One hundred and one rules of effective living

Ambiguity and Interpretation of Specific Rules

• Several rules are criticized as vague or poorly phrased, e.g. “uncanny congruity between thought and experience,” which readers parse both as “experiences shape thoughts” and “attitude shapes experiences,” noting the latter can fuel both misery and happiness.
• The rule about giving no second chances to disrespectful people is seen by some as protective and empowering (e.g., never returning to a disrespectful business, leaving a toxic boss), and by others as cruel, inflexible, and life‑shrinking.
• The line about hourly billing is disputed: some argue hourly workers still serve the client and that billing mode is orthogonal to integrity; others note hourly is appropriate when scope is unknown, while flat‑rate work has its own pathologies.
• The primacy of “do your work” as rule #1 is criticized as hollow and work‑obsessed; others reinterpret “work” broadly as meaningful projects, not just jobs.

Too Many Rules vs. Simpler Principles

• Multiple commenters argue 101 rules are overengineered and self‑contradictory, preferring compact frameworks: the Daoist “three treasures,” the Golden Rule, short personal lists, or a single existential challenge.
• Some note direct contradictions (e.g., avoid cruel people vs. endorsement of being feared) and see the list as a grab‑bag of quotes rather than a coherent ethic.
• Others say the real value is not correctness but provoking reflection: noticing which rules trigger agreement, anger, or “that’s bullshit” becomes self‑knowledge.

Comparisons to Other Moral Programs

• Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues receive attention: some admire their clarity and discipline, others find them joyless or hypocritical given Franklin’s reputed lifestyle.
• A nuanced view emerges: strict ideals are aspirational, not fully attainable—like training a dog that will always still want to bark.

Limits of Inspirational Literature

• Skepticism is expressed toward people deeply immersed in “inspirational” texts, which can become mind‑numbing platitudes detached from real trade‑offs.
• Several note that many lessons on the list can only be truly learned through lived experience, but that a phrase can “hit” at the right psychological moment and catalyze change.

Meta: Speech, Knowledge, and Online Culture

• The rule to “speak only of what you know well” is seen as incompatible with most internet discourse.
• Some lament that online spaces often punish beginner questions and reward overconfident ignorance, pushing people toward tools like ChatGPT for nonjudgmental exploration.

Kindness, Cynicism, and Paranoia

• A minimalist counterproposal is to boil everything down to kindness or “don’t be a jerk.”
• Some rules in the list read as paranoid (e.g., expecting betrayal), while others explicitly condemn cynicism, creating tension that readers notice and debate.