They care about what you do...

To the extent that what you do fulfills their desires somehow.

It is not rocket surgery.

Give people what they want, and they are your best friend.

Fail in that endeavor, and you are immemorable at best, memorable at worst.

That you would endeavor at all means you seek something from others, no matter how seemingly small that something may seem.

Rational Self Interest means serve yourself to the extent that self-service does not wind up a disservice to yourself afterall.

It is not exactly easy. It takes forethought. Failure can occur.

No one is perfect.

Owning your mistakes is the first step toward avoiding them.

Enough one-sentence paragraphs.

Your thoughts?

Have you never done something just to please yourself?

Rocket surgery?

I know...I'm an ass.

I abhor the fact that this was clearly written to mimic Magister Nemo's distinctive style, while, unlike Magister Nemo, not saying anything of any real insight of importance. This kind of stuff belongs in "Lesser Magic 101" for being pretty blatantly obvious, apart from the quoted idea that it got wrong. There is a ton of crap I do for myself, and some things I try to do for others. But really not too much in comparison.

Had this been written normally, it wouldn't be worth commenting on at all.

LOL.

I honestly don't know if you are slamming me or Jack Lantern.

I like Magister Nemo's style.

I know what you mean.

The problem that I’m having with this is that you’re just not giving us enough. There's no “conclusion” to this idea. You’re expressing a commonly known truth and then just leaving us hanging.

In my writing , I often begin with an idea such as this; but then I explore it more. Can you go deeper on this subject? Do you have any insights or advice you could give us pertaining to this topic? How can we use this information to our advantage?

You just stated the obvious and you didn’t even give us your own opinion on it. Because of this, the only reaction I can have is “yeah, that's how it is and so we have to deal with it and try to use it to our advantage”. Telling us what we already know is not a good way to start a conversation about your original topic; giving us your thoughts on it is!

...or giving people what they want to hear or see is what its about.
Yeah, I would of liked to see more added to what you put up but I guess thats what you were asking from us.
Its also key to not relate too much to what you do making it counterproductive & bordering on the other Satanic Sins.
Suspension of disbelief.
At the same time by one's very nature its sometimes an 'Is, Not Does' scenario.
Such as Satanists being born, not made.
Power over force.
Wattage in other words.
'Looking forward to your replies from the other responses.

Your critique is spot on because I felt the exact same way. It was too bland for my taste.

Unfortunately, you really can't always give people what they want. This is because the more you give people what they want, the more prone they are to taking advantage of you and/or demanding a lot more out of you.

Besides, you always have to keep in mind "what am I getting in return?" Or "what do they really want from me in the long term"?

One time is all it takes with certain people. And after that it's like setting the domino effect into action.

The sad, harsh truth is that in some cases, acts of kindness can come with a price that you, yourself are footing the bill for in the end. And you're only setting yourself up for a lose lose situation.

John Prophet,

I was thinking about this post all day. Worried about it, actually.

I expected from the initial replies I got last night that there would be more negative responses. That was my aim for the most part, though not for appearing to emulate Magister Nemo's distinctive style. As I said before, I like his style of writing. Somehow, it comes across more effectively to me, and...

I think emmulation can be a sincere form of flattery.

I would hope Magister Nemo is not bothered by my evident adoption of his layout style. Also, I did not exactly set out to write just like him. I just kinda picked it up as a habit. As Phosis pointed out, while the layout style is similar enough, Magister Nemo's posts certainly show a magnitude of depth and clarity I can hardly match on my best days. (This is the part that worried me. I was not trying to come across as if.)

I did leave my thoughts hanging on the obvious. I did so for two reasons:

1) As ror stated, I actually wanted other's thoughts on "the obvious". What is "plainly obvious" sometimes is not as plainly obvious to everyone as you might think.

2) I wanted to illustrate my obvious point. An experiment if you will.

You did not like the fact that I left my post hanging on an obvious point with no other contribution. You stated so, and appealed to me to rectify my post to meet your satisfaction, to which I am now replying in an attempt to do so.

Why?

Well, the answer goes back to what I first stated, really. I would not be on this board if it did not satisfy me, afterall. And, it does. That I am trying to satisfy you now--and, the other readers at large who feel the same, such as those who can boot me for posting something stupid, for instance--means I am trying to serve myself.

I knew and intended that I would have to defend this post today. I hope it makes sense as an experiment, even if it seems perhaps pointless to some. I was interested in seeing how this would play out. I hope this does not come as a cop out, and in any case, I knew that was a potential hole I was digging, too.

I did not intend to disgust anyone for copying, albeit poorly, Magister Nemo's style. I did not know I would have to defend that, and right off the bat.

So, what is the point of my experiment? Not much beyond curiousity.

Your thoughts?