Human Nature does not change.Folks laying around trying to be important since the 30's

The book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Andrew Carnegie speaks about things that people want and would not be denied. On page 19 there is a list of 8 things that people feel they have to have. In this article, I’m going to focus on number eight.

Which is a feeling of importance.

Believe me, I have seen this displayed in the lives of my family, friends, and former friends,

Here’s some quotes that emphasize need number 8

On page 20, it says:

“ If our ancestors hadn’t had the Flaming urge for feeling of importance, civilization would have been impossible. Without it, we should have been just about like animals.”

My opinion:

I completely agree with that statement: If man didn’t feel it was important for him to have advanced civilizations, tools, technology which would make his life easier, then we wouldn’t have such things as modern plumbing, electrical system, transportation, and even the internet.

But the one thing that causes a sense of importance to go wrong is, when people seek to get recognition and respect for Reckless Behavior.

Here is another quote on page 20 near the bottom :

“ It is the desire that lures many boys and girls into joining gangs and engaging in Criminal activities.

The average young criminal according to EP Mulroney one-time Police Commissioner of New York, is filled with ego and his first request after a rest is for those Lurid newspapers that make him out of hero.

The disagreeable Prospect of serving time seems remote so long as he can gloat over his likeness sharing space with pictures of sports figures, movie and TV stars and politicians.”

This is 100% true.

There are young people who will do ridiculous, heinous, Reckless acts, just So they can be internet famous. Some examples of these are

Scamming the government for covid based or unemployment based loans to then flaunt the money and what was purchased with the money on the Internet.

Relatively unknown individuals seeking to get notoriety by attacking the reputation of long-dead more famous individuals.

Self-proclaimed leaders, making inflammatory and provocative statements, garnering the attention of the masses through race-baiting and dredging up old resentments based off of racism, socio-economic inequality and police brutality.

All of this is a sense of importance with a new Name: Clout chasing.

Nearing the bottom of page 21, it says

“People sometimes become invalids in order to win sympathy and attention, and get a feeling of importance. For example, take Mrs. McKinley, she got a feeling of importance by forcing her husband, the president of the United States, to neglect important Affairs of State while he reclined on the bed beside her for hours at a time, his arm around her, soothing her to sleep.”

A former president of the United States is distracted from his demanding and incredible duties of leading a nation simply because his wife wanted more attention. His wife did not grasp the enormity of his duties. She only cared about herself.

Here’s some real life experiences I had:

I had a friend who I knew for 13 years . Despite having no medical documentation to prove the existence of an illness, insisted that he was unable to have any lasting employment because of an illness that could cause him to pass out at any time.

Me being his friend,family members, and his baby mothers all chipped in to support him.

This man received video game systems, cash,Car insurance and cell phone bill being paid.

Grocery purchases amounting to hundreds of dollars.

He had no choice but to go to work when I got tired of his crap and stopped giving him money.

Next:

A older woman whose belligerent attitude driven out nearly all members of her household, leaving her almost solitary.

The woman then begins to play mind games with remaining member of her household.

Her daughter.

The woman feigns frailty, absent-mindedness, and fear of being alone in order to keep the daughter from moving out. The daughter now has become a full time babysitter to her mom.

Selfishness on steroids.

Andrew Carnegie was a man ahead of his time. He understood the nature of people. Even though this book was written in the thirties it still illustrates one of the driving motivators behind people’s behavior that is still true today.

Once you can understand what makes a person do what they do, you can understand how to better interact with them.

On the other hand, the feeling of importance does not always have to be negative.

It can also be used to motivate a person to do positive things which not only benefit themselves, but others as well.

Why do you do the things you do?

Do you do these things to feel important?

Do you do these things to help others?

Are you Trying to show the world how great you are?

Or are you trying to help others with the knowledge and experience that you have?

Only you can know what really is important to you.

Read this post and more on my Typeshare Social Blog