"Be Yourself And Don't Care What People Think" Is Bad Advice

Bad advice that I often come across is to be yourself and not to care what people think. If you really decide not to care what people think you might become a sociopath. You may find yourself masturbating on a bench in the park, if you really really stop caring what people think.


We are social animals. We as a civilization are a super organism of hyper collaborative apes. We depend on others whether we like it or not. What people think of you is very important. Being successful is very much a process of being selected by people who were successful before you. If you want someone, like a bank, to lower down a ladder for you, then they need to like you. If you are selling a product, it will sell itself if people like you. If you want to make friends, which is even more important than being financially successful, you have to work on being a person people want to be around.


If I think about myself and the people I know 5 years ago, and another 5 years before that  and so on... the changes are enormous. I am a different person.


There is no true self carved in stone to be discovered. You have a personality, you have genetic baggage, but you also have a great ability to change. To make different choices. You have to be a good person whether it is your instinct or not. Because life is better that way. If you start behaving in a different way, consciously, it will become your new subconscious character. You can and should change yourself.


Welcome criticism from people. You were not born perfect. You are never going to be perfect. But you need to work on yourself as a lifelong project. If someone tells you they don't like your jokes or they don't like your complaining or when they point out that you are being inconsistent,... off course judge whether it is valid criticism, but be open to learn from it and change yourself and become a more likable person.


People who are honest to you, about yourself, are priceless. If you don't have people who keep you straight you might embarrass yourself without realizing. You might find yourself without a real friend in the world.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Short Guide To A Healthy Plant Based Diet

A Plant Based Diet is not a Vegan Or Vegetarian Diet. On a Plant Based Diet you get most of your nutrients from plants but allow for a small amount of animal products. If you want to skip the whole explanation, and just know what you have to do: click here for a guide to a complete vegan meal.  Though I would recommend that you inform yourself thoroughly. Fact check this post with reputable sources. I recommend some science based sources at the end of this post. Don't fall for quacks, but you need to immerse yourself in science, to recognize the quacks. If they are selling supplements, or say "everything you learned is wrong", or sell conspiracies about the food pyramid... they are probably full of manure. The following is a great resource for health related topics:  https://www.mayoclinic.org/ Click here  for a breakfast that will increase your brain power. Click here  for a 15 minute healthy meal. Eating mostly plants  is one of the most impactful things you...
Read more

Johnny Belgium’s Psychedelic Trip Guide (updated)

I started doing psychedelic drugs late in life at the age of 27 and I regret not doing them sooner. They saved me. I had a miserable life before psychedelics. I was anxious, depressed and antisocial. I was a recluse without a friend in the world. I was arguing with people in my head all day long at work, triggered by stuff on TV. I was a psychological mess. And my first LSD trip was like 20 years of therapy in one afternoon. Click here to read about my 'breakthrough' first acid trip. I have done lots of LSD and some Mushrooms. I haven’t done DMT, Ayahuasca, Mescaline,... LSD is my vice. I did MDMA twice and it made me very relaxed but also it made me very sick the day after. People often get depressed after taking XTC. I also recommend staying away from uppers or downers and sticking to psychedelics. No cocaine, no speed, no benzos or opiods like heroin or fentanyl, ... They are not good drugs. They will eff up your life. Stick to tripping if you are going to partake in drugs. ...
Read more

Why Human Overpopulation Is Real

If you discuss human overpopulation online, you can expect to be called a Malthusian, an ecofascist, a racist, anti-civilization, or anti-human. People will also often tell you to kill yourself. What is more pro-human than telling people to kill themselves?  I reject the notion that I am a Malthusian. Because I haven’t read Malthus. A guy who died almost 200 years ago is not the reason I believe in overpopulation. Yet people insist I am a Malthusian, and Malthus was wrong, therefore I am wrong. Have they read Malthus themselves? Unlikely.  Here's a tip, if you counter a statement of fact with "you are a..." it is probably an 'ad hominem fallacy', also known as 'a personal attack'. I think there are two ways in which we are overpopulated. One is a matter of values: We are eradicating nature and for some nature is sacred. The other is the question of whether we can sustain our numbers. For me personally, I see no point of bringing a child onto an essentially...
Read more