Looking into the reasons why people and society work the way they do. Click to read Optimally Irrational, by Lionel Page, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
The post discusses the political assassination of Charlie Kirk and explores the dynamics of power balance in political debates. It questions how Kirk, a non-college-educated conservative, consistently outperformed educated liberal...
Human morality is framed as a construct of social cooperation, explained through game theory, particularly the Prisoner's Dilemma, highlighting the role of repeated interactions and reputation.
Cooperation is a fundamental principle of evolution, essential for survival and success across biological and social systems, requiring mechanisms to manage individual interests.
The post critiques Kant's moral philosophy, arguing that morality is rooted in social conventions rather than absolute rationality, as supported by game theory insights.
Morality is not merely relative; it emerges from social contracts that can be evaluated based on their societal outcomes, despite criticisms of relativism.
Morality is presented as a social contract that regulates cooperation, challenging the idea that conventional morality is meaningless and emphasizing its necessity for societal stability.
Morality can function effectively without absolute truths, emerging instead from social conventions that promote cooperation and regulate human interactions.
The post critiques moral realism, the belief in objective moral truths, arguing that morality is a human construct rather than an absolute reality. The author discusses perspectives from philosophers like Nietzsche, Parfit, and Ha...
This post explores the relationship between morality and religion, arguing that morality does not require a religious foundation. It discusses the common belief that objective moral truths stem from divine authority, referencing p...
This post explores the concepts of fairness and morality, questioning the foundations of our moral beliefs and the common reliance on unexamined assumptions. It discusses how children intuitively grasp fairness and how adults ofte...
The post discusses the evolution and future of democracy, referencing Francis Fukuyama's thesis on the end of history and the success of liberal democracy. It critiques the naive optimism of the past regarding the spread of democr...
The post discusses the misguided glorification of political violence, particularly in the context of Charlie Kirk's assassination. It argues that fantasies of violence are not only morally wrong but also impractical, as they do no...
The article explores the underlying motivations for why people engage with sports, arguing that the primary attraction is not the beauty of athletic performance but rather the status games that sports represent. It discusses how s...
The article discusses the historical conflict between scientific findings and political ideologies, using Galileo's trial and the Church's reaction to heliocentrism as a case study. It explores how political narratives can be arbi...
A potential US military seizure of Greenland would jeopardize international alliances and undermine the established geopolitical order, reflecting a short-sighted approach to foreign policy.
The article explores how rational arguments influence people's political views, particularly in the context of the Epstein file saga and its impact on the MAGA coalition. It discusses the limitations of arguments in changing minds...
The text explores the complexities of political ideologies, arguing that they are not merely coherent philosophies but rather collections of justifications shaped by historical and social contexts. It discusses how political posit...
The post discusses a conversation between Richard Sutton and Dwarkesh Patel regarding the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) to achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Sutton argues that LLMs are limited because they...
This post explores how coalitional game theory and psychology illuminate our behaviors on social media. It discusses the strategic layers of presentation, competition, and coalition building that shape our online interactions. Dra...
This blog post explores the dynamics of friendship through the lens of coalitional psychology and game theory. It discusses the importance of friendship, the strategic choices involved in forming friendships, and the underlying pr...
The text discusses the shift to the right among low-income voters who traditionally supported left-wing parties in Western countries. It explores possible explanations for this shift, including cultural backlash, manipulation by b...
The text discusses the gentrification of the left, attributing it to the erosion of the working class as a large electoral bloc and an ideological crisis on the left. It also explores the rise of postmaterialist values, the femini...
The text discusses the gentrification of the left and the popularisation of the right in Western countries. It explores the historical origins of the left-right political spectrum, the evolution of political ideologies, and the sh...
The text discusses the nature and workings of political ideologies, and how they function within political coalitions. It argues that ideologies serve to justify a coalition’s claims externally and to coordinate and bind its membe...