{"id":32806,"date":"2018-08-11T20:54:32","date_gmt":"2018-08-11T18:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/?p=32806"},"modified":"2020-09-26T21:55:24","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T19:55:24","slug":"ryan-holiday-on-high-agency-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/ryan-holiday-on-high-agency-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Holiday on High Agency People"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The mathematician and economist Eric Weinstein, has a category of individual he defines as a “high agency person”.\u00a0 As Eric would elaborate on Tim Ferriss’ podcast:<\/p>\n

“When you’re told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever it is that’s just told you that you can’t do something?<\/strong> So, how am I going to get past this bouncer who told me that I can’t come into this nightclub? How am I going to start a business when my credit is terrible and I have no experience?”<\/p>\n

It was Steve Jobs who once said that, “Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”<\/p>\n

Once you learn this, he said, you’ll never be the same again.<\/p>\n

People have spoken of Jobs’ “reality distortion field<\/strong>” and this is really what it was. He believed more in his own agency – his own power to change and affect things – than he did in conventional wisdom or other people”s opinions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But this idea of agency is a controversial one today. Most of discourse is marked with shibboleths that reveal our doubts about agency. We speak of privileges and systemic biases. We talk of our problems as if they are intractable, overwhelming and malevolently created. Even on the extreme right, there is an obsession with biological differences between sexes and races, about whether one gender or another is naturally better at this or that. Again, these are simply averages that have nothing to do with individuals. Our focus on it all, from either side, is a way of subtly erasing agency. We emphasise where we are disempowered rather than opportunities for empowerment.<\/p>\n

The line from Hannibal when he was told that crossing the Alps was impossible: Aut inveniam viam aut faciam. I shall either find a way or make one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is what high agency individuals do. This is how they respond to bad odds, to big doubts, or frustrating situations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

https:\/\/journal.thriveglobal.com\/are-you-a-high-agency-person-how-to-respond-when-you-hear-no-db3cafff6b1d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The mathematician and economist Eric Weinstein, has a category of individual he defines as a “high agency person”.\u00a0 As Eric would elaborate on Tim Ferriss’ podcast: “When you’re told that something is impossible, is that the end of the conversation, or does that start a second dialogue in your mind, how to get around whoever … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[130,34,39,11,295,42,25],"tags":[300,296],"class_list":["post-32806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-psychology","category-contemporary-culture","category-history","category-miscellaneous","category-principles","category-psychology","category-words","tag-processed","tag-published"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prY0k-8x8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8271,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/the-downside-of-stories\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":0},"title":"The Downside of Stories","author":"Limbic","date":"January 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting speech on \"the heuristic narratological basis of self-delusion\",\u00a0 \"the stories and metaphors we seduce ourselves with\". Transcript is here: http:\/\/lesswrong.com\/r\/discussion\/lw\/8w1\/transcript_tyler_cowen_on_stories\/ Here is one extract from the transcript. Another set of stories that are popular - if you know Oliver Stone movies or Michael Moore movies. You can't make a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37593,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/dark-triad-wikipedia\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":1},"title":"Dark triad – Wikipedia","author":"Limbic","date":"April 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The dark triad is a subject in psychology that focuses on three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy Use of the term \"dark\" implies that people possessing these traits have malevolent qualities","rel":"","context":"In "psychology evil security self-defence psychopaths"","block_context":{"text":"psychology evil security self-defence psychopaths","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/psychology-evil-security-self-defence-psychopaths\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2744,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/the-great-evolutionary-psychologist-dr-david-buss-is-interviewed\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":2},"title":"The great Evolutionary Psychologist Dr. David Buss is interviewed…","author":"Limbic","date":"February 18, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Courage, Not Denial: An Interview with Dr. David Buss BC: Why does evolutionary psychology evoke such strong reactions in people? I\u2019ve noted that when I discuss basic principles with those who have never heard of it before I am met with either enthusiasm or anger. There seems to be little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32856,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/the-russel-conjugation\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":3},"title":"The Russel Conjugation","author":"Limbic","date":"November 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Eric R. Weinstein on The Russel Conjugation: \u201cThe basic principle of Russell Conjugation is that the human mind is constantly looking ahead well beyond what is true or false to ask \u201cWhat is the social consequence of accepting the facts as they are?\u201d\u00a0 While this line of thinking is obviously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthropology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthropology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/science\/anthropology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31937,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/moral-foundations-theory\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":4},"title":"Moral Foundations Theory","author":"Limbic","date":"December 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I was just reminded of Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory, something I first encountered in The Righteous Mind. Moral Foundations Theory was created by a group of social and cultural psychologists to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Business Psychology"","block_context":{"text":"Business Psychology","link":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/category\/business\/business-psychology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16769,"url":"https:\/\/www.limbicnutrition.com\/blog\/rise-of-the-expert-generalist\/","url_meta":{"origin":32806,"position":5},"title":"Rise of the Expert Generalist","author":"Limbic","date":"August 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Enjoyed this profile of Charlie Munger on Medium, especially the description of the Expert Generalist, a rival to the 10,000 hour specialist: The Rise Of The Expert-Generalist The rival argument to the 10,000 hour rule is the expert-generalist approach. 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