One of the problems entrepreneurs face is having too many options, too much time, and too little focus. This calls for you to imagine that you don’t have infinite time, that you have one bullet left in your pistol. Everyone around you is pointing at different targets. Everyone thinks that their target is the most … Read more
It is not the quality of the desired object that gives us pleasure, but rather the energy of our appetites. —CHARLES BAUDELAIRE, THE END OF DON JUAN Don’t waste your time chasing after someone who is too difficult to be seduced, but don’t go for easy targets either. Pick your targets carefully, don’t rush in. … Read more
The Victims of Seduction Everyone is a potential victim of seduction, but you must first identify the type of victim you are dealing with to know how to approach them. A timid person may yearn to play the star; a prude may long for a transgressive thrill. Never try to seduce your own type. Robert … Read more
But if, like the winter cat upon the hearth, the lover clings when he is dismissed, and cannot bear to go, certain means must be taken to make him understand; and these should be progressively ruder and ruder, until they touch him to the quick of his flesh. She should refuse him the bed, and … Read more
The Star is a fetishized object. Most people are too complex, reactive, and moody to let us see them as objects. The Star’s power is that they can become an object, and see themselves as one. Hollywood had found ways to unite the entire country around certain themes, or myths—often the great American myth of … Read more
The Charismatic seducer is the type that enters a room and steals the attention. It is not always obvious what makes them charismatic, it could be the smoothness of their use of language, their self-confidence, the fire in their eyes. But it is always natural, a gift from the gods, something outside their control. People … Read more
As one English princess remarked, “When I left the dining room after sitting next to Mr. Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But after sitting next to Mr. Disraeli, I thought I was the cleverest woman in England.” The Charmer is a type that plays on people’s vanity and insecurity to … Read more
Nassim Taleb gave a brief interview on risk and made some good points. I summarize them below. Practice Risk-Taking, not Risk Management The people who dominate the field of risk management are ‘empty suits’ who don’t understand the concept of risk. These people take many fat tail risks (that may ruin them) and not … Read more
The ultimate art in seduction is delaying pleasure. Coquettes are masters at waiting, orchestrating constant movement between hope and frustration. They bait with the promise of reward (physical pleasure, happiness, power), but since it is elusive – it will make the target pursue it more intensely. Coquettes seem self-sufficient, they don’t need you, and this … Read more
We think of childhood as a golden paradise, and we consciously or unconsciously try to re-recreate it. The Natural embodies the lost qualities of the child: spontaneity, sincerity, unpretentiousness. We feel at ease in their presence, hypnotized by their playfulness. We want to protect them and help them. Much about them is natural, but some … Read more