Assholes
Don't take this personally*, but assholes seem to be everywhere lately, and we need a rigorous theory to account for and deal with them. In the spirit of the mega-selling On Bullshit, philosopher Aaron James has done just that, providing us all** (in Aristotelian terms) with some much-needed catharsis. *Unless you happen to be Donald Trump or Kanye West or Dick Cheney, in which case you may take it personally. **Unless you are a real asshole yourself.
Stats for nerds
1recommend
10mentions
2people
2012–2020years
90% recommend10% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yes, unfortunately. See "Assholes, a Theory", by Aaron James, a serious book on this topic.
- Compare "Assholes, a theory", which is a serious book.[1] It could be subtitled "Why Sociopaths Get Ahead".
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Assholes-Theory-Aaron-James/dp/080417...
- Summary: "We commonly misinterpret displays of confidence as a sign of competence".
See "Assholes, a Theory" (2014). Despite the title, this is a serious book and well worth reading.
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Assholes-Theory-Aaron-James/dp/080417...
- Recommended reading: "Assholes, a Theory", by Aaron James. This is a serious analysis of asshole behavior and why society rewards it. The latter is the key point. There are benefits to being an asshole in some organizations.
- "A rock star likes to be the center of attention."
That describes many CEOs and founders. The VC system today values the glib attention-seeker. So does Kickstarter, where the video of the presenter is often more important than the product. Society as a whole today rewards the attention-seeker. There was a time when self-promotion was considered an embarrassing lower-class trait, associated with door to door salesmen and such. Today, we have Donald Trump.
"Attention seeking" and "asshole" are independent. Making your organization asshole-resistant can be worthwhile. Read "Assholes, A Theory", by Aaron James. There are people who want attention but aren't assholes; many actors are like that. There are assholes who don't want attention, just power - they're found in dysfunctional organizations.
- Recommended reading: "Assholes, A Theory".[1] A serious study of the rewards and effects of being an asshole.
(I gave a copy of this to a friend who's an attorney for a major Silicon Valley law firm, and she found it explained some of the people she had to deal with.)
[1] http://www.amazon.com/Assholes-Theory-Aaron-James/dp/0804171...
Related
Bobos in paradise
4 recommend · 12
The imagineers of war
5 recommend · 7
2017–2026
The chickenshit club
25 recommend · 49
Bullshit Jobs
159 recommend · 628
Atomic Habits
191 recommend · 386
The asshole survival guide
2 recommend · 2
The No Asshole Rule
17 recommend · 40
