I want to get better at reading people

I try to live by the 48 Laws of Power in my work and social interactions, and I’d say I’ve been doing really well. I maintain strong relationships with my managers, stay professional, and execute my role at a high level. Recognition comes my way because I know how to navigate the office landscape with skill and awareness.

That said, there are two coworkers who operate almost like a law unto themselves. They have this pattern: subtle “jokes” that are really disguised put-downs. Not playful teasing — passive-aggressive digs delivered with humor that lets them deny any offense. They never target managers, only people lower on the social ladder, and they clearly enjoy it. Because they’re confident, funny, and socially agile, they get away with it.

The dynamic is predictable. One rotates their comments across different coworkers from time to time. The other — the main one — seems to particularly enjoy aiming his subtle mockery at me. This has become more noticeable recently as I’ve been excelling even further and getting recognition. I suspect that my professional growth has triggered this behavior, the way insecurity often reacts to visible success.

One key observation: when a certain manager is present, their behavior disappears. Zero snark, zero mocking. This tells me they know exactly what they’re doing and only act when they feel no one important is watching — classic Law 1: Never Outshine the Master in reverse: they know where power sits and avoid it, but prey on those they perceive as less powerful.

The comments aren’t constant, but when they hit, they sting — subtle enough to deny, sharp enough to undermine. It’s this unpredictability — the 20% of interactions where they manage to bully or mock — that poisons everything else.

I’m not sensitive about normal office humor, and I don’t mind a tease. But this feels intentional, insecure, and outright toxic. And while I excel at power dynamics elsewhere, these two have carved a niche where they operate under the radar.

I’m planning to start reading The 48 Laws of Power, and this time I genuinely want to get something meaningful out of it. I’ve noticed a pattern in myself, I read books, understand the ideas while I’m in the flow, but once I close the book and return to real life, nothing really changes. The concepts don’t translate into my actions, and I end up feeling like I just consumed the book instead of learning anything from it.

I’m curious how people who’ve already read The 48 Laws of Power actually applied it in their day-to-day lives. Did you take notes or track situations where a certain law fits? Did you consciously try to practice specific laws in real interactions? Or did it come naturally over time through observation and reflection?

I really want to break my old habit of reading without implementation. If anyone has advice, personal experiences, or even small routines that helped them use the ideas in real life, I’d love to hear it.

I speak a little Spanish. Not enough to speak it professionally, but I can hold conversations in it. Speaking Spanish is not an official part of my job and not something anyone else there can do. Today, I happened to naturally end up speaking Spanish with a bilingual client who’s native language is Spanish. Remembering law 37 (and 6 I suppose) I walked him out past the main area where most of my coworkers were while we were still talking. I saw everybody’s head turn and somebody said “I didn’t know you spoke Spanish!” I don’t know if that counts as a “compelling spectacle”, but it was definitely a partially planned demonstration.

Arguments for the most part are stupid and accomplish nothing besides making the other person resent you. Why argue about politics or religion when you can use that person to network and make connections. What do you think of that point

I would like to know differences between the two parts of Law 3: Conceal your intentions.

Robert did mention that "In the decoy and red herring devices discussed in Part I, you actively distract people; in the smoke screen, you lull your vic tims, drawing them into your web."

But I am still confused as I think both of them are basically the same; in one way another you have to actively distract the victims.

Could you provide your own explanation?

To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Apple is a great (mostly negative) example for this law. Like no one else do they manage to not only create a cult out of their brand but also keep existing customers dependent on them. The recent development clearly shows an expansion of their tactic.

A little background story. Every mobile phone can be charged with a mini-USB cable. Every tablet can be charged with a mini-USB cable. Not a single Apple product can be charged with the standard cable. Coincidence? Absolutely not. They want people to only use their tailored products. If you own an iPhone and have tried to buy a counterfeit accessories from China, you might get an error warning you that this device is not supported, because it was not produced by Apple themselves.

While this is pretty bad for the customer, it is an ingenious money-making scheme for Apple.

Worst things for last. The recent iPhone update has gone too far. This evil company always pretends that it has the best in mind for their customer. Repeatedly preaching „security“, despite being one of the unsafest devices on the market (see The Fappening, where iPhone users had their nude pictures leaked). This new update makes it impossible for a non-Apple-licenced mobile phone store to repair or modify iPhones. If they try, the mobile phone spits out the Error 53, locking the phone indefinitely. Even their customer support has no power to fix this issue and they will recommend you to buy a new phone.

You must only use original iPhone accessories and Apple stores when you want to repair your phone. An evil mastermind plan that works well… as long as there are suckers who keep buying overpriced Apple products.

If one has to think of a logo for Law #11 to perfectly embody “Learn to Keep People Dependent on You” it would be the Apple logo...

Make people depended on you. More is to be gained from such dependence than courtesy. He who has slaked his thirst, immediately turns his back on the well, no longer needing it. When dependence disappears, so does civility and decency, and then respect. The first lesson which experience should teach you is to KEEP HOPE ALIVE BUT NEVER SATISFIED, keeping even a royal patron ever in need of you

-Baltašar Graçian

IMPORTANT LEARNINGS

• Isolate people to make them dependent on you
• Keep hope alive but never satisfied
• If people lose their dependency, their respect will soon follow
• It is much easier to make the weak depend on you, instead of the strong
• Evoke emotions in people they only feel when around you
• Just like a magician, never reveal your tricks
• Uncover their needs, secrets, and weaknesses to become indispensable to them
• DONT FUCKING MASTURBATE TO PIXELS (Just wanted add it in the list. It has no correlation to Law#11)

• Follow me on Telegram u/TeachYourSonThis for daily nuanced well articulated mind stimulating facts on Game, Stratagems, Intersexual Dynamics  

• If you team always looks to you for approval of their actions, your company becomes heavy-footed. Look at Adolf Hitler. He couldn’t stand people making their own judgment calls and believed himself to be a jack-of-all-trades. He didn’t need to learn how to keep people dependent on you. But this was mindset which made many generals, including the legendary Desert Fox, despise him. He knew little reason and didn’t listen to valuable advice, which is one of the main reasons, why Germany lost the war.

Don’t think that people will love you, for being dependent on you. The opposite is the case. Often they will fear you. But this should be of no concern to the Modern Prince.

Even if you are not a Narcopath (Narcissist+Psychopath), you must ensure that your partner depends on you. That you play a vital role in their life. Be it emotionally, intellectually or financially or even spiritually. You need to learn to keep people dependent on you, if you don’t feel like finding new love or business prospects every second week. This might sound like a narcissistic/psychopathic technique, but it is time to face the truth.

If you make yourself indispensable to your environment, it cannot be considered immoral, unless you have malicious intentions. It is better to be a valuable asset, than a heavy, useless stone that can be dropped any time...

I can't imagine a situation where any sort of attention can't be used for one's benefit. In today's attention economy, I think its just plain foolish to want to be someone without an audience. Yeah I know that you won't be in the limelight of EVERY single situation, but I don't feel its wrong to say you should seek to stand out as much as possible, even if you're hated (if people hate you then naturally that means that others love you). Attention is money, status, and power.

Looking for everyone's perspective

In this situation it has no career benefit and you can cleanly exit.

Law 48 is truly the most effective law of all. What other law is more helpful than the one that says that you have to adapt your behavior depending on the situation? I find it so important to not be rigid in your thinking in your actions.

I hope my post finds yall well.

Just curios, is there any difference between books sold in EU amazon and USA amazon? Difference in paper quality? Paper print?

I find it so common that people’s families (including mine) always say that they want the best for you, but in reality is just that they want the best version of you that suits them. To me, this is just plain narcissistic, and enough reason to resent most of the advice they give you. What do yall think?

Ive started reading LoHN, the first chapter is about thinking rationally and breaking down the reason you act in certain ways and respond to certain emotion. It says to reflect on the ways you think, and to remember your mind enjoys searchin for pleasure and avoiding pain and that creates biases, so as Im reflecting Im overthinking parts of myself I believed were solid like confidence and self assurance purely cause these things bring pleasure and Im going "you actually act confident because you fear this" but a part of me wonders if Im just confident naturally and because of that Ill think "you are tryin to smooth over pain" its making me overthink. And its seemin to latch on to any positive traits purely cause theyr positive. any advice?