Robert Greene is a modern sage, dispensing timeless wisdom that echoes through the ages. His books illuminate the persistent truths governing human nature across the currents of time. Greene’s latest work, The Laws of Human Nature, may be his magnum opus – a probing examination of our deepest unconscious drives and motivations.

Why Greene Wrote The Laws of Human Nature

Greene reveals he wrote The Laws of Human Nature out of a sense of anger and frustration with society’s current direction. Specifically, he’s alarmed by our blindness to human psychology in the technology age. 

Despite exponential leaps in material progress, Greene sees fundamental social skills deteriorating. Our omnipresent devices increasingly distract people from noticing others around them. We’ve lost touch with the visual cues, body language, and unspoken words that comprise the primal human language.

As Greene states, “We are the preeminent social animal on the planet, yet we’re increasingly self-absorbed and detached from each other.” We’ve gained the world through our tools, while losing our natural soul.

Even those atop the social hierarchy who Greene consults – CEOs, politicians, celebrities – often prove woefully incompetent at basic human judgment. They cannot discern trustworthy partners or allies, attracting abusers and opportunists. Modernity breeds material wealth yet impoverishes our ancestral social faculties.

Greene wrote The Laws of Human Nature as a corrective to this modern myopia. He exposes the unconscious forces governing relationships and decisions. The book provides a timeless guide to mastering interpersonal skills society increasingly neglects.

The Inner Jungles: Greene’s 18 Primal Human Drivers 

While civilization elevated humans above the beasts, it did not exorcise our primal instincts – only repressed them. Greene argues that acknowledging and understanding these primal undercurrents is essential to overcoming them.

He identifies 18 primal human drives that influence behavior outside our conscious awareness. These include:

Irrationality – Greene notes we view ourselves as eminently rational. In truth, raw emotions govern our decision-making, not cold reason. The path to higher reason begins by admitting how often “lizard brain” impulses rule.

Social comparison – Our primal coding compels us to constantly compare our status to others. Envy and validation-seeking are deeply ingrained but often unrecognized causes of dissatisfaction. Social media now dangerously fuels these tendencies.  

Contagious emotions – Long before language, early humans evolved to seamlessly transmit emotions among the group. Greene discusses how “viral” emotions still sway our behaviors, independent of rationality.

Short sightedness – Human’s limited temporal focus causes much individual and societal damage. Sacrificing long-term gains for immediate gratification is a primal curse.

Plus 14 additional drivers, encompassing ego, grandiosity, self-sabotage, innate prejudices, and personality quirks shaped through our life experiences and genetics. Greene’s map illuminates territories of the psyche forgotten yet vital to navigate. 

Greene stresses that shining light on our primal darkness is the first step in commanding its power instead of being ruled by it unconsciously. Self-knowledge precedes self-mastery.

The Lost Art of Focused Observation 

Today attention spans fray rapidly, scarcely noticing fellow humans sharing our streets and screens let alone reading their unspoken depths. Greene argues that recapturing this lost art of observation provides the key to decoding our primal nature. 

He shares the story of his hero in human observation – psychologist Milton Erickson. After contracting polio that paralyzed his body at age 17, Erickson passed years confined in bed honing his observation skills. He became so skilled at deciphering the meaning behind facial expressions, gestures, and tones of voice that others thought he could literally read minds.

Erickson embodied the zenith of primal human social attunement. For most of our evolution, nonverbal cues and signals were our exclusive language. Greene argues this sixth sense erodes without the patient watchfulness Erickson practiced. But anyone can rediscover it through purposeful attention, as Erickson proved. His story represents the timeless truth that all skill rises from focused practice.

Overcoming Tragedy Through Growth Mindset

Greene also shares a deeply personal account of using The Laws of Human Nature’s principles to overcome his recent stroke. Though initially filled with frustration and uncertainty during his rehabilitation, he consciously adopted an attitude of resilience.

He accepted the limits of his current circumstance but committed to rebuilding his capacities through creative effort. He focused on the opportunity for growth, as after any disruption. Greene let go of disabling emotions by embracing life as-is, without judgments – a perspective encapsulated in the phrase amor fati (love of one’s fate).       

Green also found liberation by accepting worst-case scenarios. Having produced his life’s work, he felt eerily fearless. By facing and moving through mortality fears, we gain calmness and purpose. We stop squandering present moments when realizing how fleeting they are.

Self-Mastery: Unlocking Latent Potential in Life’s Second Half

Greene ultimately wrote The Laws of Human Nature as a guide to self-actualization. He aims to impart the constructive self-knowledge missing from traditional schooling. We cannot summon our gifts while blind to our faults.

The journey requires bearing uncomfortable truths about human nature before finding liberation through higher truths. Our meaning-making stories mask insecurities, our social masks conceal fears of exposure, and our judgments of others often reflect shame and envy we haven’t faced within ourselves.

Yet Greene is an optimist at heart, believing we all contain vast untapped talents. He seeks to liberate readers from the primal illusions and programs limiting their possibilities. The purpose of wisdom is freeing our greatest individual potential.

Greene also emphasizes that life’s meaning and purpose are created through the second half of life. Developing self-awareness and mastery take time. Greene aims to prepare readers for the satisfying pursuits that come from knowing oneself deeply.

Mastering Lost Social Arts

Today’s distractible digital age threatens to further erode pivotal human skills for reading others. Greene’s book provides a timeless guide for reclaiming these social arts. He spurs readers to become more conscious and present in their relationships.

Greene reveals the unwritten laws governing interpersonal dynamics outside our normal awareness. By vigilantly observing others, their meaning becomes steadily clearer. We evolve from an unconscious rote existence to one of intention and discernment.

In short, Greene wrote The Laws of Human Nature to provide the social wisdom lacking in modern life. These principles empower readers to become master psychologists. By understanding primal drives in themselves and others, they gain self-mastery and social mastery.

A Modern Masterwork Exposing Eternal Truths 

Greene’s brilliance lies in identifying timeless patterns that influence human relationships beyond passing cultural fads. Our primal nature changes slowly while our rational minds adapt rapidly. Greene guides readers to what endures.

He distills insights from the great philosophers, poets, skeptics, and observers of humanity throughout the ages. The excerpts he curates form a mosaic illuminating our shared condition. In capturing what unites us all, Greene paradoxically reveals how we each differ. Our individuality blossoms once we embrace commonalities all humans share.

Greene’s magnum opus explores terrain where psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and evolutionary theory intersect. It represents the summation of his life’s work studying heroes and villains who achieved improbable triumphs or sank to extremes from similar primal tendencies. In examining masters and monsters, Greene prescribes how to become the former while avoiding the pitfalls of the latter.

The Laws of Human Nature provides an eminently rich body of wisdom for understanding ourselves and others at the deepest levels. Greene aims not just to enlighten intellectually but to empower in service of living wisely. The journey is challenging yet immensely rewarding for those who undertake it with courage and gratitude.