Playing Fair; Game Theory and Social Contract by Ken Binmore. It shows what disadvantage truth tellers have in society... liars can hold many open or hidden agendas in "social gameplay." They gain false loyalty and/or avoid appropriate justice for bad deeds. They abuse the hopes fears and desires of genuinely sincere (yet ignorant) people. The sad part is that the only way for the truth tellers to win the game is to compete by the same dishonest tactics. Obviously you can see the paradox and the moral hazards in this process. it's a fascinating read.
Unfortunately in this case, if you don't play the game you definitely lose, because we have a system run by a few individuals, those heads of agencies and big companies who are fanatically focused on a now obviously unachievable goal. Any time those people, the Lysenkos, are in positions of power, and it's probably been most of human history, not playing means they win.
Obviously you can end up in a place where the tyranny is so embedded that playing means certain death, but we are far from that place. The tide of public opinion is turning too quickly for totalitarianism to really take root. Hitler needed six years to start a war and nine to properly start the mass murder of Jews and others. These clowns don't have anything like that amount of time to play with. A year, two at most.
Some of these modellers, directors of high up government research bureaucracies etc, have been held in check before by collapsing narratives (HIV, swine flu, foot/mouth, BSE) but held on to their high positions, only to manage to pull the scam successfully this time. Some of them don't see it as a scam, or at least did not at the beginning. Like the endgame in Hitler's bunker there are fanatics who still believe in victory and in the righteousness of the cause, people who know the game will be up sooner or later and the world will judge them harshly, so would like it to be later, and those making plans to somehow get out alive (and rich). It's not possible to predict at this point which individual actors are in which camp because it is in all their interests to buy as much time as possible. Some of them know they will be in prison (or lynched, which is a worse game theoretical outcome) in a few years.
Not playing against these people, as hard, vocally, and logically as you can is always a losing hand. At least until you end up in the Stalin/Hitler scenario where it is a rapid one way ticket to execution, As the ones with the power, it is their choice how far this escalates - and we have seen how much they have escalated, so the escalation has to come back at them, or we lose. Everything.
We might describe the "we are forced to play" like this:
We are always investing 99 cents for the next penny of return.
The mobs/communists/woke/narcissists are not required to play. They are generally discouraged from playing. The whole system goes awry when they are encouraged to play.
Perfectly points to where we are & how we got there. As an Australian I feel as though we are not in play but merely spectators being taken along for the ride, and when the big guns call the shots we obliging follow suit.
I hope it all gets better, not worse, but especially for Australia. But that is its own dollar auction because if this ends, the people now know they never lived in free nation, except when and where it was convenient.
Thank you, a most heartfelt thank you! Well explained with kitchen table metaphors without any loss of content - if you aren't a teacher at uni, you really should consider it because you clearly have the ability to explain and convey what's complex and intricate without making it complicated or convoluted.
(Having taught, among other things, political theory, myself for some 20+ years I've time and again wrestled with the dilemma of how to keep it simple without loss of content.)
If I may suggest, perhaps publications such as The Spectator or similar would be interested in publishing a version of this article? I bring it up since you want it spread, and while spreading is good, the Game is not only played with pennies on the dollar so to speak, but with reputation and credibility: "if well-reknowned publication NN prints your words, why then clearly you have a point" is an all too common phenomenon, sp why not endeavour to take advantage of that?
A hobo offering to sell a dollar to esteemed academics, businessmen and other posh types hobnobbing it wouldn't get a wooden cent after all, if you see what I mean.
I was immediately struck with how messed up our universities were on arrival and began changing course immediately. I strongly believe that aiming better education at the people not caught up in the Best Slave Pageant is the more productive route.
My wife, who held out longer than me in the world of academia in our home country, likened it to a certain movie, especially after the perfidy of french postmodernism became ontological norm in the humanities and social sciences:
This is brilliant. But I don't love the dismount. Yes, systems, yes game theory, yes structures. But there is an entire field called transitional justice that figures out how to respond to massive human rights violations. There are all sorts of different models. Nuremberg is my preferred approach. I see no reason why we have to re-incorporate the psychopaths back into society instead of prosecuting them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_justice
Dec 29, 2021·edited Dec 29, 2021Liked by Mathew Crawford
The value of Nuremberg went well beyond the few who were hung or jailed. It was a public discussion of norms that rippled out well beyond the courtroom. It said, 'we do not care what your official laws are, you still violated deeply held beliefs about what it means to be human and for that you will be prosecuted.' To remove, "I was just following orders" as a valid defense was incredibly helpful to humanity I think.
I did not bring it up but Operation Paperclip undercuts the case for integration. We welcomed Nazis into our society and now the U.S. is a fascist country. The integrated Nazis infected us, we did not cure them.
As I said, I think the article is brilliant. But the way out of this valley is really tough to sort out. It's undertheorized because it has rarely been done successfully. I think one needs a transitional justice step otherwise resentments simmer and there will be extrajudicial reprisals against the evildoers.
I think we're saying the same thing. I meant that OP undercut Nuremberg, and the result was leaving us with a poisoned nation. In fact, I worry that was the point.
Whatever the justice step is, it needs to involve a full understand of who and what the Kunlangeta are, and how they are able to raise/school children as mindslaves or pattern-operators or golems or whatever we might call them.
I think we should have put the Nazis in prison forever to study them. Let them be useful to us like Hannibal Lecter. Tell stories so we can learn about the criminal mind or about the events like how we learn from Holocaust survivors.
Very interesting read. There isn't any way those of us who are trapped in the game can get out of the game. This is a lot like the short lived TV series - The Net. A lot of times it seems to others that being able to see the pieces of the puzzle come together brands you as a conspiracy theorist rather than just being able to actually see what is going on even if you are powerless to alter its course. The history lesson shows the USSR and the costs that a couple hundred million people suffered through as Stalin reigned through terror. After we saw the world begin to emerge from that long term societal cancer of sociology it is shocking that people today are wanting to reactivate those ideas. However, no one interested in socialism wants to be part of the "ruled class". They jokingly believe that they will be the rulers and get duped into service to their masters.
Back to the virus - anyone who has been watching what is going on and not be aware that it is a totally manipulated situation clearly belongs in a society where they are the oppressed. None of the leaders you see are calling the shots. So, back to the game theory - we know we are in a game but have not idea who the opponent is. In most competitions you see your opponent but not in this game. None of the current leaders in the world are smart enough to actually pull any of this off. They may not even be smart enough to realize that they are pawns. They let the title they have bestowed on them delude them into thinking they are in charge. So, is it possible to learn who is calling the shots? Where are they? Are they the bankers, military generals, a super rich coalition of people forming a global oligarchy? I would think that would be the first challenge - know your enemy.
For a start, Vanguard and Blackrock; identify the shareholders, and make a list. From there, we may progress via theology and/or science fiction. Both seem to be valid approaches at the moment.
It all comes down to money. Pure and simple. If you require money to live then you will do whatever to get that money. And all the moreso if you have a family to support. Honest hippies don't have the money printing press.
Absolutely correct. The majority of the population in the Western-oriented states has made itself vulnerable to blackmail in this way, even more so when children are involved.
Biden is turning out to be quite the gift when it comes to exposing the truth. His bumbling mouth diarrhea reveals much of the game. Yesterday's meeting with the governors in which he all but said that 'the Feds are worthless and the States need to figure it out', should have been eye opening for many. Any time the White House staff shut off his mic, quickly usher him out or kick the press out of the room- something is being revealed.
My biggest concern is waking up the Blue Pilled. Even if they are a mere 30-ish%, there are still far too many of them in positions of power, and who are being used by the sociopaths. To me, that is the key to unraveling this mess.
The divide and rule game is multifaceted. The dollar game is designed to divide and rule, destroying communication and cooperation and forcing factions beyond the common sense $1 limit. Besides early treatment vs vaccine, we have partisan Democrat vs partisan Republican; Trumpista vs TDSer; globalist vs US imperialist; intersectional marginalized vs the cis-gendered, heterosexual, white patriarchy. The rhetoric of each group is DESIGNED to provoke a reaction in the opposition group that in turn validates the position of the first group. The rhetoric of Covid fanatics -- irresponsible, uncaring granny-killers -- is similarly designed to harden positions and prevent communications. We must discourage divisive over-reactions among a targeted group that will only serve to increase polarization.
Holy cow. That was quite a ride. I LOVE Substack!
Truthfully, if the vaccines are as poisonous as some are alleging, the perpetrators may never be safe again, no international criminal court needed.
For me, this is your best post so far. Perhaps because I've learned so much from it. Thanks for sharing.
Another awesome book recommendation:
Playing Fair; Game Theory and Social Contract by Ken Binmore. It shows what disadvantage truth tellers have in society... liars can hold many open or hidden agendas in "social gameplay." They gain false loyalty and/or avoid appropriate justice for bad deeds. They abuse the hopes fears and desires of genuinely sincere (yet ignorant) people. The sad part is that the only way for the truth tellers to win the game is to compete by the same dishonest tactics. Obviously you can see the paradox and the moral hazards in this process. it's a fascinating read.
As a Gen Xer, I appreciated the nostalgic (and apropos) “War Games” reference :-)
And “Moral Calculations” looks fascinating! Thanks for the PDF link.
Unfortunately in this case, if you don't play the game you definitely lose, because we have a system run by a few individuals, those heads of agencies and big companies who are fanatically focused on a now obviously unachievable goal. Any time those people, the Lysenkos, are in positions of power, and it's probably been most of human history, not playing means they win.
Obviously you can end up in a place where the tyranny is so embedded that playing means certain death, but we are far from that place. The tide of public opinion is turning too quickly for totalitarianism to really take root. Hitler needed six years to start a war and nine to properly start the mass murder of Jews and others. These clowns don't have anything like that amount of time to play with. A year, two at most.
Some of these modellers, directors of high up government research bureaucracies etc, have been held in check before by collapsing narratives (HIV, swine flu, foot/mouth, BSE) but held on to their high positions, only to manage to pull the scam successfully this time. Some of them don't see it as a scam, or at least did not at the beginning. Like the endgame in Hitler's bunker there are fanatics who still believe in victory and in the righteousness of the cause, people who know the game will be up sooner or later and the world will judge them harshly, so would like it to be later, and those making plans to somehow get out alive (and rich). It's not possible to predict at this point which individual actors are in which camp because it is in all their interests to buy as much time as possible. Some of them know they will be in prison (or lynched, which is a worse game theoretical outcome) in a few years.
Not playing against these people, as hard, vocally, and logically as you can is always a losing hand. At least until you end up in the Stalin/Hitler scenario where it is a rapid one way ticket to execution, As the ones with the power, it is their choice how far this escalates - and we have seen how much they have escalated, so the escalation has to come back at them, or we lose. Everything.
We might describe the "we are forced to play" like this:
We are always investing 99 cents for the next penny of return.
The mobs/communists/woke/narcissists are not required to play. They are generally discouraged from playing. The whole system goes awry when they are encouraged to play.
Fantastic read.
Perfectly points to where we are & how we got there. As an Australian I feel as though we are not in play but merely spectators being taken along for the ride, and when the big guns call the shots we obliging follow suit.
I hope it all gets better, not worse, but especially for Australia. But that is its own dollar auction because if this ends, the people now know they never lived in free nation, except when and where it was convenient.
Thank you, a most heartfelt thank you! Well explained with kitchen table metaphors without any loss of content - if you aren't a teacher at uni, you really should consider it because you clearly have the ability to explain and convey what's complex and intricate without making it complicated or convoluted.
(Having taught, among other things, political theory, myself for some 20+ years I've time and again wrestled with the dilemma of how to keep it simple without loss of content.)
If I may suggest, perhaps publications such as The Spectator or similar would be interested in publishing a version of this article? I bring it up since you want it spread, and while spreading is good, the Game is not only played with pennies on the dollar so to speak, but with reputation and credibility: "if well-reknowned publication NN prints your words, why then clearly you have a point" is an all too common phenomenon, sp why not endeavour to take advantage of that?
A hobo offering to sell a dollar to esteemed academics, businessmen and other posh types hobnobbing it wouldn't get a wooden cent after all, if you see what I mean.
I dropped out of academia in "Round 1". I have no college degree. But I did spend 13 years teaching mathematics and writing textbooks.
https://artofproblemsolving.com/store/list/aops-curriculum
I wrote a substantial portion of the math curriculum (halfish) here:
https://artofproblemsolving.com/school/catalog
I was immediately struck with how messed up our universities were on arrival and began changing course immediately. I strongly believe that aiming better education at the people not caught up in the Best Slave Pageant is the more productive route.
My wife, who held out longer than me in the world of academia in our home country, likened it to a certain movie, especially after the perfidy of french postmodernism became ontological norm in the humanities and social sciences:
'The Human Centipede', but full circle.
This is brilliant. But I don't love the dismount. Yes, systems, yes game theory, yes structures. But there is an entire field called transitional justice that figures out how to respond to massive human rights violations. There are all sorts of different models. Nuremberg is my preferred approach. I see no reason why we have to re-incorporate the psychopaths back into society instead of prosecuting them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitional_justice
Nuremberg prosecuted 1%. Operation Paperclip brought the other 99% into out system, which is where we are now.
Yes, prosecute all criminal psychopaths. Or let some choose exile if they'll stand down.
But longer term, integrate.
The value of Nuremberg went well beyond the few who were hung or jailed. It was a public discussion of norms that rippled out well beyond the courtroom. It said, 'we do not care what your official laws are, you still violated deeply held beliefs about what it means to be human and for that you will be prosecuted.' To remove, "I was just following orders" as a valid defense was incredibly helpful to humanity I think.
I did not bring it up but Operation Paperclip undercuts the case for integration. We welcomed Nazis into our society and now the U.S. is a fascist country. The integrated Nazis infected us, we did not cure them.
As I said, I think the article is brilliant. But the way out of this valley is really tough to sort out. It's undertheorized because it has rarely been done successfully. I think one needs a transitional justice step otherwise resentments simmer and there will be extrajudicial reprisals against the evildoers.
I think we're saying the same thing. I meant that OP undercut Nuremberg, and the result was leaving us with a poisoned nation. In fact, I worry that was the point.
Whatever the justice step is, it needs to involve a full understand of who and what the Kunlangeta are, and how they are able to raise/school children as mindslaves or pattern-operators or golems or whatever we might call them.
Well, Nuremberg generated some great codes for humanity. Completely violated now, and it does nit seem to matter.
I think we should have put the Nazis in prison forever to study them. Let them be useful to us like Hannibal Lecter. Tell stories so we can learn about the criminal mind or about the events like how we learn from Holocaust survivors.
Don't forget the hundreds that the Israeli special forces group secretly located and exterminated themselves.
Very interesting read. There isn't any way those of us who are trapped in the game can get out of the game. This is a lot like the short lived TV series - The Net. A lot of times it seems to others that being able to see the pieces of the puzzle come together brands you as a conspiracy theorist rather than just being able to actually see what is going on even if you are powerless to alter its course. The history lesson shows the USSR and the costs that a couple hundred million people suffered through as Stalin reigned through terror. After we saw the world begin to emerge from that long term societal cancer of sociology it is shocking that people today are wanting to reactivate those ideas. However, no one interested in socialism wants to be part of the "ruled class". They jokingly believe that they will be the rulers and get duped into service to their masters.
Back to the virus - anyone who has been watching what is going on and not be aware that it is a totally manipulated situation clearly belongs in a society where they are the oppressed. None of the leaders you see are calling the shots. So, back to the game theory - we know we are in a game but have not idea who the opponent is. In most competitions you see your opponent but not in this game. None of the current leaders in the world are smart enough to actually pull any of this off. They may not even be smart enough to realize that they are pawns. They let the title they have bestowed on them delude them into thinking they are in charge. So, is it possible to learn who is calling the shots? Where are they? Are they the bankers, military generals, a super rich coalition of people forming a global oligarchy? I would think that would be the first challenge - know your enemy.
For a start, Vanguard and Blackrock; identify the shareholders, and make a list. From there, we may progress via theology and/or science fiction. Both seem to be valid approaches at the moment.
“Institutional narcissism is a heavy burden to shed” Well put..
It all comes down to money. Pure and simple. If you require money to live then you will do whatever to get that money. And all the moreso if you have a family to support. Honest hippies don't have the money printing press.
Absolutely correct. The majority of the population in the Western-oriented states has made itself vulnerable to blackmail in this way, even more so when children are involved.
Brilliant! Spreading far and wide.
Biden is turning out to be quite the gift when it comes to exposing the truth. His bumbling mouth diarrhea reveals much of the game. Yesterday's meeting with the governors in which he all but said that 'the Feds are worthless and the States need to figure it out', should have been eye opening for many. Any time the White House staff shut off his mic, quickly usher him out or kick the press out of the room- something is being revealed.
My biggest concern is waking up the Blue Pilled. Even if they are a mere 30-ish%, there are still far too many of them in positions of power, and who are being used by the sociopaths. To me, that is the key to unraveling this mess.
Now I see why the machinery is digging deeper holes for itself now.
The divide and rule game is multifaceted. The dollar game is designed to divide and rule, destroying communication and cooperation and forcing factions beyond the common sense $1 limit. Besides early treatment vs vaccine, we have partisan Democrat vs partisan Republican; Trumpista vs TDSer; globalist vs US imperialist; intersectional marginalized vs the cis-gendered, heterosexual, white patriarchy. The rhetoric of each group is DESIGNED to provoke a reaction in the opposition group that in turn validates the position of the first group. The rhetoric of Covid fanatics -- irresponsible, uncaring granny-killers -- is similarly designed to harden positions and prevent communications. We must discourage divisive over-reactions among a targeted group that will only serve to increase polarization.