The Salt Water Civilization: Why Our Metric for Progress Is Making Us Thirsty
·144 words·1 min
How did we arrive at a system that measures success by GDP, even as it depletes our planet and erodes our well-being?
Psychology
The Governor and the Gambler: Engineering Rationality Against Loss Aversion
·2127 words·10 mins
Explore how human psychology leads to costly financial mistakes, using the centrifugal governor as a metaphor for rational control.
The Tyrant's Blueprint - Part 5: Engineering the Unbreakable Republic
·555 words·3 mins
Designing institutions to prevent the emergence of tyranny.
The Tyrant's Blueprint - Part 4: Historical Deviations and the Sulla Paradox
·608 words·3 mins
Exploring the spectrum of tyrannical regimes and their outcomes.
The Tyrant's Blueprint - Part 3: The Fragility of Coalition Math
·583 words·3 mins
How coalitions of supporters maintain or undermine tyrannical regimes.
The Tyrant's Blueprint - Part 2: The Feedback Loop of Absolute Power
·610 words·3 mins
How absolute power creates self-reinforcing cycles of corruption and decay.