluntary participation of its citizens. Those who don’t want to help the government can go their own ways without running into much trouble.

The second principle is: Don’t confront the government. A sure way to make your life miserable is to attack the government head on. Its resources are limited, and it can’t waste them tracking down every possible violator of every law. But it will certainly aim its power at anyone who publicly defies it. So keep to yourself, do what you have to do.

The third rule in dealing with government is: Don’t organize. Don’t get a large group of people together to defy tax laws, promote ways of circumventing the government, or openly violate regulations. By joining protests, you might wind up in jail. And you won’t have much freedom there. And mass campaigns are easy targets. That’s where the government is likely to devote its limited resources. When many people are doing the same thing, it’s easy to stop them by passing laws or by applying existing laws against them. When you act alone, however, you’re usually not worth the trouble.

And when you act alone, you can flexibly do whatever is necessary to stay ahead of the government. If new laws are passed, you can change your methods to continue doing what you want to do. No cumbersome, bureaucratic government can move as fast as an individual who’s determined to stay ahead of it.”

- How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (Harry Browne)

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Principles that Keep Good Relationships Alive

“We’ll explore the general principles that can keep good relationships from falling apart.

There are three principles that I find helpful to remember:

1. Don’t think in terms of groups. As we saw in the Group Trap chapter, groups don’t think, act, or have motivations; only individuals do. It’s misleading to think of a group as being of one mind and purpose. Each individual is different from every other individual.

2. Limit the relationship to what you have in common. Don’t expect more from the relationship than what is in the self-interest of each person involved. When you extend the relationship beyond the areas of mutual self-interest, someone will have to sacrifice.

3. Don’t attempt to perpetuate a relationship by contract. Change is inevitable. Alternatives, knowledge, and desires change. Any relationship should last only as long as it’s beneficial to each party. If an individual is required to continue in a relationship past the time it’s beneficial to him, he loses. And it won’t be possible for him to satisfy the needs of anyone else in the relationship if he’s acting out of duty and not enthusiasm.

Each relationship should be taken on its own merits. The relationship should evolve as it will — with no preconceived goals, structure, expectations, or rules.

If you find a friend that’s closer to you than anyone you’ve known, don’t get carried away and try to impose your separate, different tastes upon him. If you fall in love, don’t expect that every interest, every decision, and every value will be exactly the same between you. If you can accept the differences that exist between you and those you care for, you can make the most of what you have together. If you try to overcome the differences, you’ll only make it harder to enjoy the things you do have together.

Perhaps the three principles can be summed up as one important principle: Let others be free. Don’t try to tie them down with obligations, loyalties, duties, commitments, or appeals for sympathy. Make it your policy that you don’t expect anyone to do what isn’t in his self-interest.

Your freedom and the freedom of those you deal with are equally important to you. If people come to you because they freely want to, you’ll receive more genuine love, friendship, understanding, and appreciation than you could possibly get by asking for it or demanding it.”

- How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (Harry Browne)

 
The Paradox of Freedom and Monopoly in Relationships

“The answer to the problem of restrictions is to find the relationship in which they’re unnecessary. When you find someone who is not only attractive and interesting, but very appropriate to you in most every way, you won’t need restrictions. Competition will be irrelevant or absent if you find someone who wants and needs exactly what you are. The urge to restrict stems from a feeling of vulnerability — the fear that someone else might offer more of what your lover wants and take attention away from you. If there isn’t an overwhelming mutual self-interest between you and your lover, you’ll continue to have that fear — no matter what restrictions are imposed.

But if your relationship is the result of mutual understanding, mutual interests, mutual views of the world — in short, if your lover is also your best friend — you won’t need restrictions because you’ll have very little to fear. You’ll have a natural monopoly upon the attentions of your lover. And one of the ways of creating that is by letting him be free. If he can be free with you — free to say what he means, free to express his desires and secret feelings (even when they involve attraction to others), free to see whomever he chooses, free to do as he wants to do — then he’ll have less need to seek out others. He’ll be getting from you most everything he needs. You’ll be the most important person in his world.

The paradox, in a sense, is that he’ll probably stay closer to home if you don’t demand that he stay home. If you have a natural monopoly, access to others will be valuable to the relationship. For the more your lover associates with others, the more he’ll be aware that he gets much more from you than he can get from them. Only by being with others can he see that clearly. But if you restrict his relationships, the opposite can happen. At a distance, many people can appear to be attractive, appropriate — even perfect. All their virtues will beckon, but none of their drawbacks will be apparent. That’s an undesirable position for you to be in; you’re being unrealistically compared with an ideal image. Let him go and find that out for himself.”

- How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (Harry Browne)

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Myths and Facts about Introverts

Myth #1 – Introverts don’t like to talk.

This is not true. Introverts just don’t talk unless they have something to say. They hate small talk. Get an introvert talking about something they are interested in, and they won’t shut up for days.

Myth #2 – Introverts are shy.

Shyness has nothing to do with being an Introvert. Introverts are not necessarily afraid of people. What they need is a reason to interact. They don’t interact for the sake of interacting. If you want to talk to an Introvert, just start talking. Don’t worry about being polite.

Myth #3 – Introverts are rude.

Introverts often don’t see a reason for beating around the bush with social pleasantries. They want everyone to just be real and honest. Unfortunately, this is not acceptable in most settings, so Introverts can feel a lot of pressure to fit in, which they find exhausting.

Myth #4 – Introverts don’t like people.

On the contrary, Introverts intensely value the few friends they have. They can count their close friends on one hand. If you are lucky enough for an introvert to consider you a friend, you probably have a loyal ally for life. Once you have earned their respect as being a person of substance, you’re in.

Myth #5 – Introverts don’t like to go out in public.

Nonsense. Introverts just don’t like to go out in public FOR AS LONG. They also like to avoid the complications that are involved in public activities. They take in data and experiences very quickly, and as a result, don’t need to be there for long to “get it.” They’re ready to go home, recharge, and process it all. In fact, recharging is absolutely crucial for Introverts.

Myth #6 – Introverts always want to be alone.

Introverts are perfectly comfortable with their own thoughts. They think a lot. They daydream. They like to have problems to work on, puzzles to solve. But they can also get incredibly lonely if they don’t have anyone to share their discoveries with. They crave an authentic and sincere connection with ONE PERSON at a time.

Myth #7 – Introverts are weird.

Introverts are often individualists. They don’t follow the crowd. They’d prefer to be valued for their novel ways of living. They think for themselves and because of that, they often challenge the norm. They don’t make most decisions based on what is popular or trendy.

Myth #8 – Introverts are aloof nerds.

Introverts are people who primarily look inward, paying close attention to their thoughts and emotions. It’s not that they are incapable of paying attention to what is going on around them, it’s just that their inner world is much more stimulating and rewarding to them.

Myth #9 – Introverts don’t know how to relax and have fun.

Introverts typically relax at home or in nature, not in busy public places. Introverts are not thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies. If there is too much talking and noise going on, they shut down. Their brains are too sensitive to the neurotransmitter called Dopamine. Introverts and Extroverts have different dominant neuro-pathways. Just look it up.

Myth #10 – Introverts can fix themselves and become Extroverts.

A world without Introverts would be a world with few scientists, musicians, artists, poets, filmmakers, doctors, mathematicians, writers, and philosophers. That being said, there are still plenty of techniques an Extrovert can learn in order to interact with Introverts. (Yes, I reversed these two terms on purpose to show you how biased our society is.) Introverts cannot “fix themselves” and deserve respect for their natural temperament and contributions to the human race. In fact, one study (Silverman, 1986) showed that the percentage of Introverts increases with IQ.

Source: http://www.carlkingdom.com/10-myths-about-introverts

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