Notes on The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

When a dear friend read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, he said it reminded him of me. When he read The Jailbroken Guide to the University, he told me I should definitely read the book.

So, I did.

Franklin figured out life, and that’s what his book is about.

There are many important lessons, but the most important ones for me are: (1) do not confute people, (2) present your ideas as public-spirited proposals, and (3) the fastest way for a poor or unknown person to rise is not talent or luck, but being so honest and reliable that powerful people trust you with their business.

Now, here are my notes:

1. How to communicate & persuade

• Do not confute with other people. No one likes losing. This is a great way to make enemies.
• To persuade, never use the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any other words that make you sound confident. Use in my opinion, it appears to me, I should think so, I imagine it to be so, if I am not mistaken, etc.
• The purpose of conversation is “to inform or to be informed, to please or to persuade.”
• You can be damn sure of what you’re talking about, but “speak with seeming diffidence.”
• • When Franklin was younger, he was really good at arguing. He would corner people with logic and win debates, but it made people annoyed and resistant. Over time, he realized that being right wasn’t actually helping him persuade anyone. So he changed his approach: he stopped using strong, certain language and instead spoke modestly (“I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so; it appears to me, or I should think it so or so, for such and such reasons; or, I imagine it to be so; or it is so, if I am not mistaken”). That shift made people less defensive, more willing to listen, and he became much more effective at getting his ideas accepted.
  • “Immodest words admit of no defense, For want of modesty is want of sense."
  • Present your opinions modestly so they can be better received with less contradiction.
• If people are going to judge you based on who you are, take your name out of it and let the work prove itself first.
• • As a boy, Franklin knew his brother would probably reject his writing if it came openly from him, so he slipped anonymous pieces under the print-shop door at night. They were praised, guessed to be written by learned men, and only later revealed as his.
• Let your work prove itself through results. Don’t waste time arguing, because real evidence will outlast criticism.
• • Franklin’s experiments on electricity were attacked by a well-known French scientist who wrote a whole book against him. Franklin started writing a response, but stopped. He realized his work was based on experiments anyone could repeat, so instead of arguing, he kept working. Over time, other scientists verified his results, his ideas spread across Europe, and the same institutions that had ignored him ended up honoring him. He won without ever engaging in the fight.
• Narration and dialogue, as methods of writing, are very engaging to the reader.
• Win arguments by asking questions instead of giving answers. Ask lots of questions so people find the answer themselves.
• • Franklin used the Socratic method on a guy who loved arguing, asking questions that slowly boxed him into contradictions. It worked so well that the guy started getting paranoid, refusing to answer even simple questions without asking what Franklin was trying to infer.
• Learn to write.
• • If you can clearly explain a good idea at the right moment, you can move public opinion, beat wealthier opponents, and create opportunities for yourself.
  • There was a fight in Pennsylvania over issuing more paper money: ordinary people wanted it because it would increase trade and jobs, while wealthy creditors opposed it because they feared depreciation. Franklin took the pro-currency side, wrote an anonymous pamphlet arguing for it, and it was so persuasive that the opposition weakened, the measure passed, and he was rewarded with the profitable job of printing the new money, showing him that being able to write clearly could translate directly into influence and income.
• Never contradict the sentiment of others.
• “Disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.”
• Present your idea as a public-spirited proposal already supported by others and open to improvement, so people can adopt it without feeling they’re advancing your ego.
• • Franklin was trying to start a shared library where people would pool money to buy books together. He noticed people resisted when it looked like his idea, because supporting it might raise his reputation above theirs. So he stepped back and presented it as a plan from “a number of friends.”1 Once he did that, support came easily, and the project took off. Let the project move forward smoothly while the credit finds its way back to you later.
  • In Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania (1747), he presents the academy plan not as his own scheme, but as a civic proposal already approved by others and offered for public input, making it far easier to gain support and eventual adoption.
  • • Removes personal ownership → avoids ego resistance
    • Adds social proof (“publick-spirited Gentlemen”2) → lowers risk
    • Opens it for advice → invites participation
    • Positions himself as facilitator (“Printer”) → builds trust
    • Anchors it in public good → makes support morally easy
  • Frame your idea as something already endorsed, collectively owned, and open to advice, so others can support, refine, and eventually carry it forward as their own.
  • A personal example.3

2. How to build reputation & trust

• Reputation = Reality + Visible Signals.
• Be actually industrious and frugal and avoid all appearances to the contrary.
• • When Franklin started his printing business, he worked hard, but he also made sure everyone could see it. He dressed simply, avoided idle entertainment, stayed visibly busy, and even pushed a wheelbarrow through the streets himself. Because of that, merchants trusted him, gave him credit, and helped him grow while his competitor collapsed.
  • People will always want to help young, humble, hard-working people.
• Get away from the Samuel Michels of the world. They think they’re smart because they always find a reason for things to fail. Be around yes people who give you energy.
• • When Franklin started his printing business, an older, respected man named Samuel Mickle warned him that Philadelphia was collapsing, and the whole thing would fail. The warning almost discouraged him, but the city grew, his business succeeded, and Mickle, who had been predicting ruin the whole time, later paid far more for a house than he could have earlier.
• Be humble and control your pride.
• • You will never kill your pride4, but at least give the appearance of doing so. Learn to manage it and disguise it. After all, Franklin was proud of his humility.
  • Franklin realized pride was his biggest flaw after a friend told him he came off as overbearing in arguments. He added humility to his list of virtues and tried to control it.
• A life shaped by good habits—industry, frugality, sincerity, and good temper—naturally earns trust, reputation, and a kind of happiness that others are drawn to.
• “Vicious actions are not hurtful because they are forbidden, but forbidden because they are hurtful.”
• • Virtue is practically useful, not just morally good. Franklin says that harmful actions aren’t forbidden arbitrarily. They’re forbidden because they actually damage your life and chances of happiness. In a world where merchants, governments, and powerful people constantly need trustworthy individuals to manage their affairs—and where such people are rare—those who develop probity and integrity are far more likely to rise, gain responsibility, and build their fortunes.
• Being honest and trustworthy is one of the most reliable ways to have a good life5 because people with money and power are always looking for someone to rely on.
• • What looks like “luck” (getting opportunities, rising fast, and being trusted is often simple: being the kind of person others can trust when the stakes are high).
  • In other words, your “luck” increases when people feel safe putting responsibilities in your hands.
  • The fastest way for a poor or unknown person to rise is not talent or luck, but being so honest and reliable that powerful people trust you with their business.
  • This is one of the most important ideas from the book.
• “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.”
• • Franklin had a political rival in the Assembly. Instead of trying to win him over directly or fight back, Franklin asked to borrow a rare book from his library. The guy agreed, Franklin returned it with a thank-you, and from that point on, the man became friendly and helpful toward him. That one small favor flipped the relationship.6
  • This reminded me of something people used to say in high school: If you like someone, ask to borrow a pencil. Franklin figured this out centuries ago.
• On partnerships:
• • Often finish in quarrels.
  • Avoid that by “explicitly settled, in our articles, every thing to be done by or expected from each partner, so that there was nothing to dispute.”
• Introduce your ideas to your group of friends, let it circulate through them, and as they gain influence, they gradually annex it as their own.
• • Franklin noticed problems in Philadelphia. The night watch was ineffective, and fires were common. He brought these ideas to his small group, the Junto. From there, the ideas spread to other clubs, often presented as if they came from each group. They weren’t adopted right away, but over time, as those members gained influence, the ideas turned into actual laws and institutions. For instance, his fire protection idea eventually led to Philadelphia’s first volunteer fire companies.
• Never ask, never refuse, nor ever resign a public office.
• In matters of credit, it’s often wiser to let others believe they led the success than to insist on recognition and create conflict.
• You can be in conflict with someone and still work with them if you treat the disagreement as roles, not as personal enmity.
• Your reputation is shaped by the system you’re in, not just your intentions.
• • In systems where most people act for personal gain, even honest actions are assumed to be self-interested.
  • Franklin helped supply the army and didn’t take a commission, but the officer he dealt with didn’t believe him because, in that system, most people did make money that way. Franklin later admits he learned that large fortunes were commonly made in those roles, so the suspicion was not irrational. It was the norm.
• If you don’t tell people about your ideas, they won’t know about them.
• • For every project, Franklin would write something, a newspaper article or a pamphlet.
  • Share your ideas. Learn from Tyler, The Creator.
• On fundraising:
• • “In the first place, I advise you to apply to all those whom you know will give something; next, to those whom you are uncertain whether they will give any thing or not, and show them the list of those who have given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you may be mistaken.”
• On management:
• • Keep people productively engaged (cough cough busy) because when there’s nothing to do, energy turns into complaints, conflict, and disorder.
• Always call people by their made-up societal titles, such as Doctor, Professor, Captain, Director, etc.7 If you’re not sure, still call them by such. Otherwise, you give them an excuse to ignore you.
• • Franklin was pressing a complaint against the Pennsylvania proprietors over taxation, arguing their estates should be taxed like everyone else’s. Instead of engaging the substance, their side seized on a technicality: he hadn’t addressed them with their full formal titles (“True and Absolute Proprietaries”). They used that breach of etiquette to label him disrespectful and stall the issue, delaying the case and sidestepping his argument
• Don’t use your work to bring other people down. Focus on creating something useful and worthwhile instead, even if negativity would get more attention or money.8

3. How to build a life

• Read one or two hours every day.
• • Franklin used reading to make up for the formal education he didn’t get while building his business.
  • Reading was also Franklin’s only amusement. No bars, games, or “frolicks.”
• Spend all your money on books.
• Industry + Frugality = Wealth.
• “After getting the first hundred pound, it is more easy to get the second.”
• “It is hard for an empty sack to stand up-right.”
• Be parsimonious.
• • If you don’t spend money, you don’t need to make money.9
• Don’t drink alcohol.
• • You’ll work harder, save money, and have a healthier life.
• If you’re interesting and provide interesting conversations, your company will always be sought after.
• • How do you make yourself interesting? According to Franklin, reading.
  • To be an interesting conversationalist, read a lot.
• When you work hard, provide interesting conversations, and are a good influence, people will want themselves and their offspring around you. You’ll be offered good opportunities, invited into their homes, businesses, and inner circles.10
• The only real competition in the long run is yourself.
• • In the printing business, people lived beyond their means, did not keep focused, and sooner or later, would go out of business.
• Have good friends and mentors.
• Arrange your conduct to suit your whole life.
• “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”
• • Franklin’s father used to repeat this proverb to him growing up, so he saw hard work as the path to wealth and distinction. He took it seriously, but never literally. Decades later, he stood before five kings and had dinner with one.
• Find a hardworking and frugal partner.
• • Franklin said he was lucky to find a hardworking and frugal partner. Together, they worked on their businesses and lived simple lives.
  • “He that would thrive must ask his wife.”
• “The most acceptable service of God was the doing good to man.”
• Franklin wanted to arrive at “moral perfection.”
• • He created a list of virtues, focused on mastering one at a time, and conducted daily examinations.

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

• Franklin thought God was the “fountain of wisdom” and thought it was “right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it.” So he created this prayer:

"O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual favors to me."

• Better to aim at perfection and fall short than to settle for mediocrity. The effort itself makes you far better than you would have been otherwise.
• “Every part of my business should have its allotted time.”11

Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule.

• A person of ordinary ability can accomplish great things by making a plan and cutting off every distraction to focus entirely on executing it.
• You are not truly disciplined until the right behavior becomes a habit. Before that, your impulses will keep pulling you off track.
• Learn French, Italian, or Spanish before Latin, as it will make learning Latin easier.
• “Truth, sincerity and integrity in dealings between man and man were of the utmost importance to the felicity of life.”
• “That, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
• “Human felicity is produc’d not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.”
• • Mic drop.

A Printer’s Kid

Franklin wrote this book before the American Revolution, before the United States of America, and before most of the things you probably remember him for.

He was a printer’s kid from Boston with no money, no connections, and no formal education. And yet, by the time he died, he had helped birth a nation, charmed a monarchy into funding a revolution, figured out that lightning was electricity, and built the civic infrastructure of a city: a library, a fire company, a university, a hospital, a learned society, a mutual insurance company, paved and lit streets, and a postal system that became the information infrastructure of a democracy.

My friend told me this book reminded him of me. I’m still not sure if that’s a compliment or a challenge. Probably both.

What I do know is that Franklin figured out how humans work and wrote it for us as a manual. The best books are conversations, and this book was a conversation I needed to have. I needed the reminders, I needed to learn from his stories and experiences so I don’t repeat the same mistakes, and I’m glad I finally read it.

Read the book. Take notes. Then go be useful.

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I read the book and made a few projects, which I think you might enjoy:

• My Vision Is The Problem | Short Film

• The Lost Chapter of Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography: An Imagined Continuation, 1757–1790.

• FranklinRPG

• Poor Richard’s Almanack

FOOTNATES

1

This is simply one of the best passages:

The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting the subscriptions, made me soon feel the impropriety of presenting one’s self as the proposer of any useful project, that might be suppos’d to raise one’s reputation in the smallest degree above that of one’s neighbors, when one has need of their assistance to accomplish that project. I therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a scheme of a number of friends, who had requested me to go about and propose it to such as they thought lovers of reading. In this way my affair went on more smoothly, and I ever after practis’d it on such occasions; and, from my frequent successes, can heartily recommend it. The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply repaid. If it remains a while uncertain to whom the merit belongs, some one more vain than yourself will be encouraged to claim it, and then even envy will be disposed to do you justice by plucking those assumed feathers, and restoring them to their right owner.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

2

If you remember this idea and nothing else, your life and business will dramatically improve.

In the introduction to these proposals, I stated their publication, not as an act of mine, but of some publickspirited gentlemen, avoiding as much as I could, according to my usual rule, the presenting myself to the publick as the author of any scheme for their benefit.



The subscribers, to carry the project into immediate execution, chose out of their number twenty-four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, then attorney-general, and myself to draw up constitutions for the government of the academy; which being done and signed, a house was hired, masters engag'd, and the schools opened, I think, in the same year, 1749.

—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

I read a passage like this, and man, I start wondering, did Franklin secretly read The Prince?

I start looking, and it turns out I’m not the only one who also found Franklin to be a bit “Machiavellian.”

According to my research, there is no primary source establishing that he definitely read The Prince. But as you start reading his autobiography, Franklin often feels Machiavellian, not in the cartoon sense of “evil manipulator,” but in a deeper sense of understanding human nature. A few examples:

• He is obsessed with effects, not just intentions.
• He cares intensely about reputation, appearances, timing, and persuasion.
• He treats virtue partly as something that must be made socially useful and operational, not merely admired.
• He constantly practices indirect power: nudging, framing, softening, deflecting, joking, letting others think an idea is theirs.

That is very close to a Machiavellian style of intelligence. Personally, I could find examples of things that went wrong because I didn’t learn those four lessons from above. More specifically, to say “I created something because I wanted to” might be true, but to other people sounds like “I’m a piece of shit who doesn’t care about other people.” Therefore, this is how we get modern equilibrium about everyone saying they want to help people. It’s not that it’s not true. It’s that it’s false in a way they think it’s true, and to me, that will always be a more serious crime. But Franklin would never say that, and I applaud him for it.

Steven Forde describes Franklin’s outlook as a kind of “Machiavellian civic virtue.” Not the warlike, brutal virtue of classical Machiavelli, but a moderated version suited to commerce, comfort, sociability, and republican life.

Franklin is Machiavellian in at least four ways.

1. He self-creates.
   
   Like Machiavelli’s admired founders and political actors, Franklin is relentlessly a maker of himself. The Autobiography is a carefully shaped demonstration of how to rise. It’s a manual for self-construction.
2. He moralizes strategy rather than abandoning morality.
   
   Franklin is not Machiavelli if by that we mean “cruel” or “nihilistic.” He is much gentler. But he does share Machiavelli’s realism that moral life has to work in the world of vanity, incentives, institutions, and ego. He domesticates Machiavelli.
3. He understands vanity as a political tool.
   
   One of Franklin’s great talents is seeing that people want honor, status, ease, admiration, and belonging. He doesn’t merely condemn those desires; he channels them. That is very Machiavellian.
4. He treats humility itself strategically.
   
   This is maybe the most Franklinian and Machiavellian thing of all. His famous “humility” is often performative, tactical, and socially intelligent. He knows that open domination produces resistance, while modesty disarms people. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s hypocrisy, but it’s definitely a social technique.

What both Franklin and Machiavelli are obsessed with is human nature. Specifically, Franklin understands ambition, weakness, image, fear of envy, the uses of moderation, and the need to convert private striving into public usefulness.

You read the Autobiography, and you will think it’s warm, witty, and wholesome on the surface. But beneath that surface is someone extraordinarily calculating about how character is built, displayed, and rewarded. Let me give you an example:

In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I drest plainly; I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a fishing or shooting; a book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work, but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal; and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteem'd an industrious, thriving young man, and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery solicited my custom; others proposed supplying me with books, and I went on swimmingly.



In the meantime, Keimer's credit and business declining daily, he was at last forc'd to sell his printing house to satisfy his creditors. He went to Barbadoes, and there lived some years in very poor Circumstances.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Imagine seeing Franklin with a wheelbarrow on the streets. He’s making a show!!! He’s so clever, and he got what he wanted to be thought of as hard-working and industrious. He understands that not everyone is living life intrinsically, so he plays the game. Thankfully, he never lost himself in the world of charades and had a deeper purpose, and playing that game was just his way of getting to that purpose.



Let me give you another example:

My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list) giving an extensive meaning to the word.



I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it. I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of my own



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

In chapter 18 of The Prince, Machiavelli says it is not necessary to possess every virtue, but it is very necessary to appear to possess them. Franklin, in one of the most revealing passages in the Autobiography, says he never had much success acquiring the reality of humility, but he had “a good deal with regard to the appearance of it.” He then explains the technique: avoid direct contradiction, speak with diffidence, and present views modestly because that gets better reception and helps persuade people into measures you want to promote.

Should I go on? Sure, why not?

The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting the subscriptions, made me soon feel the impropriety of presenting one's self as the proposer of any useful project, that might be suppos'd to raise one's reputation in the smallest degree above that of one's neighbors, when one has need of their assistance to accomplish that project. I therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a scheme of a number of friends , who had requested me to go about and propose it to such as they thought lovers of reading. In this way my affair went on more smoothly, and I ever after practis'd it on such occasions; and, from my frequent successes, can heartily recommend it. The present little sacrifice of your vanity will afterwards be amply repaid. If it remains a while uncertain to whom the merit belongs, some one more vain than yourself will be encouraged to claim it, and then even envy will be disposed to do you justice by plucking those assumed feathers, and restoring them to their right owner.



This library afforded me the means of improvement by constant study, for which I set apart an hour or two each day, and thus repair'd in some degree the loss of the learned education my father once intended for me. Reading was the only amusement I allow'd myself. I spent no time in taverns, games, or frolicks of any kind; and my industry in my business continu'd as indefatigable as it was necessary. I was indebted for my printing-house; I had a young family coming on to be educated, and I had to contend with for business two printers, who were established in the place before me.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

In chapter 21 of The Prince, Machiavelli says rulers gain esteem through “great enterprises” and by setting a striking example. Franklin’s equivalents are not wars but institutions: the library, hospital, clubs, civic improvements, and his other public schemes. He repeatedly builds authority by attaching himself to projects that visibly benefit the public. More Machiavellian still, he says that when pushing the library he put himself “out of sight” and presented it as the scheme of friends, because the project would go more smoothly that way; the temporary sacrifice of vanity, he says, gets repaid later. That is classic indirect power. He understood people would not support the library if it were “his” project, so he took himself out of the picture, got the library project done, and used the library one or two hours a day to continue learning and improving himself.

(Big sigh)



Ok, last example, I promise.

You probably recognize this line from Machiavelli: “Better to be Feared Than Loved.” Franklin would probably change it to: Better to not be Hated than Loved.

He had some reason for loving to dispute, being eloquent, an acute sophister, and, therefore, generally successful in argumentative conversation. He had been brought up to it from a boy, his father, as I have heard, accustoming his children to dispute with one another for his diversion, while sitting at table after dinner; but I think the practice was not wise; for, in the course of my observation, these disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them. We parted, he going to Philadelphia, and I to Boston.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

In chapter 17 of The Prince, Machiavelli’s core point is that attachment is unstable, so the safer aim is to avoid hatred and keep people from turning on you. Franklin says something very similar in social terms: disputatious people may win arguments, but they “never get good will,” which would be more useful. His father’s advice was also to seek “general esteem.” So Franklin translates Machiavelli’s problem from state violence into reputation management inside a democracy: not “make them fear you,” but “never provoke needless resentment.”

To say Franklin was Machiavellian isn’t quite right, but he takes that energy and reroutes it away from conquest toward:

• self-making
• sociability
• civic projects
• credit
• democratic legitimacy
• commercial success

People say Franklin is America’s first self-made man, but I think he’s America’s Machiavelli with charm.



Franklin is Machiavellian above all in technique. He understands that people are vain, resentful, status-conscious, and resistant to being openly ruled. He therefore learns to lead without seeming to dominate, to persuade without frontal collision, to gather influence through public benefit, and to turn appearance into a moral and political tool.



In today’s language, we wouldn’t say Franklin was Machiavellian. No, no. We would say he is emotionally intelligent. He has a high EQ. Yes, Benny. You scored high on your EQ exam, sweetie. Good boy! Now, let’s get you some ice cream.

But don’t get confused, to be “emotionally intelligent” is to be secretly Machiavellian.



(wink, wink) I know what you’re doing. Heck, you probably even read Daniel Goleman’s book. But that is too domesticated. Way domesticated. If you are out for blood, just go read The Prince. If you want a more chill version, The Autobiography will do you well.



Don’t get domesticated. Better yet, appear to be domesticated, just the way good old Ben Franklin would have done.

3

Let me give you an example from The Jailbroken Guide to the University. I had a chapter called My Vision For The University that started like this:

If we don’t know what we want, we don’t go anywhere.

So, what is our vision? What is the “pretty girl” we’re after?

This is my vision for the university.

A university must have a compelling vision guiding it, or it risks wandering aimlessly.

After reading Franklin, I changed My Vision For The University to A Vision for The University.

Now, it starts like this:

The main difference between those who go far and those who don’t is simple. Some people have a vision and others don’t, so they can only react to whatever is happening right in front of them.

Richard Hamming, in his reflections on what separates productive scientific careers from merely busy ones, put it this way: a drunken sailor taking random steps will end up about √n steps from where he started. But if there is a pretty girl in one direction, his steps will tend to go that way and he will travel a distance proportional to n. The vision, not the effort, accounts for most of the difference.

In a lifetime of many, many independent choices, small and large, a career with a vision will get you a distance proportional to n, while no vision will get you only the distance √n.

— Richard Hamming, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering

If we don’t know what we want, we don’t go anywhere.

So, what is our vision? What is the “pretty girl” we’re after?

After being privately discussed among several faculty, leadership, and people committed to the future of higher education, it seemed worth putting these ideas into writing for broader consideration.

What follows is offered not as a finished plan, but as a starting point for a conversation that seems worth having. Those who have something to add, correct, or improve upon are warmly invited to do so.

The latter is obviously much better. Thanks, Benny.

4

No one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

5

So Good They Can’t Ignore You < So Reliable They Can’t Ignore You

That would be an interesting idea to share with the world. So many people are focused on degrees, majors, skills, networking, and as the world enters a new era where artificial intelligence will make you “good” at whatever it is you want, it is those who are reliable who will be able to make other humans trust them with their business, and machines trust them with their training.



I’m down to write this book. Here’s my Stripe link.

6

You read a passage like the following, and you start thinking, “Yes, of course this is the most obvious thing in the world,” and this is when I must remind you once again: Franklin figured out life. He figured out human nature, wealth, politics, science, business, and many others.

Learn how Franklin won over someone who initially disliked him:

My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, clerk of the General Assembly. The choice was made that year without opposition; but the year following, when I was again propos’d (the choice, like that of the members, being annual), a new member made a long speech against me, in order to favour some other candidate. I was, however, chosen, which was the more agreeable to me, as, besides the pay for the immediate service as clerk, the place gave me a better opportunity of keeping up an interest among the members, which secur’d to me the business of printing the votes, laws, paper money, and other occasional jobbs for the public, that, on the whole, were very profitable.

I therefore did not like the opposition of this new member, who was a gentleman of fortune and education, with talents that were likely to give him, in time, great influence in the House, which, indeed, afterwards happened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his favour by paying any servile respect to him, but, after some time, took this other method. Having heard that he had in his library a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my desire of perusing that book, and requesting he would do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, and I return’d it in about a week with another note, expressing strongly my sense of the favour. When we next met in the House, he spoke to me (which he had never done before), and with great civility; and he ever after manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became great friends, and our friendship continued to his death. This is another instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which says, “He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” And it shows how much more profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, return, and continue inimical proceedings.



—The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

7

I got burned back when I was in high school.



I didn’t know English that well, and more importantly, I didn’t understand the societial notion that if someone did a PhD, you needed to call them Doctor!!! I was looking for a summer internship, so I emailed (and followed up) a bunch of scientists from Fermilab and Argonne to see if they would give me an internship. The greatest offense was not asking for an internship, but the fact that I started the email with Mr. or Ms.

Oh boy.

A few days later, I got an angry reply. One scientist informed me—very clearly—that he didn’t spend more than half a decade earning a PhD just to be called Mr.

I should refer to him as Dr. [Last Name].

Ouch.



Most people didn’t reply; however, some people did reply, and this is one of the emails that I received:

Sorry I didn’t respond before, since a handful of people I know have also gotten your email I asked the Fermilab cybersecurity team to make sure it wasn’t spam. I can tell you’re pretty persistent, which is good if you want to go into the sciences!

Persistent? What this scientist was referring to was that I had emailed a lot of people and had followed up at least two times, and many people were annoyed, some angry, and others confused.



I imagine people at Fermilab and Argonne were having conversations like this:

Genius Scientist: I just got an email from some random high schooler.

Another Genius Scientist: Oh, same. Kid actually seems pretty awesome.



Yet Another Genius Scientist: I reported his email to spam. The cybersecurity team is looking into him.



(the first two scientists look at each other)



Genius Scientist: …



Another Genius Scientist: …



Yet Another Genius Scientist: anyways—back to the Higgs boson.

Anyways, that scientist who replied to me was awesome, and helped me in so many wonderful ways. One specific example was about a Google program for high schoolers where I learned about p5.js, networking, and websockets. This is also how I got the Google backpack and water bottle I used throughout college.

I mention this story for two reasons: (1) always call people by their titles. If you’re not sure, still call them by whatever you think they might have. My favorite thing in college was calling the TAs as Dr. (last name). They would get slightly embarrassed and would often correct me, but they certainly enjoyed it. And (2) this is an important lesson from Franklin, people will always want to help young, humble, hard-working people. I appreciated the fact that this scientist was kind enough to reply and even get on phone calls with me. Unfortunately, that particular scientist didn’t have work for me; however, I would have never found out about the Google program had I not reached out. And I’m glad I did, because of the mentorship, and the burn, because I definitely learned that when in doubt, everyone’s Dr. until proven otherwise.

8

Tyler Cowen calls this the “negative emotional contagion.”

Recently, Tyler was asked at an event in Chicago whether he actually tries to be positive and what his opinion was on Zvi Mowshowitz after some public disagreement they had. He says he tries to be positive (probably due to his own genetics) and mentioned that he doesn’t talk negatively about anyone publicly. Of course, he didn’t say anything bad about Zvi.

One of the reasons for Tyler’s success is that he’s likeable and tries to be that way while avoiding the negative emotional contagion.

9

“I can think, I can wait, I can fast.” “Is that all?” “I think that is all.”

“And of what use are they? For example, fasting, what good is that?”

“It is of great value, sir. If a man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most intelligent thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha had not learned how to fast, he would have had to seek some kind of work today, either with you, or elsewhere, for hunger would have driven him. But as it is, Siddhartha can wait calmly. He is not impatient, he is not in need, he can ward off hunger for a long time and laugh at it. Therefore, fasting is useful, sir.”



—Herman Hesse, Siddharta

10

This has happened to me countless times.



A few weeks ago, I was at this conference, and funnily enough, I ended up in a really interesting conversation with an entrepreneur. I was mostly listening, just trying to learn as much as I could.



Humbly, I thought a few ideas from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and a bunch of other books I’d read might possibly help his business. So a few days later, I sent him a detailed email with a handful of important ideas and how he could apply them to his business to be more efficient, more productive, and, ultimately, make more money.



He replied.



Invited me to this private event.

Once again, Franklin figured out life, and especially young people can learn from him. I was constantly surprised by how many “wrong” things I was doing.

11

Inspired by this and the weekly schedule from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I created my own version.