5ft.philosophy
5FT. Philosophy is an editorial philosophy podcast by Knowlo, the 5FT. Philosopher.
This podcast examines culture, power, language, memory, and modern life through history, philosophy, and lived experience.
These aren’t hot takes or motivational speeches. They’re slow, thoughtful breakdowns of how narratives are shaped, how systems protect themselves, and how people make meaning in a noisy world.
New episodes explore topics like revisionist history, media manipulation, parasocial relationships, political language, and the stories we’re encouraged to forget.
This is philosophy for people who feel like something’s off and want to understand why.
Think critically. Stay curious. Read between the lines.
5ft.philosophy
Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor | Law 16 – 48 Laws of Power
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
If you’re always there… you stop mattering.
This law is about scarcity.
People value what they don’t always have access to.
Presence creates familiarity.
Too much presence creates boredom.
Absence creates desire.
In this episode:
Why constant availability lowers your perceived value.
The psychology behind scarcity and demand.
How stepping back can increase influence.
Why powerful people control access to themselves.
The difference between being present vs. being overexposed.
How absence creates curiosity, respect, and anticipation.
When disappearing is smarter than pushing harder.
The more available you are, the easier you are to ignore.
Pull back… and suddenly people start paying attention.
This is 5ft.philosophy…
where we keep it simple, we keep it honest, and we show you how power really works when nobody’s explaining it nicely.
This is 5ft.Philosophy
I’m not here to tell you what to think.
I’m here to slow things down long enough so you can think for yourself.
Sit with it.
Forty eight Laws of Power Law sixteen. Use absence to increase respect and honor. Law sixteen, use absence to increase respect and honor. Simple translation. If people see you too much, they get used to you. When they get used to you, they stop valuing you. When you disappear for a bit, people miss you. When people miss you, your value goes up. Basically, be around, but don't be around too much though. Familiarity kills mystery. Mystery creates value. Value creates respect. Humans are weird like that. You could be amazing, but if you're always there, people treat you like your background noise. You're regular, you're ubiquitous, you're Wi-Fi. Nobody appreciates you until you're gone. He blew it. Who blew it? Guillaume DeVallum. This man really said, let me bake up a breakup so I could enjoy the emotional highs of a makeup. He would piss his girlfriend off on purpose. He would leave her, then she would chase him and he would be turned off because now she's too available. Ironic, huh? She finally gives up. Now he's desperate. Oh baby, please come back. Baby, wee wee. I need to ruin it again. Please come back. But eventually, at some point, he ends up being alone, crying, writing sad poems and mailing her body parts. Don't ask, you could Google it. Lesson, you don't control absence. Absence controls you if you're stupid with it. He put on a master class. Who put on the master class? Diocese. Diocese put on a master class. He started off as a fair judge and everyone respected him. Then he suddenly quit. The country fell into chaos. People started to panic and beg him to come back. Please come back. He returned, but this time as king, and he barely let anybody see him. Scarcity. So now they don't just respect him, they worship him. Result, he turned absence into power because he's some good game. This is a timing game, not a disappearing act. Showing up is strong at first. Build a value, build your reputation, make sure that it's no smut on your rep. Then pull back. Let people feel your absence. Make your return special. That means you're valuable. You're a limited edition. You're the McRib. You're the Shamrock Sheik. If nobody notices you were there, guess what? Nobody notices when you withdraw. Practical rules. Don't always answer immediately. Don't always be available. Leave conversations early sometime. Take breaks from being seen. Let people come to you occasionally. Example, me, Nalo, the FIFA philosopher. I'm an artist. I'm a creative creator. I'm one of one. I know that you shouldn't flood the market with content just for the sake of it. People do. But not me. I only drop things intentionally and purposefully. I want to build anticipation, branding, and world building is quality over quantity. I'm not going to pod you and Instagram you and YouTube you and TikTok you to death. I'm going to take my time and make content that's true to me. I want to make content that transcends. I want to make content that is timeless and safe for human consumption. I'm not out here doing this for nothing. This is a lot of work. I'm not doing it for nothing. And I'm aware of the fact that scarcity is better than spam. And the ugly truth is, people don't value what they always have access to. Not because they're evil, it's because their brains are lazy and spoiled. The dangerous part of that is if you leave too early, you're forgotten. But if you stay too long, you're going to wear out your welcome and be replaced. This law will humble you really quick if you think you're more important than you really are. Presence gets you notice, and absence makes you matter. If they never feel your absence, you weren't that important to begin with.
