NonTrivial

Economists are known for attempting to treat economics like a genuine science. But upon closer inspection it becomes obvious that their methods are quite outdated. As a consequence, most of today's economists are providing an extremely naive "understanding" of our economy, and worse, damaging society's ability to improve people's lives. 

In this episode I'll use Eric Beinhocker's book The Origin of Wealth, Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics, to anchor my conversation around how today's economists conveniently misunderstand our world.

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We've looked at one side of the equation, the changes we put in place at the societal level to possibly solve the gun problem in America. But what about the individuals who commit crimes in the first place? Is there something deeper to the gun problem that is making America the so-called "country of homicides"? Is there a higher moral standard or philosophy society is missing that might make individuals less likely to use guns in the first place? I argue there is a real utility to morality, and that in addition to putting in place a tangible solution like a well regulated militia, there might also be a moral solution society need to embrace. 

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The gun debate is one of America’s most polarized issues. Large mass shootings always bring this debate to the forefront, eliciting strong emotions from both sides of the aisle. Many believe the answer is stricter gun laws, while others see this as government overreach and believe average citizens can better protect themselves by keeping and bearing arms. I argue that neither of these choices are likely to be effective, and put forward a third option that better aligns to how information and decision making work in systems that survive. 

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Members: Join for full access to additional talks, practical exercises, member Q&As, and more at dekyon.io.

NonTrivial is of course free for all listeners, but I do offer bonus content to my Patreon subscribers. I'm publishing this week's bonus talk for free so regular listeners can get a taste of what this additional content sounds like. Enjoy.

Given today’s networked economy, with its extreme wealth disparity, many wonder how they can contribute. How does one not get discouraged by the concentration of wealth? What can you do to exist within this kind of asymmetric economy and still find meaning and make a good living? The usual solution offered by many is where people on YouTube and other social media sites say they can teach you how to make money online, or generate a ton of followers. I argue that these kind of methods are more akin to “get rich quick schemes” because they fail to acknowledge that asymmetric network properties guarantee that only a few nodes will have the overwhelming number of links, and therefore wealth. I argue that rather than following someone else’s so-called recipe for success you should learn to create and scale value for others by focusing on building things you find fascinating. By doing so you can attract a decent number of links to your node, creating real value for others and enriching your own life, all the while operating within an asymmetric, rich get richer network.

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Many argue that the internet has destroyed more jobs than it’s created, and that as such our information economy has obliterated the middle class. The common “solution” proposed for this problem is to create systems that pay users for their data. If you join Twitter or Facebook (Meta) then you should somehow be compensated since it’s your data that make these companies successful. This is the argument Jaron Lanier makes in his book Who Owns the Future. I will argue that compensating users for data is a non-solution because of the way networks convert user data into product features. I will argue that rather than compensate users for their data it makes more sense to change the network topology such that more people can create lucrative enterprises under the current model.

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In part II of Imprecise Destinations we continue our look at democracy by discussing so called "monitory democracy" as it exists today. We'll see both its strengths and weaknesses, and lead into some ultimate questions about the universality of democracy going forward. I end the episode with a look into how we can mathematically model democracy and play around with some scenarios on the NonTrivial Playground. 

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In this episode I take a look at the topic of democracy. Using John Keane's book The Life and Death of Democracy I show that the usual Western narratives we've been taught about democracy fall short of reality.  I discuss the many contributions to assembly and representation that came to us from a variety of societies throughout history, and challenge the perhaps quixotic picture many of us have of this form of government. I also highlight democracy's strengths, and end with a look at the way in which democracy can be modelled mathematically. 

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In this episode I take a look at leadership, specifically the idea of the “strong” leader. Those individuals who stand by their convictions, and dominate the room with their charisma and commanding attitudes. These are often the people we gravitate towards when we see them on screen giving their speeches. These are the people we often help bring to power. 

But history shows that it’s often the calm, tranquil and reasoned leader who fares much better when it comes to bringing about positive change, implementing effective foreign policy and gaining the support of their party and the general public.

I will pick apart some of the underlying mechanisms that show how calm leadership can be much more effective, even though it can appear “weak” from the outside. I’ll explore how leadership can be modelled mathematically, and how all of this speaks to the power of remaining calm; something that can dramatically improve our ability to be successful in this world. 

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In this episode I look at the "delusions" that happen when a large number of people get together in groups. We'll explore a number of prominent economic bubbles and end-of-times cults to reveal the core properties of groups that lead to mania. I discuss the Terra Luna collapse as a recent example, explore human biases, and ultimately show that the so-called "delusions" that occur in groups is really just one of the costs to complex tractability. 

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In this episode I take a look at the sordid history of the library. The library has been a beacon of knowledge, and a marker of civilization for hundreds of years. But the library’s journey from the scriptoriums of medieval monasteries to massive cultural institutions like The Library of Congress has been perilous. 

This is a journey that touches on many modern concerns we have around information, including propaganda, censorship, access, elitism and the conquests of both political leaders and rich industrialists. 

To own the information society is exposed to is to own society itself, to control what people think, and believe. The library has always been caught in the middle, between the power struggles of the elites, and a public hungry for knowledge (and the opportunities such knowledge brings).

In this episode we will use the library’s history to showcase fundamental patterns related to unification, censorship, critical thresholds, growth and variation, replication and scale, growth and destruction, crossover opportunities, resiliency and simultaneous discovery.

And you thought a talk on libraries was going to be boring. Let’s get started.

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Members: Join for full access to additional talks, practical exercises, member Q&As, and more at dekyon.io.