The "NPC" meme—comparing scripted video game characters to real people trapped in repetitive, limited behavioral loops—has become ubiquitous among younger generations. This isn't just internet humor—it reveals a profound truth about modern industrial society. When you see people robotically following social scripts (baristas, subway commuters, classmates), you're witnessing a glitch in our social matrix. This episode reveals how NPCs symbolize the deeper failure of modern civilization.

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LINKS:

Link to my podcast common ground-   / @history102-qg5oj  

Instagram: Rudyard William Lynch (@rudyardwlynch) • Instagram photos ...https://www.instagram.com › rudyardwlynch

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Bibliography:

The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler

The Happiness Hypothesis by John Haidt

Debt by David Graeber

Conquest and Cultures by Thomas Sowell

Techniques and Civilization by Lewis Mumford

Seeing Like a State by James Scott

The History of Manners by Norbert Elias

The Bible by God

The Master and His Emissary by McGhilChrist

The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman

The Culture of Narcissism by Lasch

The Unabomber's Manifesto by Ted K.

Strategy by

Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari

Regime Change by Deenan

The Coming Caesars by Amaury de Riencourt

The Growth Delusion by David Pilling

Empty Planet by Bricker

Disunited Nations by Peter Zeihan

A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell

The Century of the Self by Adam Curtis

Pandora's box by Adam Curtis

Can't Get you out of my Head by Adam Curtis

Behave by Sapolsky

Who We Are and How we Got Here by David Reich

The Genetic Lottery by Harden

The True Believer by Eric Hoffer