Psychological Warfare Archives - Page 5 of 10

Psychological Warfare

March 17, 2023

Projection

Psychological projection is a defense mechanism that occurs when an individual unconsciously attributes their own feelings, thoughts, or attributes to another person. Projection is a way for people to cope with and protect themselves from unwanted or uncomfortable emotions such as guilt, anger, or anxiety. In essence, psychological projection involves transferring one’s own emotions, thoughts, or motives onto someone else, as a means to avoid confronting or dealing with them directly.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, initially conceptualized projection as a defense mechanism. According to Freud, the mind has various ways to protect itself from psychological distress or anxiety, and projection is one of many methods. While Freud’s work laid the foundation for understanding projection, our understanding of the concept has evolved over time, with many modern psychologists examining its cognitive, social, and emotional aspects.

Several factors contribute to the likelihood of an individual engaging in psychological projection. These factors include personality traits, social and cultural influences, and situational factors. People who are more prone to projection often have a higher level of neuroticism or difficulty regulating their emotions. Social and cultural factors can also play a role, as people may be more likely to project certain emotions or traits onto others depending on societal norms and expectations. Situational factors, such as stress or emotional conflict, can further exacerbate the tendency to project.

Types of projection

There are various types of psychological projection, including:

Complementary projection: This occurs when an individual projects their own feelings or thoughts onto someone who has a complementary role in their life, such as a partner or coworker. This type of projection can often be seen in relationships, where one person may accuse their partner of being unfaithful when, in fact, they are the ones who are struggling with feelings of infidelity.
Complimentary projection: In this form of projection, an individual attributes positive qualities or traits that they themselves possess onto someone else. This may be done to reinforce a positive self-image or to maintain a sense of self-worth.
Projective identification: This is a more complex form of projection in which an individual not only attributes their own emotions, thoughts, or motives onto another person but also manipulates the other person into actually exhibiting those characteristics. This can be seen in interpersonal relationships where one person tries to control or manipulate the other to confirm their own beliefs or fears.
Collective projection: This occurs when a group of individuals projects their shared feelings, thoughts, or motives onto another group, often as a means of maintaining group cohesion or protecting the group’s image. This type of projection can be seen in situations of intergroup conflict, where one group might blame another for problems that actually stem from within their own group.

Negative consequences of projection

Psychological projection can have several negative consequences, both for the individual engaging in projection and for those on the receiving end. For the projector, it can prevent them from taking responsibility for their actions, feelings, or thoughts, thereby hindering their personal growth and emotional development. It can also distort their perception of reality, leading to poor decision-making and strained relationships.

For those on the receiving end, psychological projection can be confusing, hurtful, and damaging. It can lead to misunderstandings, conflicts, and emotional distress. Additionally, being subjected to projection can cause individuals to question their own reality and self-worth, potentially leading to feelings of self-doubt or depression.

Projection in politics

Politicians and their supporters often engage in projection as a way to deflect criticism, discredit opponents, and maintain a positive image of themselves or their party. Projection in politics can manifest in various ways, including the following:

Accusing opponents of misconduct: Politicians may accuse their opponents of engaging in unethical or illegal activities that they themselves are involved in, as a way to deflect attention from their own actions and create doubt about the opposition (classic example: when then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich waged a campaign against then-President Bill Clinton for having an affair, while he himself was having an affair with a Congressional aide on his staff).
Misattributing motives: Politicians might project their own motives or goals onto their opponents, suggesting that the other side is pursuing an agenda driven by selfish or malicious intent. This can be a way to delegitimize the opposition’s policy proposals or campaign messaging.
Stereotyping and scapegoating: Projection can also be seen in the form of stereotyping and scapegoating minority groups or other marginalized communities. Politicians may project their own insecurities, fears, bigotries, or prejudices onto these groups, blaming them for social or economic problems, as a way to rally support and distract from the real issues at hand.
Groupthink and collective projection: Political parties, factions, or movements may engage in collective projection, projecting their own faults or shortcomings onto rival groups. This can help maintain group cohesion and reinforce a shared identity, but it can also contribute to political polarization and conflict.

Projection in politics can have several negative consequences, including the distortion of facts and reality, the exacerbation of political polarization, and the perpetuation of stereotypes and prejudice. It can also hinder constructive dialogue and compromise, making it more difficult for politicians and policymakers to address pressing issues and find solutions to problems.

To counteract the influence of projection in politics, it is essential for individuals to remain vigilant and critically examine the claims and accusations made by politicians and political parties. Media outlets and journalists also play a crucial role in fact-checking and holding politicians accountable for their statements and actions. Encouraging open and honest dialogue, promoting empathy and understanding, and fostering critical thinking can help mitigate the impact of projection in the political arena.

March 17, 2023

Emotional Blackmail

Emotional blackmail is a manipulative tactic used by individuals to exert control and undue influence over others by exploiting their emotions, fears, and vulnerabilities. It typically involves the use of threats, guilt, negative emotions, and other influence techniques to pressure someone into complying with the manipulator’s demands or desires.

Forms of emotional blackmail

Threats: The manipulator may threaten to harm themselves, the victim, or someone the victim cares about if their demands are not met.
Guilt-tripping: The manipulator may try to make the victim feel guilty for not complying with their wishes, suggesting that their refusal indicates a lack of love, care, or loyalty.
Fear: The manipulator may use the victim’s insecurities, anxieties, or fears to manipulate them into submission.
Obligation: The manipulator may insist that the victim “owes” them something, such as a favor or support, in order to pressure them into compliance.

Emotional predators use blackmail

Emotional blackmail can be subtle or overt and may occur in various types of relationships, including romantic partnerships, friendships, family, and professional settings. Emotional predators (often people with personality disorders) tends to use psychological manipulation techniques to get what they want from you — without much (or any) regard for your own feelings in the matter, or the ethical dubiousness of doing so.

Recognizing and addressing emotional blackmail is essential for maintaining healthy boundaries and relationships.

March 17, 2023

Negging

Negging is a manipulative tactic often used in the context of dating and interpersonal relationships. It involves making backhanded compliments or subtle insults aimed at undermining someone’s confidence and self-esteem. The term “negging” is derived from the word “negative,” and it is typically employed to make the target feel insecure or uncertain, causing them to seek validation from the person employing the tactic.

Negging is often associated with pickup artists (PUAs) and their strategies for attracting romantic partners. The idea behind negging is that by lowering a person’s self-esteem, they become more susceptible to the manipulator’s advances and more likely to seek approval or validation.

Negging examples

“You’re really pretty for a girl with glasses.”
“I like how you don’t care about what people think of your outfit.”
“You’re surprisingly intelligent for someone who talks so much.”

Negging is part of the broad pantheon of tactics used by emotional predators. It can have negative consequences on the target’s emotional well-being and can potentially lead to toxic or abusive relationships. It’s essential to recognize negging as a manipulative tactic and maintain healthy boundaries in relationships. If you encounter negging, it is crucial to assert yourself, disengage from the interaction, or seek support from friends, family, or professionals if necessary.

Negging also falls within the realm of cult warning signs. If a group engages collectively in a lot of negging and flaw-finding, you should investigate them thoroughly and closely. They may be a high control group or cult who is interested in extracting things from you in the guise of “helping” you.

March 10, 2023

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that aims to influence people’s beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors towards a particular cause, idea, or ideology. It involves the use of persuasive influence techniques to shape public opinion and to create a favorable image of a person, group, or organization, while discrediting or demonizing its opponents.

Propaganda can take many different forms, including posters, speeches, films, radio broadcasts, social media posts, and news articles. It can be used for political, social, religious, or commercial purposes, and it is often associated with authoritarian regimes or totalitarian societies.

One of the key characteristics of propaganda is its use of emotional appeals, rather than rational arguments, to sway people’s opinions. Propagandists often appeal to people’s fears, hopes, bigotries, or prejudices, and use catchy slogans, symbols, or images to make their message more memorable and persuasive. They may also use repetition, exaggeration, or distortion of facts to reinforce their message and to create a sense of urgency or crisis.

Disinformation at scale

Another key feature of propaganda is its use of selective or biased information to support its claims and to discredit opposing views. Propagandists may use half-truths, rumors, lies, or Big Lies to create a false or misleading picture of the situation, and to manipulate people’s perceptions of reality. They may also use censorship or propaganda techniques such as suppression of dissent, demonization of opponents, or use of fear to create a chilling climate of fear and intimidation.

Propaganda can also be used to create a sense of unity or identity among a group of people, by emphasizing their shared values, beliefs, or interests, and by portraying outsiders or enemies as a threat to their well-being. Propaganda can thus be used to mobilize people for a common cause, such as a war or a political campaign, or to reinforce existing social norms and values.

However, propaganda can also have negative consequences, such as creating divisions, fostering hatred, or suppressing dissent. It can lead to the dehumanization of other groups or individuals, and to the justification of violence or discrimination. Propaganda can also undermine democracy by limiting people’s access to accurate information and by creating a distorted view of reality.

To resist propaganda, it is important to be critical of the messages we receive, to question the sources and motives of the information, and to seek out alternative perspectives and sources of information. We should also be aware of our own biases and prejudices, and strive to be open-minded and tolerant of different opinions and viewpoints.

March 6, 2023

Cancel culture

Cancel culture refers to the practice of publicly calling out or boycotting individuals, companies, or institutions for behavior that is perceived to be offensive, controversial, or problematic. The goal is to hold these entities accountable for their actions and to pressure them to change their behavior.

This can manifest in various ways, such as social media campaigns, petitions, or protests. The aim of cancel culture is often to create social consequences for the perceived wrongdoing, such as loss of employment, loss of social status, or loss of financial support.

History of cancel culture

The term cancel culture emerged out of the earlier concept of political correctness, and gained popularity in the 2010s alongside the rise of social media. Some scholars and media theorists trace the concept of cancel culture back to even earlier phenomena, such as the boycotts and blacklists of the McCarthyism era in the United States on the right, or the call-out culture of feminist and anti-racist movements on the left.

Cancel culture and political correctness are related in that they both involve social and cultural pressure to conform to certain norms of language and behavior. Political correctness refers to the avoidance of language or actions that may be considered discriminatory, offensive, or insensitive, often with the aim of promoting inclusivity and social justice. Both tend to concern themselves with highlighting language, stereotypes, and assumptions rooted in racism, sexism, and other common forms of bigotry throughout history.

Cancel culture vs. political correctness

In some ways cancel culture can be seen as an extension of political correctness, in that it goes a step further by seeking to hold individuals and entities accountable for violating norms of respect and social justice. The collective power of Facebook, Twitter (aka “X”), and other social media outlets has helped activists organize around ethical, moral, and political issues, and provided new tools for achieving accountability goals, through activities such as public shaming, boycotts, or other forms of social and economic pressure.

In my opinion, the right-wing critique of so-called cancel culture is grounded in an erroneous conflation between governmental action and collective organizing by groups of individuals who are themselves often associated with political activism. Cancel culture is often mentioned in the same breath with censorship, whose definition connotes government tyranny and overreach.

Cancel culture vs. censorship

Typically, however, the government is not involved in actual instances of cancel culture — it is merely people exercising collective powers provided by private social media companies. In fact, it seems to me that right-wing policy tends to involve actual censorship — such as Florida governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, or (also in FL) the Republican bill introduced which would require political bloggers to register with the state.

I think it’s important to be discerning, in these instances, about who is exercising power and why — is it really a case of the government overreaching (censorship), or is it simply a group of people reacting appropriately to the continued presence of structural racism, sexism, and many other -isms in modern society: and stubbornly so, after decades and centuries of collective social justice work?

March 1, 2023

Essential thinkers on authoritarian personality theory

Many people around the world were shocked in the aftermath of World War II. How could “polite” society break down so utterly, so swiftly, and so zealously? Why did authoritarian personality traits come to dominate human affairs, seemingly out of nowhere? How thin is this veneer of civilization, really?

The authoritarian personality is characterized by excessive strictness and a propensity to exhibit oppressive behavior towards perceived subordinates. On the flip side, they treat authority figures with mindless obedience and unquestioning compliance. They also have an aversion to difference, ambiguity, complexity, and diversity.

How did they get this way? Are people born with authoritarian personalities, or is the authoritarian “made” predominately by circumstance?

Authoritarian personality studies

A braintrust of scholars, public servants, authors, psychologists, and others have been analyzing these questions ever since. Some of the most prominent thinkers on the subject of authoritarianism were either themselves affected by the Nazi regime, or lived through the war in some capacity. Other more recent contributions have built on those original foundations, refining and extending them as more new history continues to unfold with right-wing behavior to observe.

February 28, 2023

Political Psychology

Political psychology is an interdisciplinary field that examines the psychological processes underlying political behavior, attitudes, and decision-making. It seeks to understand how people’s beliefs, emotions, and motivations influence their political preferences, and how these preferences shape their behavior within the political system.

Political psychology draws on theories and methods from psychology, political science, sociology, and other social sciences to study topics such as political ideology, voting behavior, political attitudes, public opinion, intergroup relations, political leadership, and conflict resolution.

The field also examines how political events and institutions affect individuals’ psychological well-being and how psychological factors contribute to the formation of political identity and collective action. Political psychology has practical applications in areas such as political communication, campaign strategy, policymaking, and international relations.

February 28, 2023

Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is a political tactic used to manipulate the boundaries of electoral districts to favor one political party over another. It’s essentially the opposite of what the Founders meant by representative democracy — voters are supposed to choose their representatives, and not the other way around.

The practice is named after Elbridge Gerry, a governor of Massachusetts who in 1812 approved a redistricting plan that created a district that resembled a salamander. The term “gerrymandering” combines the words “Gerry” and “salamander.”

The objective of gerrymandering is to create “safe” districts for a particular political party or group by concentrating voters who are likely to support that party into a small number of districts, while diluting their votes in other districts. This is done by drawing district boundaries in a way that groups together like-minded voters or separates them from voters who are likely to vote for the opposing party. It’s a way of cherry-picking one’s constituents, and manipulating the outcome unfairly in your favor — with one net effect being the dilution of the voting rights of your opposition.

Gerrymandering is typically carried out by state legislatures, who have the authority to redraw electoral district boundaries every ten years after the release of the Census data. The redistricting process is supposed to ensure that each district has roughly the same number of residents, but lawmakers often use this opportunity to manipulate the boundaries in a way that benefits their party.

Partisan and racial gerrymandering

There are two main types of gerrymandering: partisan gerrymandering and racial gerrymandering. Partisan gerrymandering is when district boundaries are drawn in a way that benefits one political party over another. Racial gerrymandering is when district boundaries are drawn in a way that dilutes the voting power of racial minorities — which, in turn, tends to help the Republican Party and hurt the Democratic Party.

Partisan gerrymandering can be carried out in several ways. One common method is “packing,” which involves drawing district boundaries so that a high concentration of voters who support one party are all in one district. This leaves other districts with fewer voters who support that party, making it easier for the opposing party to win those districts. Another method is “cracking,” which involves breaking up a concentration of voters who support one party by drawing district boundaries so that they are spread out across multiple districts. This dilutes their voting power and makes it harder for them to win any of those districts.

Racial gerrymandering is usually carried out to dilute the voting power of racial minorities, particularly African Americans and Hispanics. This is done by drawing district boundaries that split up minority communities and dilute their voting power by spreading them across multiple districts. Racial gerrymandering is illegal under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race.

Effects of gerrymandering

The effects of gerrymandering can be significant. By manipulating district boundaries, lawmakers can create a situation where one party has a significant advantage over the other, making it easier for them to win elections. This can lead to a lack of political competition, which can make it harder for voters to hold their elected officials accountable. In other words, gerrymandering can lead to increased corruption in government at all levels.

Gerrymandering also has the potential to create a lack of diversity in government. By concentrating voters of a particular political party or race into a small number of districts, lawmakers can create a situation where the views and interests of some voters are not represented in government. This can lead to a situation where elected officials are not truly representative of their constituents — which is the essence of the American Dream.

Efforts to combat gerrymandering have included legal challenges to redistricting plans, the use of independent redistricting commissions, and the adoption of alternative voting systems like ranked-choice voting. Despite these efforts, gerrymandering remains a significant issue in many states, and its effects can be seen in elections at all levels of government, from school boards to Congress to the White House.

February 26, 2023

Authoritarianism Dictionary

We glibly believed it could never happen here even though we’ve been warned again and again. And in some sense, even though it’s been here all along — hiding in plain sight. It could happen here, and it did, because it’s happened here before. This dictionary of American authoritarianism collects definitions and charts the rise of language, ideology, tactics, and historical movements of American authoritarians, to arm us with the knowledge we need to understand the tricks of the trade.

For a long time it was convenient to think of authoritarian personality as primarily a European problem, or in any case, a phenomenon that happened elsewhere. We are still waking up (…again) to the scope and depth of the problem, while anti-government groups organize relatively openly and we have yet to see justice for the January 6 attack on our capital. There is much work to be done, and in the meantime we can always continue to educate ourselves about our nation’s history — and the role of slavery, white supremacy, and racism in the shaping of the country and the future class structure of today’s America.

The myth of white innocence is toxic to this understanding. Those who say they “don’t see” race or “don’t want to talk about” race put their white privilege on full display in demanding their right to opt-out of the discussion on race. They’re not interested in having a discussion on race — they’re interested in silencing events like the Tulsa Race Massacre and ensuring we lack the language even to describe the horrors being visited upon human beings by the silencers. The only “discussion” they want to have about the matter is spoken in the words of Smith & Wesson, Chapter AR-15.

American Authoritarianism

White supremacy, in fact, in part inspired Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. In turn, the Nazis inspired the original America First movement at the hands of Charles Lindbergh, a notoriously avowed anti-Semite who vociferously opposed America’s involvement in World War II. Lindbergh and the other early movement conservative extremists lost the battle, and the Allies won the war — thus, fascism as an ideology was defeated in the popular mind for a goodly while.

But prejudice and bigotry are beasts that never sleep — only fitfully slumber and simmer beneath the surface. Bigotry has been rebuilding covertly for years and decades, if it can even be said to have gone away. America has always had its strain of autocratic fascination — and that strain of authoritarianism began flirting with what became fascism in the 20th century. The extremists yearning for a consummation of American fascism have continued to work diligently for almost a century, and have now largely succeeded in injecting a virulent form of nationalism, xenophobia, and isolationism into mainstream GOP politics in the 21st century.

The election of Donald Trump in 2016 seemed to unleash these latent forces that have been amassing since the Reagan years, growing more virulent during the 1990s. From Pat Buchanan and Newt Gingrich of yesteryear to Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ron DeSantis today, the American right-wing is more and more overtly appealing to anti-democratic methods and ideologies — and no longer seem to be regarded as the kooks and cranks of the Republican Party as their equivalents were during the John Birch Society era.

Authoritarianism Dictionary

I’ll be adding to this authoritarianism dictionary over time, as I can chip away at it and as new words get added to the lexicon. It’s highly encouraging that the American people were able to throw off the would-be dictator Trump, but the Republican party continues to press their seditious aims in his name. They continue to trade on the Confederate ideals long defeated, discredited, and dishonored in this nation. Let’s educate each other on the techniques being used against us by the powerful to limit our frames, and to inhibit our awareness, our choices, and our awareness of our choices.

The hour is late, and we must act with all haste.

Term	Topic	Definition
1st Amendment	government	"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
2nd Amendment	government	"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
13th Amendment	white supremacy	The Amendment that put an end to slavery. It was passed by Congress and ratified by 2/3 of the states in 1865.
14th Amendment	white supremacy	The second Constitutional Amendment passed following the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to freed African American former slaves, along with equal civil and legal rights as specified in the Constitution.
15th Amendment	white supremacy	Third and last of the Reconstruction Amendments, the Fifteenth gave African Americans the right to vote -- and prohibited any type of voter discrimination on the basis of race.
19th Amendment	misogyny	The woman's Suffrage Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States.
4chan	alt-Right	A notorious internet message board with an unruly culture capable of trolling, pranks, and crimes.
4GW		Fourth-generation warfare, a model of hybrid warfare proposed by William S. Lind (of "cultural Marxism" fame)
8chan	alt-Right	If 4chan wasn't raw and lawless enough for you, you could try the even more right-wing "free speech"-haven 8chan while it still stood (now 8kun). Described by its founder Frederick Bennan as "if 4chan and reddit had a baby," the site is notorious for incubating Gamergate, which morphed into PizzaGate, which morphed into QAnon -- and for generally being a cesspool of humanity's worst stuff.
8kun	alt-Right	The rebranded incarnation of 8chan after being booted offline and haggling with its founder, Frederick Brennan.
abortion	religious extremism	The safe medical procedure for ending a pregnancy.
active measures	Russian	A style of political warfare originating in the Soviet Union in the 1920s incorporating spycraft, disinformation, propaganda, sabotage, and destabilization, among other offensive programs targeting the USSR's geopolitical foes including the United States.
ad populum		Rhetorical fallacy that assumes an opinion shared by the majority is correct -- without consideration of the credentials of the group.
aggrieved entitlement	white supremacy	A term coined by sociologist Michael Kimmel, who documents the perceived emasculation of America's white male uneducated class and their reactionary rage against social justice and marginal groups getting the spotlight.
America's "original sin"	white supremacy	A reference to the institution of slavery.
amoral	abuse & control	Without morality; without empathy or compassion.
anti-abortion	religious extremism	Political movement formed in the 1970s to overturn Roe v. Wade, that has become a major pillar of the Republican Party
anti-Communist	conspiracy theory	The Cold War Red Scare was promulgated by Senator Eugene McCarthy with help from lawyer Roy Cohn -- who later famously weaned Donald Trump in his image. The John Birch Society and movement conservatives seethed about ehe enemies within, as middle America set about booming with the Boomers for an entire generation of widely shared prosperity.
anti-intraception	psychological warfare	Psychologist Theodor Adorno's term for individuals who resist self-reflection and exhibit the absence of looking inward.
anti-racism
anti-Semitism		See definition: antisemitism
anti-tax	plutocracy	Grover Norquist is a little piggie
armed robbery	organized crime	Holding someone or something up at gunpoint.
aryan
Ashe experiments	psychological warfare
ASPD	abuse & control	antisocial personality disorder
assassination	paramilitary	The killing of a head of state or other important figure for political or ideological reasons, as opposed to murder as a crime of passion.
astroturfing	psychological warfare	Pretending a well organized and financed operation is a grassroots groundswell
authoritarianism	government
banality of evil		Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “banality of evil” to refer to the confoundingly commonplace motives of the Nazis who perpetrated some of the worst war crimes in history -- they would never have struck anyone as potential mass murderers before the war.
banana republic	plutocracy	politically unstable countries whose economies are monocultures controlled by an oligarchy; puppet states
bandwagon
Biblical inerrancy		Belief in the literal truth of every single passage of the Bible
The Big Lie		A giant, obviously false lie repeated over and over again until people start to believe it
birth control	misogyny
birtherism		Conspiracy theory started by Donald Trump claiming that Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S. and thus, ineligible for the presidency
bitcoin	alt-Right	The original cryptocurrency represents an entirely new form of money; a way to store value digitally usig the blockchain.
Black Codes	white supremacy
black-pilled
BLM	white supremacy	Black Lives Matter
BLM (US)	government	Bureau of Land Management
blockchain	alt-Right	Digital ledger of events and transactions that powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
blood libel	conspiracy theory
Blue Checks	psychological warfare	Reference to Twitter's "verified" feature for certain members, who have satisfied the company that they are who they say they are. Originally the feature was meant to identify the official accounts of news sites and reporters, so it has both an association with -- and a legitimate lineage from -- the media industry.
bolt hole	End Times	A type of retreat or refuge for those in the survivalist subculture, to be absconded to in case of disaster or apocalypse.
Brooks Brothers Riot	Sedition Caucus
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)	white supremacy	Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of schools. Resistance to the ruling took the form of "states' rights" advocates, among much else.
bugman		New Right word for liberal men who supposedly lack tangible life skills
bug-out location (BOL)	End Times	Another name for a bolt hole or survivalist refuge location.
Calexit	Sedition Caucus	Movement to split the state of California into East and West states
Calvinism		The ideology of predestination means you can't do anything to change your fate, but you can act like you're saved and that's close enough, to Calvin.
capital gains tax	plutocracy
carried-interest tax		more significant for private equity than for hedge fundsa subset of capital gains taxationWarren Buffett’s famous complaint that he is taxed at a lower rate than his secretary: “It offends our values as a nation when an investment manager making fifty million dollars can pay a lower tax rate on her earned income than a teacher making fifty thousand dollars pays on her income.”
the Cathedral	conspiracy theory
cathexis		A kind of fusion the people of a nation may claim to feel with the fascist leader.
Citizens United		A Supreme Court case that opened the doorway wide to the influence of dark -- i.e. untradeable, not transparent -- money in American politics.
civil society
Civil War	white supremacy
climate change denialism
clown world	conspiracy theory
CloudFlare	Big Tech	A company that protects websites from cyberattacks, it dropped support for 8chan after the mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso. The shooter had posted his anti-immigrant manifesto on 8chan before the event, another in a series of eerily similar patterned shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand and a San Diego synagogue.
Cluster B	abuse & control
collective narcissism	abuse & control
Columbine Massacre	political violence
Communism	government
The Confederacy	political violence
conscience
conspiracy theory	psychological warfare
convict leasing	white supremacy
copperheadism	white supremacy	A citizen of the North who was against the Civil War and favored negotiating a settlement with the South was referred to, pejoratively, as a copperhead.
covert narcissist	psychological warfare
Critical Race Theory	white supremacy
Critical Theory	conspiracy theory
crocodile tears
crying wolf
cultism
cults	abuse & control
cultural Marxism
Dark Enlightenment
Dark MAGA
dark money	plutocracy
death cult
deep state	conspiracy theory	Networks of opposition within governments who undermine the official regime
democratic socialism	government
desegregation	white supremacy	The end of segregation between white and Black society in the U.S., ending formally in the 1950s and 60s.
disinformation	psychological warfare
dispensationalism
domestic violence	abuse & control
Doomsday Clock	End Times
double standard	misogyny
down ballot	government
doxing	abuse & control	Researching and broadcasting personally identifiable information about an individual
Drain the Swamp	MAGA	Campaign slogan of Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential contest.
eco-fascist
El Paso Walmart shooting
Emancipation Proclamation	white supremacy
empathy
estate tax	plutocracy
"Eternal Rome"		Ideology positing Russia as a geopolitical bulwark of conservatism against a weak-kneed West (part of Alexander Dugin's reformulation of Eurasianism theory)
ethnic cleansing
exfiltration	cybersecurity	The removal or copying of data from one server to another without the knowledge of the owner
extra-Constitutional
facial recognition	surveillance capitalism	Technology that matches surveillance video and photography with large databases of known subjects' faces to identify them
Fairness Doctrine		1949 FCC policy requiring broadcast networks to present controversial issues important to the public in a non-partisan way, that was repealed under Reagan in 1987.
fake news	disinformation
false flag	Russian	covert operations designed to deceive by appearing as though they are carried out by other entities, groups, or nations than those who actually executed them
fascism	government
fellow travellers
fifth column
fifth world war	Russian	non-linear war; the war of all against all
filibuster
Financial Crimes Enforcement NEtwork (FinCEN)	organized crime	Department within the Treasury that handles and maiontains FBAR filings from US persons holding in excess of $10,000 in foreign banks.
FISA Court	organized crime
FISA warrant	organized crime
fiscal policy	plutocracy
flat earthers	conspiracy theory
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)	psychological warfare	Legal statute requiring those persons lobbying on behalf of a foreign government or other entity to register such with the U.S. government.
foreign bank account report (FBAR)	organized crime	Required disclosure to the US treasury by persons holding in excess of $10,000 in funds in foreign banks.
forensics	law enforcement
forever wars
The Frankfurt School
Freedmen's Bureau
FreedomFest		Conservative evangelical event annually in Las Vegas
Free Speech
free trade	plutocracy
fronto-paralimbic area		Part of the brain associated with empathy, along with the anterior insula
fundamentalism
Gab	alt-Right
GamerGate	alt-Right
genocide
gerrymandering	government	The practice of selecting voter districts based on party registration lines so as to make it easier to control larger blocks of the elctorate.
gift tax	plutocracy
"global cabal"	conspiracy theory	euphemism in far-right Russian discourse to refer to a perceived "Jewish conspiracy" behind the international order of institutions like NATO and the EU
globalists
Grand Jury		16 to 23 people impaneled to hear evidence from a legal prosecution, and decide if said prosecution has a caseworthy set of evidence to bring charges.
Greensboro Massacre	white supremacy
Great Awakening
Great Migration	white supremacy
Great Society	government
greed
Guantanamo
happy talk		Tim Snyder's term for the ubiquitous affect of technology & unquestionable conviction that tech is helping significantly and never harming.
human trafficking	organized crime
hybrid warfare	psychological warfare
hypercapitalism
incel	misogyny	"involuntary celibate" -- a male individual who believes society owes him sex
inflation	plutocracy
information warfare	disinformation
integralist
interest rates	plutocracy
internationalist	conspiracy theory	Another word for "globalist" or "cosmopolitanist," all of them also words for Jewish people
interposition	white supremacy	Dubious theory underpinning the idea of states' rights, which is that individual states have veto power over any laws passed by the federal government
Iran-Contra
iron triangle		A conspiracy between organized criminals, corrupt government officials, and business leaders to turn the state into a kleptocracy -- or "rule by thieves"
Jim Crow South	white supremacy
Johnson Amendment	prosperity gospel	Allowed televangelists to funnel tax-free riches into luxury goods and political advocacy
Karen	white supremacy
kayfabe		The "play pretend" convention of presenting a staged performance as if it were spontaneous and authentic -- a trope of professional wrestling.
kleptocracy		Literally, "rule by thieves" -- a system of government in which the people at the top steal wealth from the nation and its people for themselves and their cronies.
Kochtopus	plutocracy	Term for the sprawling political machinery of the Kansas-based billionaire Koch Industries inheritees, Charles and David.
kompromat	Russian	compromising material on a head of state or other important figure; typically used for blackmail purposes
lamestream media	alt-Right
late Republican period		A way of stating a common belief on the New Right, that America is a kind of late-stage Rome awaiting its Caesar
leaderless resistance
liberalism	government	Political and ethical framework based on individual liberty via human rights and equal protection
libertines
literacy tests
lobbying	government
"Lock her up!"	MAGA	Chant led by Mike Flynn at the RNC in 2016, referring to Hillary Clinton's email scandal which turned out to be a nothingburger
Logan Act	government
Lost Cause religion	conspiracy theory	After the Civil War, the Confederates never accepted defeat. Instead, they wove a noble victim mythology into white southern Christianity, in an attempt to memory hole the terrorism they'd wrought -- and wished to continue practicing without scrutiny or accountability, thank you very much.
lynching	white supremacy	Extrajudicial murder, sometimes publicly, of Black men and women -- often for invented crimes
Machiavellian
machine learning	Big Tech
Mafia state	organized crime	A systematic corruption of government by organized crime syndicates.
MAGA	MAGA	"Make America Great Again" -- one of Donald Trump's campaign slogans.
malignant envy	psychological warfare
malignant narcissism	abuse & control
"man code"		Mentioned by Raffensberger in relation to the Trump extortion call: that if Trump hadn't lied about it in public, he might not have released the tape, just chalking it up to "private criminal attempts between two men" aka "man code"
manosphere	misogyny
Marxism	government
the matrix
mental predation	abuse & control
#MeToo	misogyny
microaggressions
micropenis	misogyny
micro-propaganda machine		The “micro-propaganda machine” (MPM) — an influence network that can tailor people’s opinions, emotional reactions, and create “viral” sharing episodes around what should be serious or contemplative issues
millennarianism	conspiracy theory
minority rule
mirror neurons
misogyny	misogyny
MK Ultra		Reportedly a CIA program in the 50s that conducted research into mind control and brainwashing -- its findings were apparently so shocking that the program was shut down and never heard from again.
money laundering	organized crime	Attempts and processes to obscure the sources of funds moving into or through a system
multiculturalism
narcissism	abuse & control
narcissistic collusion	abuse & control
natality		Hannah Arendt's term, and her most hopefuly theory for the future of humankind -- that it will continually be renewed by the literal birth of new generations of humans to reinterpret the human condition and our existence in the world.
national debt	plutocracy
national deficit	plutocracy
national security
NDA		Non-disclosure agreement
negging	abuse & control
neomania		obsession with the new -- a hallmark of American culture
neo-reactionaries
New Deal	government
New Jim Crow	white supremacy
New Right
non-linear warfare	Russian
normalcy bias
novichok	Russian	military-grade nerve agent developed by Russia and used in the poisoning of former FSB agent turned Putin critic Andrei Skripal and his daughter in Lonson in March, 2018
nullification	white supremacy
NRx		neo-Reactionary, an extremist techophilic ideology popular on the right
obstruction
Oklahoma City bombing
oligarchy	plutocracy
one-party state	government
open source intelligence	intelligence
oppo	intelligence	short form of opposition research
outrage industry	surveillance capitalism
PAC
Palantir	surveillance capitalism
paralipsis	disinformation	A rhetorical device in which the speaker feigns ignorance of the thing he or she is saying; "Saying / not saying" -- it offers a thin veneer of plausible deniability in a naked attempt to escape accountabilitty for saying exactly that.
paralogic	psychological warfare
paranoia		Extreme fear to the point of (or beyond) psychological pathology.
pathocracy	organized crime
patriarchy	misogyny
peculiar institution	white supremacy	slavery
peonage	white supremacy
plausible deniability	organized crime
Plessy v. Ferguson	government	1896
plutocracy	government	Political rule by the rich.
political correctness
poll tax
ponerology		The study of evil
populism	government
post-leftist
postmodernism	disinformation
post-truth	disinformation
Potemkin village	government	Any structure or facade built expressly for the purpose of making the situation appear more favorable than it really is
Powell Memo	plutocracy	Lewis Powell's 1970s memo to the wealthy white male elite, in anger over the crackdown against tobacco companies, as a call to arms to organize politically against "anti-capitalist" forces
PR	abuse & control	public relations
previous question rule		A parliamentary rule present in the initial decades of the Senate, borrowed from British law, that allowed the majority proponents of a bill or measure to call an end to debate about the provision with a short warning period of usually about 5 minutes.
Progressive Era	government
propaganda	abuse & control
prosperity gospel
prosocial behavior
psychopath	abuse & control
psyops	Russian	Psychological operations
PUA	misogyny	"Pick Up Artist" -- a self-styled lothario who helps train other would-be casanovas in his ways of manipulative charm
Pulse Nightclub shooting
race riots	white supremacy
race war	white supremacy	The goal of the accelerationist neo-Nazi idealogues is to start a race war and bring down the American government
RAGE	abuse & control	Retire All Government Employees
rape culture	misogyny
Reagonomics	conspiracy theory
the "real economy"	conspiracy theory	What folks on the New Right consider legitimate parts of the American economy: farm and factory jobs that used to sustain a middle-class income
Reddit	Big Tech
the regime	conspiracy theory
regression
repression
retweet	Big Tech	When a Twitter user amplifies the tweet of another, by "retweeting" it out to her or his network
RICO
Right anterior insular cortex		Part of the brain associated with empathy; psychopaths have a deficit here
right-wing authoritarian	government
Roe v. Wade
Ruby Ridge	white supremacy
running out the clock
RWDS	paramilitary	Right-wing Death Squads -- an acronym used by Proud Boys and worn as patches by some members and branches
sadism	abuse & control
sadopopulism	government
Sandy Hook school shooting	abuse & control
savior complex		Like the arsonist who sets the fire and then calls it in to play the hero, right-wingers with the savior complex are constantly holding up the sky as the Evil Democrats try to destroy everything good and holy -- and they want CREDIT for it, dammit!
Second Wave Feminism	misogyny
Section 230	Big Tech
senicide
sexual assault	misogyny
sexual harassment	misogyny
shadow profiles	surveillance capitalism	Data that Facebook collects on people who are not members of Facebook, via association with their friends who are
sharecropping	abuse & control
shared reality
show trials	Russian
Signal	Big Tech	encrypted messaging app
Silicon Reich
sit-ins		Nonviolent demonstration method used heavily in the 1960s
SJW	white supremacy	Social Justice Warriors -- used as a pejorative by the alt-Right
socialism	government
sociopathy	abuse & control
sockpuppet accounts	disinformation	Fake social media accounts used by trolls for deceptive and covert actions, avoiding culpability for abuse, aggression, death threats, doxxing, and other criminal acts against targets.
SMS	Big Tech	texting
special interest groups	government
spearphishing	cybersecurity	An email designed to appear as if from a trusted source, to solicit information that allows the sender to gain access to an account or network, or installs malware that later enables the sender to gain access to an account or network
spite voter	government
stand your ground
stochastic terrorism	paramilitary
suffrage	government	The right to vote, sometimes referred to as "the franchise."
SuperPAC	government
supremacy
surveillance capitalism
surveillance state	abuse & control
swatting	alt-Right	hoaxed reports to emergency services intended to provoke a SWAT team response at the target's home; a form of Internet-based attack used by Gamergate, the alt-Right, and other groups and individuals
symbolic violence
tax avoidance	plutocracy
tax fraud	organized crime
tax havens	plutocracy
Third Wave Feminism	misogyny
totalism	psychological warfare
total war	Russian
trial balloon	psychological warfare	Information put out or leaked to the media to gauge public reaction.
trickle-down economics	conspiracy theory
truth decay	conspiracy theory
The Turner Diaries	white supremacy
Tulsa Race Massacre	white supremacy	A mob of murderous whites descended on the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, dubbed Black Wall Street, and razed it to the ground. They dropped homemade bombs in the first ever domestic aerial attack on American soil. Over three hundred Blacks were murdered and hastily buried or burned. Police and other state officials were complicit; no one was ever charged for the crimes and insurance companies refused to honor Black business owner's claims from the destruction of their livelihood and senseless slaughter of their friends, families, and community.
Twitter	Big Tech
Uberman
unmasking	cybersecurity	Intelligence protocol redacting American identities from transcripts of foreign intercepts
vast right-wing conspiracy
volcel
Voting Rights Act	white supremacy
Waco, TX	paramilitary
wag the dog	abuse & control
wage gap	misogyny
war crimes
Watergate
watering hole	cybersecurity	hacker attacks that infect entire websites
whataboutism	Russian	Classic debate tactic of old Soviet apologists to deflect criticism of Soviet policy; whenever an American would levy a critique, the response would be, "What about the bad things America does?"
white collar crime	organized crime
white nationalism	white supremacy
women's liberation	misogyny
word salad
World War I		WWI gave job opportunities to blacks in the North, causing a great migration -- as well as a backlash and resistance from Southern law enforcement.
World War II
Yes California		Movement to secede from the US entirely, run by Marcus Ruiz Evans, Louis J. Marinelli

February 17, 2023

Blood libel

Blood libel is a very old anti-Semitic myth that has stubbornly persisted for centuries, one of several conspiracy theories that have scapegoating the Jewish people for all of society’s ills at their core. The heart of the false claim is that Jews murder non-Jewish (or Gentile) children to use their blood for apocryphal religious rituals, during Passover and other prominent Jewish holidays.

Originating from a series of stereotypes about Jews amassed through the ages, blood libel is also intimately related to the global cabal conspiracy theory and was heavily used in Nazi ideology to justify the horrors of the Holocaust. Somewhat ironically, the Nazis claimed that the Jewish people were inherently violent and murderous — and used this baseless claim as justification of their own systematic program of violence and murder of over 6 million Jewish people in Germany during the 1930s and 40s.

The outlandish claims of blood libel have been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked by scholars, historians, anthropologists, psychologists, and an armada of dedicated truth-tellers — yet the stickiness of the myth persists, even after the consequences of this toxic belief system of antisemitism became apparent during World War II. Today, the blood libel myth has been given new life in the modern revision known as the QAnon conspiracy theory — a movement which contains elements of blood libel, global cabal theory, and a hodge podge of other fantastical and fanatical belief systems that have hooked gullible populations throughout history.

It’s important to remain skeptical of those who make these claims, and to ask who benefits from the deep virulent divisions and bitter partisanship created by the widespread belief in these toxic conspiracy theories.

February 17, 2023

Conspiracy Theory Dictionary

conspiracy theories, disinformation, and fake news

Conspiracy Theory Dictionary: From QAnon to Gnostics

In half a decade we’ve gone from Jeb Bush making a serious run for president to Marjorie Taylor Greene running unopposed and winning a House seat in Georgia. QAnon came seemingly out of nowhere, but taps into a much deeper and older series of conspiracy theories that have surfaced, resurfaced, and been remixed throughout time.

Essentially, QAnon is a recycling of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion conspiracy theory that drove the Nazi ideology and led to the genocide of over 6 million Jews, gypsies, gays, and others who made Hitler mad. It’s a derivative of the global cabal conspiracy theory, and is riddled with the kind of conspiratorial paranoia that led to the deaths of over 75 million people in World War II.

The spread of the QAnon conspiracy theory greatly benefits from historical memory, getting a generous marketing boost from sheer familiarity. It also benefits from an authoritarian mentality growing louder in America, with a predilection for magical thinking and a susceptibility to conspiratorial thinking.

Tales as old as time

Conspiracy theories have been around much longer even than the Protocols — stretching back about as long as recorded history itself. Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? In an increasingly complex world brimming with real-time communication capabilities, the cognitive appeal of easy answers may simply be stronger than ever before.

Anthropologists believe that conspiracy theory has been around for about as long as human beings have been able to communicate. Historians describe one of the earliest conspiracy theories as originating in ancient Mesopotamia, involving a god named Marduk and a goddess called Tiamat — both figures in Babylonian creation mythology.

According to the myth, Marduk defeated Tiamat in battle and created the world from her body — but some ancient Mesopotamians at the time thought that the story was not actually a mere myth, but a political cover-up of a real-life conspiracy in which the followers of Marduk secretly plotted to overthrow Tiamat to seize power.

This “original conspiracy theory” was likely driven by political tensions between city-states in ancient Mesopotamia, although there are very few written records still around to corroborate the origin of the theory or perception of the story at the time. Nevertheless, the Marduk-Tiamat myth is regarded as one of the earliest known examples of widespread belief in conspiracy theories, and it points to the relative commonality and frequency of false narratives throughout history.

Whether deployed purposefully to deceive a population for political advantage, created to exploit people economically, or invented “naturally” as a simple yet satisfying explanation for otherwise complicated and overwhelming phenomena, conspiracy theories are undoubtedly here to stay in culture more broadly for some time to come. We had best get the lay of the land, and understand the language we might use to describe and talk about them.

Conspiracy Theory Dictionary

Term	Definition	Notes
4chan	A notorious internet message board with an unruly culture capable of trolling, pranks, and crimes.	alt-Right
8chan	If 4chan wasn't raw and lawless enough for you, you could try the even more right-wing "free speech"-haven 8chan while it still stood (now 8kun). Described by its founder Frederick Bennan as "if 4chan and reddit had a baby," the site is notorious for incubating Gamergate, which morphed into PizzaGate, which morphed into QAnon -- and for generally being a cesspool of humanity's worst stuff.	alt-Right
9/11 truthers	People who believe the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001 were either known about ahead of time and allowed to happen, or were intentionally planned by the US government.
alien abduction	People who claim to have been captured by intelligent life from another planet, taken to a spaceship or other plane of existence, and brought back -- as well as the folks who believe them.	UFOs now real, nbd
American carnage	Evocative of "immense loss" in the Nazi mythology
Antifa	Antifa is anti-fascism, so the anti-anti-fascists are just fascists wrapped in a double negative. The real cancel culture -- and a dangerous one.
Anti-Semitism	One of history's oldest hatreds, stretching back to early biblical times	Referred to as "the oldest hate," anti-Semitism is also inherently anti-feminist, because Jewish societies were once matrilineal.
Biblical inerrancy
birtherism	One of Donald Trump's original Big Lies -- that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S. and therefore, wasn't a "legitimate" president.
Black Lives Matter	A social movement advocating for non-violent civil disobedience in protest against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people.
blood libel	A false accusation or myth that Jewish people used the blood of Christians, especially children, in religious rituals, historically used to justify persecution of Jews.
child trafficking	The illegal practice of procuring or trading children for the purpose of exploitation, such as forced labor, sexual exploitation, or illegal adoption.
Christian Identity	A religious belief system that asserts that white people of European descent are God's chosen people, often associated with white supremacist and extremist groups.
climate change denial	The rejection or dismissal of the scientific consensus that the climate is changing and that human activity is a significant contributing factor.
The Confederacy	Refers to the Confederate States of America, a group of 11 southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861, leading to the American Civil War, primarily over the issue of slavery.
contamination	The presence of an unwanted substance or impurity in another substance, making it unsafe or unsuitable for use.
cosmopolitanism	Another term for globalist or internationalist, which are all dog whistles for Jewish people (see also: global cabal, blood libel)
Crossing the Rubicon	A phrase that signifies passing a point of no return, derived from Julius Caesar's irreversible crossing of the Rubicon River in 49 BC, leading to the Roman Civil War.
cultural Marxism	Anti-semitic conspiracy theory alleging that Jewish intellectuals who fled the Hitler regime were responsible for infecting American culture with their communist takeover plans and that this holy war is the war the right-wing fights each day.
deep state	The idea of a body within the government and military that operates independently of elected officials, often believed to manipulate government policy and direction.
DVE	(Domestic Violent Extremism): Refers to violent acts committed within a country's borders by individuals motivated by domestic political, religious, racial, or social ideologies.
fake news	Information that is false or misleading, created and disseminated with the intent to deceive the public or sway public opinion.
GamerGate	A controversy that started in 2014 involving the harassment of women in the video game industry, under the guise of advocating for ethics in gaming journalism.
George Soros	A Hungarian-American billionaire investor and philanthropist, often the subject of unfounded conspiracy theories alleging he manipulates global politics and economies.
Hollywood	The historic center of the United States film industry, often used to refer broadly to American cinema and its cultural influence.
Illuminati	A term often associated with various conspiracy theories that allege a secret society controlling world affairs, originally referring to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society.
InfoWars	A controversial far-right media platform known for promoting conspiracy theories and misinformation, hosted by Alex Jones.
JFK assassination	The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, an event surrounded by numerous conspiracy theories regarding the motives and identities of the assassins.
John Birch Society	The QAnon of its day (circa 1960s), this extreme right-wing group was theoretically about anti-communist ideals but espoused a host of conspiracy theories and outlandish beliefs
lamestream media	Derogatory term for any media that isn't right-wing media.
leftist apocalypse	A hyperbolic term used by some critics to describe a scenario where leftist or progressive policies lead to societal collapse or significant negative consequences.
Makers and Takers	A right-wing economic dichotomy used to describe individuals or groups who contribute to society or the economy (makers) versus those who are perceived to take from it without contributing (takers).
micro-propaganda machine	MPM: Refers to the use of targeted, small-scale dissemination of propaganda, often through social media and other digital platforms, to influence public opinion or behavior.	the “micro-propaganda machine” — an influence network that can tailor people’s opinions, emotional reactions, and create “viral” sharing (��LOL/haha/��RAGE) episodes around what should be serious or contemplative issues
motivated reasoning	The cognitive process where individuals form conclusions that are more favorable to their preexisting beliefs or desires, rather than based on objective evidence.
New World Order	A conspiracy theory that posits a secretly emerging totalitarian world government, often associated with fears of loss of sovereignty and individual freedoms. (see also, OWG, ZOG)
nullification	A constitutional "theory" put forth by southern states before the Civil War that they have the power to invalidate any federal laws or judicial decisions they consider unconstitutional. It's never been upheld by the federal courts.
One World Government	The concept of a single government authority that would govern the entire world, often discussed in the context of global cooperation or, conversely, as a dystopian threat in conspiracy theories. (see also: NWO, ZOG)
PizzaGate	A debunked and baseless conspiracy theory alleging the involvement of certain U.S. political figures in a child sex trafficking ring, supposedly operated out of a Washington, D.C., pizzeria.
post-truth	Refers to a cultural and political context in which debate is framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored.
PR	public relations
propaganda	Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
Protocols of the Elders of Zion	Forged anti-semitic document alleging a secret Jewish child murder conspiracy used by Hitler to gin up support for his regime.
PsyOps	Psychological operations: Operations intended to convey selected information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.
QAnon	A baseless conspiracy theory alleging that a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotting against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Q Drops	Messages or "drops" posted on internet forums by "Q," the anonymous figure at the center of the QAnon conspiracy theory, often cryptic and claiming to reveal secret information about a supposed deep state conspiracy.
reactionary modernism	A term that describes the combination of modern technological development with traditionalist or reactionary political and cultural beliefs, often seen in fascist ideologies.
Reichstag fire	An arson attack on the Reichstag building (home of the German parliament) in Berlin on February 27, 1933, which the Nazi regime used as a pretext to claim that Communists were plotting against the German government.
Rothschilds	A wealthy Jewish family of bankers, often subject to various unfounded conspiracy theories alleging they control global financial systems and world events.
sock puppets	Online identities used for purposes of deception, such as to praise, defend, or support a person or organization while appearing to be an independent party.
"Stand back and stand by"	A phrase used by former U.S. President Donald Trump during a presidential debate, which was interpreted as a call to readiness by the Proud Boys, a far-right and neo-fascist organization.
The Storm	Within the context of QAnon, a prophesied event in which members of the supposed deep state cabal will be arrested and punished for their crimes.
WikiLeaks	Within the context of QAnon, a prophesied event in which members of the supposed deep state cabal will be arrested and punished for their crimes.
ZOG	ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government): A conspiracy theory claiming that Jewish people secretly control a country, particularly the United States, while the term itself is antisemitic and unfounded.

February 10, 2023

Psychopaths

Psychopaths are the pinnacle creatures of Cluster B — a group of personality disorders that all include pathological narcissism or NPD as a foundation. A psychopath is a cold-blooded human predator, devoid of empathy — they can be very cruel and very dangerous. They feel no shame — they consider shame the hallmark of Lesser People.

Psychopaths and their slightly-less-chilling counterparts the sociopaths (together: ASPD) make up roughly 5% of the general population — a figure which generally shocks people. That’s right — about 1 in 20 of all the people you have ever met, functionally speaking, have very little conscience. Some of them choose to behave ethically for various purposes, but many do not. They are certainly not to be trusted.

Part of the dark triad

The dark triad in psychology refers to psychopathy along with two other personality traits: narcissism, and Machiavellianism. These individuals exhibit a manipulative and malevolent style with others.

Attributes of psychopaths (this page is a work in progress):

no moral code beyond self-interest; ruthless
emotional predators
transactional worldview; everything and everyone is for sale
emotional black holes
they suck empathy out of the system, destructively; emotional vampires
emotional parasites, feeding off of others’ emotional energies and giving nothing back
the closest thing to pure evil in a human being

Famous examples in history and culture:

Hannibal Lecter
Ted Bundy
Charles Manson
Adolf Hitler
Ramsay Bolton

It’s important to note, though, that not all sociopaths are killers — far from it. These are simply the notable examples most people have heard of, to get a reference point on what these personality types are like.

Most sociopaths — unfortunately — are the guy next door, the woman at work, or the dude who took you home in his Uber. They’re someone you know.

February 9, 2023

Top Mental Models

Top Mental Models for Thinkers

Mental models are different ways of mapping or viewing a system or a problem. They are frameworks that help explain what’s going on, and predict what’s likely to happen next.

Model thinking is an excellent way of improving our cognition and decision making abilities. Thinking in models helps us understand how new concepts fit with older observations, and what theories and metaphors are likely to endure.

They are useful in strategy, decision-making, analysis, planning, and a broad range of applications in both our personal and professional lives. It’s a good investment to spend time learning models — which are most typically extensible outside their original field of interest.

Often more than one model can apply to a situation or problem. Models are useful for picturing the issue in a different way, through a different lens — and perhaps to see something before unseen. They can help us try out different scenarios with ideas or personas.

Top Models and Concepts

We all have learnings in our lives we consider more precious than others — explanations and predictions that endure and keep on giving, versus those that fade away. Our core models form the backbone of our thinking and decision-making throughout our lives; it’s our grab bag of problem solving tools — and we want to have a resilient Swiss Army Knife at the ready at all times. These mental models help us understand a complex world, and prepare for all the changes that are inevitably ahead.

This set of top models below is my personal “desert island” set of model thinking concepts. These are the ones I really wouldn’t want to be caught dead leaving the house without.

Once these are on lock, head over to the unabridged models section for more model thinking goodness!

I will continue to add to this list over time as well as fill in the number of holes that remain in the set. Learning about new mental models is one of my favorite activities — it’s the closest thing to a superpower I can think of.

Term	Type	Topic	Definition
80/20 rule	Model	Economics	Also known as a power law, or the Pareto Principle
absolute advantage	Term	Economics	The ability of a party to produce a product or service more efficiently than any of its competitors.
absolute value	Term	Math	The value of a function irrespective of its sign (positive or negative). Its distance from zero, expressed as a positive.
accessibility	Term	Psychology	How easy something is to call to mind
acquittal	Legal precedent	Law	A judgment of not guilty in a criminal trial
activation energy	Term	Science	A chemistry term that describes the minimum energy required for a chemical system to react; the amount of energy required to get two or more compounds to react.
adverse selection	Term	Economics	Insurance phenomenon in which buyers or sellers in a transaction can use insider knowledge to unfairly get a better advantage over the other party or parties
a fortiori	Logic	Logic	From the Latin, "from a stronger argument," the phrase refers to conclusions for which there is stronger evidence than a previously accepted one.
akrasia	Term	Psychology	A state of mind where someone acts against their own better judgment due to weakness of will.
alea iacta est	Metaphor	Metaphor	In Latin, "the die is cast" -- attributed to Julius Caesar as he crossed the river Rubicon, leading an attack on Rome: a metaphor for a point of no return.
allocation	Method	Economics	Distributing resources, assets, or funds amongs recipients.
"All the world's a stage“	Metaphor	Arts	Shakespearean metaphor likening culture to a theatrical performance: "And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances ..." —William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Amara's Law	Theory	Science	We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run.
annuity	Term	Economics	A series of regular payments at equal intervals.
antifragility	Model	Economics	Things that can benefit from disorder, and grow stronger amidst chaos. When something grows stronger under stress; when there is more upside to downside of experiencing a shock to the system.
antimatter	Theory	Science	Antimatter particles are the precise opposite charge and spin from their matter counterparts, but identical otherwise.
appreciation	Model	Economics	The tendency of an asset to appreciate, or grow, with value over time.
a priori	Logic	Philosophy	Information deduced from logical precedents versus empirical observation.
arbitrage	Model	Economics	A method of turning profit via simultaneous purchase and sale of the same assets in different markets, benefiting from the differences in listed price in various geographical regions.
archetypes	Symbol	Philosophy	An ideal type; a model after which others are fashioned.
arrow of time	Theory	Science	Theory of physics stating an asymmetry of time -- that time has a one-way direction in which the entropy of the universe is only increasing. Although human beings perceive the past as being different from the future -- and that we remember the past, but not the future -- intrinsically there is nothing in the structure of the universe that defines past from future. Time is instead an emergent feature.
artificia docuit fames	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	Latin saying meaning, "sophistication is born out of hunger" -- a metaphor for innovation and genius being awakened by challenge, difficulty, and constraints.
ASCII	Term	Technology	American Standard Code for Information Interchange: a standard character translation table used by computers to convert numerical representations into printable characters.
asking a fish about water	Metaphor	Metaphor	There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”
asset	Term	Economics	A valuable object or good.
astroturfing	Method	Politics	The deceptive political practice of paying operatives to pose as members of the public engaging in "grassroots protest" as a way of adding plausible deniability as well as amplification of their point of view.
asymmetric encryption	Term	Computer Science	Also known as public-key cryptography, asymmetric encryption encrypts and decrypts the data using two separate keys that are related mathematically (a public and a private key).
asymptote	Term	Math	The graph of a curve as it is approaching a numerical value or limit, but never quite reaching it.
autophagy	Experimental finding	Biology, Medicine	The body's way of cleaning out damaged cells and replace them with newer, healthier cells. Literally, "self-eating."
availability bias	Model	Psychology	Cognitive distortion arising from the unconscious preference for information that is recent rather than what is representative.
average	Method	Math	A measure of central tendency of a set of data, whether the mean, media, or mode.
balance sheet	Method	Economics	A financial document showing the book value of a company, i.e. how much it's worth.
balancing loop	Model	Systems theory	A balancing loop attempts to move a current state (the way things are) to a desired state (goal or objective) though an action (thing(s) done to reach the goal).The balancing loop is one of the two foundational structures of systems thinking, along with the Reinforcing Loop. A balancing loop is representative of any situation where there is a goal or an objective and action is taken to achieve that goal or objective.
Baldwin Effect	Model	Science	As organisms learn to shape their environment, they can alter the path of evolution. For example, with the advent of dairy farming, selection pressures began favoring lactose absorption genes in humans.
bank reserves	Term	Economics	Cash minimums banks must have on hand to meet regulatory requirements ensuring the financial system is equipped to handle periodic shocks in demand for withdrawals.
bank run	Term	Economics	Economic term for when a large group of bank depositors withdraw their money all at once -- once a common occurrence that rarely happens anymore in the modern world.
base conversion	Math	Math	The base is how many numbers there are in a number system; we use base 10 primarily, and computers use base 2, aka binary. Base conversion is the method of converting numbers from one base system to another.
Base Rate Fallacy	Model	Psychology	A type of fallacy in which people tend to ignore the general prevalence of something in favor of specific anecdotes.
base weighting	Math	Statistics
Bayes' Theorem	Method	Math	A mathematical method of determining the updated probability of a certain event or case, given new information.
bend the knee	Metaphor	Social psychology	Give up one's own opinion and swear fealty to a higher authority.
beta	Method	Economics	In finance, a term that refers to investments tracking the broad market performance of an exchange or industry sector
The Big Bang	Model	Science	The massive explosion which spawned our entire universe, back at the beginning of time.
The Big Crunch	Model	Science
binary numbers	Math	Math
binomial distribution	Math	Statistics
Binomial Theorem	Theory	Math
black hole	Theory	Science
Black-Scholes model	Model	Economics
Black Swan	Model	Economics	A highly improbable and unexpected event -- which yet occurs with more frequency than one might generally assume.
blockchain	Term	Technology	The basis of cryptocurrency, blockchain technology is a kind of public ledger or shared database that records transactions transparently and out in the open, in a way that anyone can access or verify.
boiling frog	Metaphor	Philosophy	A metaphor for the common occurence of slow, gradual changes over time not being noticed, like the (contested) legend of a scienfitic experiment that boiling a frog alive by starting with tepid water and slowly turning up the temperature.
bond	Method	Economics
Boyle's Law	Scientific Law	Science	A scientific law that describes the relationship between the pressure and the volume of a confined gas.
boundary object	Theory	Technology	Information science concept describing information used in different ways, by different communities, for collaborative work through scales.
bounded rationality	Experimental finding	Psychology	A central challenge to the c. 1776 ideas of Adam Smith regarding the Invisible Hand of markets, this 20th c. psychological theory posits that rather than making optimized rational decisions, at most times the average person is "satisficing" or making the most expedient choice under considerable constraints and lack of available information
bricolage	Method	Arts	Combination of many types and forms into one piece; a pastiche or mashup of style and cultural referents
broken windows theory	Theory	Law
Butterfly Effect	Model	Science
bystander effect	Experimental finding	Psychology
cadence	Term	Arts
camel's nose	Metaphor	Philosophy	a metaphor describing how allowing a smaller innocuous act may lead to larger acts that are undesirable
capital gains	Term	Economics	Money that is earned as a result of a stock investment appreciating in value — the capital "gains in value"
capital requirements		Economics	Actual cash on hand for banks to theoretically offer at a given time, with the rest lended out as leverage
carbon-14	Scientific Law	Science
carbon dating	Method	Science	A way to scientifically determine the age of an organic object by radioactive decay.
carpe diem	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	In Latin, "seize the day" -- a reference often used to motivate oneself and others to act boldly and live vigorously in the moment.
cartel		Economics
catalyst	Model	Science
categorical data		Math
causa-sui project	Theory	Psychology
cause and effect	Model
caveat emptor	Ancient Wisdom	Strategy	"Beware, the buyer" in Latin -- a reference to a warning about what one is getting into.
cellular automata		Math
Central Limit Theorem	Math	Statistics	In probability theory, the CLT establishes that independent random variables when measured will tend towards the normal distribution.
central tendency	Math	Statistics	A measure of the midpoint of a data set; includes mean, median, and mode.
ceteris paribus	Method	Economics	"All other things being equal"; holding the effects of other variables constant to determine the effects on a single variable of interest.
charge preservation		Science
charlatan		Psychology	one who aspires to wealth &/or fame through trickery and deception
Chesterton's Fence	Model	Metaphor
chilling effect	Term	History	The inhibition of one's legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by threat of legal sanction.
cognitive bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
collapse	Model	Systems theory
comparative advantage		Economics
composite events		Statistics	in probability
compound interest	Model	Economics
conditionals		Math
Condorcet Jury Theorem	Math	Statistics
confidence interval		Statistics	the range of values over which a predicted outcome may lie; the amount of certainty one has about the predicted value falling within the estimated range
confirmation bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
conflation		Psychology
consent of the governed	Philosophy	Politics	Concept of political philosophy in which a government's legitimacy and right to use state power is only justified if consented to by the people over whom said power is wielded.
consequentialism		Philosophy
conservation of energy	Scientific Law	Chemistry	In a closed system, total energy remains constant.
conservation of mass	Scientific Law	Physics	In a closed system, mass remains constant.
conservation of momentum	Scientific Law	Physics	In a closed system, momentum remains constant.
constraints		Math
Consumer Sentiment Index		Economics
continuous vs. discrete variables		Statistics
Copernican theory of the solar system	Scientific Law	Science
correlation		Statistics
correlation coefficient		Statistics
correlation is not causation	Scientific Law	Statistics
cosine	Math	Math
counterfactual
countervailing power		Economics	Economist John Kenneth Galbraith's concept for how collective worker power is needed to balance against growing corporatism in the economy.
creative destruction	Model	Economics	Economist Joseph Shumpeter's idea for how the business cycle works: by innovation disrupting established processes and industries and forcing change into markets, often destructively and swiftly.
credo quia absurdum			"I believe because it is absurd" — Tertullian's defense of belief in the miracles attributed to Christ
critical mass		Science
crossing the Rubicon	Metaphor	History	Making a decision from which there is no turning back; a reference to Julius Caesar's overthrow of the Roman republic to found the Roman Empire in 49 BCE.
cross-sectional data		Math
crowdfunding		Economics
crowdsourcing	Method	Systems theory
cryptocurrency		Economics
Dark Matter	Theory	Science
dead hand of the past	Philosophy	History	Problem inherent in constitutional political philosophy, where eventually a people becomes ruled by "masters" no longer alive, who rule by "fiat" via a document, from beyond the grave (Thomas Jefferson's concept)
death spiral
decision theory		Systems theory
decision tree	Method	Computer Science
de minimis	Legal precedent	Law
depreciation	Method	Economics
derivatives		Math
diminshing marginal utility (DMU)	Model	Economics
directory structure		Computers
dispersion	Math	Statistics	the amount of variation within a set of data; how spread out the data points are from each other
distributions	Math	Statistics
divergent thinking		Psychology
diversity	Experimental finding	Science
Diversity Prediction Theorem
dividend payments	Method	Economics	Periodic, usually quarterly, payouts to stockholders of the company when posting profits. Along with capital gains, one of the 2 primary reasons to invest in stocks.
Dodd-Frank Act of 2010	Legal precedent	Economics	definitive financial regulation of the financial industry following the 2007-8 financial crisis
domain dependence
Doppler Effect	Scientific Law	Physics
double helix
doxa		Social psychology	common belief or opinion
Drake Equation	Model	Science	Estimation of the number of technological civilizations that might exist in the universe.
dualism		Philosophy
Dunbar number	Theory	Psychology
Dunning-Kruger Effect	Experimental finding	Psychology	A cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as higher than it actually is, because they cannot recognize their incompetence in comparison to others.
Duverger's Law	Model	Politics	Holds that plurality-rule elections within single member districts — such as the structure found in the U.S. — tend to favor two-party systems
Easterlin paradox	Experimental finding	Economics	Beyond a certain point, countries don't get happier as they get richer.
economies of scale		Economics
edge case	Metaphor	Science
elasticity; price elasticity	Model	Economics	The ability of pricing mechanisms to respond quickly or less quickly to changes in prevailing conditions.
elasticity of demand	Model	Economics
elasticity of supply	Model	Economics
electromagnetic spectrum	Scientific Law	Science
electron cloud	Model	Science	Refers to the true nature of an electron's existence around an atom, wherein its location in space is not a definite point, but a fuzzy region of probable occurence.
elephants and flies	Metaphor	Economics	Sales concept to quickly segment leads into size buckets, from elephants > deers > rabbits > mice > flies.
elephant and rider	Model	Psychology	Psychological idea about how our unconscious and semi-conscious desires dominate us, but can be directed by reason (Jonathan Haidt et al)
embargo	Legal precedent	Economics
Emperor's New Clothes	Metaphor	Government
encryption		Math
ensemble learning	Method	Technology
entropy	Scientific Law	Science	The disorder of a system increases over time.
epistemology		Philosophy
e pluribus unum	Symbol	Politics	Latin: "one out of many" — one of several phrases on the American dollar bill, it refers to the unity of the nation as made up of its many peoples and as such, signifies the republic.
equality under law	Legal precedent	Politics	An ancient principle of vital importance to almost every constitution in the world, stating that all people should be treated equally in the eyes of the law, and that all individuals are subject to the same set of laws
equilibrium		Science	A resting condition all systems seek, in which all competing inflows and outflows are in balance.
equity		Economics
equity crowdfunding		Economics
error-embracing		Psychology
event horizon	Scientific Law	Physics	A boundary beyond which events cannot affect on observer, such as the edge of a black hole.
evolution	Scientific Law	Science
exception handling	Method	Computer Science	The process of responding to the occurrence of exceptions -- unexpected conditions that throw the application into an error state and must be resolved before continuing.
exchange rates		Economics	The value of one country's currency as measured against another
existentialism		Philosophy
exit strategy	Method	Economics
externalities		Economics
extrapolation		Statistics
factorial		Math
factum tacendo, crimen facias acrius		Philosophy	He who does not stop a crime is an accomplice.
fact /value problem		Philosophy
fake news		Media
false negatives	Logic	Science
false positives	Logic	Science
false consensus effect	Experimental finding	Social psychology
falsifiability	Logic	Science	Ability to be proven untrue; a requirement for a theory to be called scientific.
Feynman Technique	Method	Science	A method of learning and remembering difficult concepts by simplifying them until you can explain it to a new student or layperson who knows nothing about that concept.
fiat money		Economics
fiduciary duty	Legal precedent	Economics
fifth column	Model	Politics	A group who unites in secret to undermine a larger group from within.
file system	Metaphor	Computer Science
filter bubble	Metaphor	Social psychology
first mover advantage	Experimental finding	Strategy
first principles	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy
fishing expedition	Metaphor
fitness function	Term	Science	In AI, refers to a set of selection criteria applied to a set of potential solutions to a problem to allow only the better candidates to survive to the next generation.
flâneur	Term	Arts
force multiplier	Model	Science
fractals	Math	Computer Science
fractional lending	Method	Economics	Fractional reserve banking is the traditional way of doing business, in which banks loan out multiples of the assets they actually have on hand. This falls apart if there is ever a run on the bank, when every client demands their money back at the same time.
fractions	Term	Math
fragility		Philosophy
framing		Psychology
free trade	Method	Economics
free will	Philosophy	Philosophy
freshwater vs. saltwater economists		Economics
Friend of the Court filing		Law
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)		Social psychology
fundamental attribution error	Experimental finding	Psychology
future value		Economics
gain	Term	Arts	In audio recording, a control that allows more or less of the source sound into the channel being recorded.
game theory		Math
Gates' Law	Theory	Philosophy	The idea that software development speed halves every 18 months, negating the acceleratory effects of Moore's Law and preventing computing from leaping greatly forward.
Gaussian distribution	Term	Statistics	the Normal distribution
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)	Model	Economics	The sum of all public and private goods produced within a given period; a measure of a country's economic health.
general relativity	Theory	Science
general will	Model	Government
generalists and specialists		Philosophy
genetic algorithms		Science	An approach to AI based on evolutionary models, in which multiple candidate solutions to a problem are generated randomly by mutation and recombination, then iterated over thousands of generations through fitness functions to weed out the best of each generation.
germ theory of disease	Scientific Law
Gettier problem		Philosophy
gilding the lilly	Metaphor	Arts	Speaking so floridly of a subject that one actually tarnishes its natural beauty.
GOFAI		Technology	"Good Old-Fashioned Artificial Intelligence" — reference to the style and general algorithmic approach of early artificial intelligence work, which fell out of popularity over the decades in favor of more organic neural net and evolutionary approaches.
Golden calf
Golden Mean	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	Aristotelian theory of an ideal balance point between the many extremes we face in life; he advocated harmony between the various spheres of life for an experience of happiness.
Golden Rule	Ancient Wisdom	Culture	"Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" is the essence of this ancient wisdom, often used as a shorthand version of Jesus's core teaching.
Goldilocks Zone	Model
gold standard	Legal precedent	Economics
gravity	Scientific Law	Science
gravity waves		Physics
habeas corpus	Legal precedent	Law
habitus	Theory	Social psychology
Hanlon's Razor	Model	Philosophy	never attribute to malice what is adequately described by carelessness
hard determinism		Philosophy
harmonics		Arts
hearts and minds		Politics
hedge funds		Economics
hedonism	Philosophy	Philosophy
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle	Theory	Science
hexadecimal numbers	Term	Math	base 6
heuristics	Model	Psychology	Mental shortcuts that we do as a matter of routine, especially when we're stressed or under other types of cognitive constraints.
hormesis		Science	When a small dose of a toxic substance is actually beneficial to the living thing that ingests it
hydra		Metaphor
iatrogenics		Health	harm done by the healer
ice core dating	Method	Science
id, ego, superego	Model	Psychology	Freud's psychological model of the conscious and unconscious mind.
implicit cost		Economics
Imposter Syndrome	Model	Psychology	A psychological pattern in which one doubts their own accomplishments and has a generalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.
index number; indexing		Statistics
inferior goods		Economics
inflation	Model	Economics
inflection point		Math	The point of a curve at which a change in the direction of the curve occurs.
intellectual property	Legal precedent	Economics	IP
interest	Model	Economics
interest rate		Economics
internal rate of return (IRR)		Economics
Internet of Things (IoT)	Term	Technology
intersection		Math
interventionism		Social psychology
Invisible Hand	Theory	Economics
IP addresses	Term	Technology
iron law of oligarchy	Theory	Politics	Political theory positing that no matter how democratic a group may start out, over time it will develop into a bureaucracy ruled by a small handful.
It from Bit	Theory	Physics	John Wheeler's theory about the fundamental informational nature of the universe
Keynesian economics	Theory	Economics
Keynesian Put	Model	Economics
keystone
Kronos Effect	Model	Economics	the tendency of a successful corporation to seek to acquire and/or drive its upstart competitors out of business
Laffer Curve	Theory	Economics
law of excluded middle
Law of Large Numbers	Scientific Law	Math	As the number of coin tosses approaches infinity, the number of heads encountered will converge on 0.5; helpful in calculations of probability.
least-barricaded gate	Metaphor	Politics	Trotsky's metaphor of how social revolutions can take hold more easily in already weakened societies.
lecturing birds how to fly	Metaphor	Metaphor
length contraction	Model	Physics
less is more	Philosophy	Metaphor
L'etat c'est moi	Philosophy	Politics	"I am the state“
leverage		Economics
lifeboat ethics	Philosophy	Philosophy
light-weight process		Computer Science
limit of a function	Term	Math	if the graph of an equation seems to approach a numerical value but never quite reaches it, we say that number is the limit of the function (approaching from the negative or positive direction; sometimes directionality is important)
limiting factor	Model	Systems Theory
linear regression	Method	Math
liquidity		Economics
local min	Model	Systems Theory	idea that to grow out of a stasis or plateau, you likely have to endure a period of "setback" that is a lower dip or minimum value from where you are now, but is what's required to get over the activation energy to reach the next level
locus of control
logarithm		Math
logical fallacies		Philosophy
long tail	Model	Math	In a power law distribution (of population, ages, items, etc.), the region of the graph that tapers off quickly after the initial segment of high data points
loss aversion	Experimental finding	Psychology
Lost Einsteins	Theory	Culture	http://doctorparadox.net/models/lost-einsteins/
loyalists and mercenaries	Metaphor	Systems Theory
maker's time and manager's time	Model	Systems Theory
M1		Economics
M2		Economics
mandala	Ancient Wisdom	Religion	Introcate and elaborate patterns created with colored sand by Buddhist monks, who blow away their creations at the end to signify their celebration of impermanence.
Manichaean	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	a narrowly-defined dualistic worldview of good against evil
man on horseback	Metaphor		Synonym for a demagogue. Comes from French general Georges Ernest Boulanger, and refers to a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
map is not the territory	Metaphor	Metaphor	A phrase reminding us that our mental picture of a thing is not the same as the actual thing itself
margin of error	Math	Statistics	How much uncertainty there is in the results; a percentage the estimate may be bounded by.
marginal benefit		Economics
marginal cost		Economics
marginal returns		Economics
marginal utility		Economics
market share		Economics
Markov chain	Term	Math
Maslow's Hierarchy of needs	Model	Psychology
mean	Math	Statistics	The average value of the numbers in a data set; take the sum of all values and divide by the total number of values in the set.
median	Math	Statistics	Like mean, another way to describe the central tendency of a data set.
Median Voter Theorem	Theory	Politics
megalopsychon	Philosophy	Philosophy	Concept in Aristotelian ethics of living with grandeur and taking risks with dignity; being nonsmall
mens rea	Legal precedent	Law	"guilty mind" — establishing the intent of a perp can help to establish criminal liability
mercantilism	Theory	Economics
meritocracy	Model	Systems Theory
metaphysics	Philosophy	Philosophy
mirror neurons	Experimental finding	Science
mode	Math	Statistics	The frequency with which each data point exists in the set.
monopoly	Model	Economics	Market condition in which there exists only one seller of a resource.
monopsony	Model	Economics	Market condition in which there exists only one buyer of a resource.
Moore's Law	Theory	Technology	Named after Gordon Moore, the model predicts the doubling of transistors on a circuit of equivalent size every 18 months to 2 years. This has many consequences for both technology and economics, including the predictable drop in price of generating the same amount of computing power each period.
moral hazard	Model	Economics	when one party takes on additional risk, knowing that other parties will bear the brunt of the risk in event of a loss
Moravec's Paradox
MVP (minimum viable product)	Term	Economics
naive cynicism		Psychology	State of mind in which people believe others to have more egocentric bias than is warranted or is actually the case.
Narcissus & Echo	Ancient Wisdom	Metaphor
Nash Equilibrium	Theory	Math
nasty, brutish, and short	Theory	Philosophy
natural laws		Science
natural selection	Scientific Law	Science
necessity is the mother of invention	Common Wisdom	Culture
negative externalities	Model	Economics
negative interest rates	Method	Economics
neomania	Experimental finding	Social psychology	love of the modern for its own sake
neural net	Term	Technology
net present value (NPV)	Model	Economics
neuroplasticity	Experimental finding	Science
Newton's first law	Scientific Law	Science	An object in motion will tend to stay in motion, unless acted upon by a force.
Newton's second law	Scientific Law	Science	F = ma, or an object of mass m feeling a force F will tend to accelerate by an amount a.
Newton's third law	Scientific Law	Science	When 2 objects interact, they each apply force on the other in equal amounts magnitude, in the opposite direction.
nodes	Term	Math
noosphere	Thought Experiment	Data science	Sphere of human thought — all interacting minds on earth. An early 1900s concept from Teilhard de Chardin
nominal figures		Economics
nonlinearity		Math
Normal distribution	Scientific Law	Math
normal goods		Economics
normalized weighted average		Statistics
normative and descriptive		Philosophy
noumena		Philosophy
novus ordo seclorum	Symbol	Government	A new order for the ages; Latin phrase seen on the American dollar bill.
null hypothesis	Method	Science
observer effect	Experimental finding	Science
Occam's Razor	Theory	Philosophy	A philosophical rule of thumb that favors the simplest explanation. Also known as the "law of parsimony."
octal numbers	Math	Computer Science	base 8
oligopoly	Term	Economics
omphalos		Politics
opportunity cost	Model	Economics	What you miss out on by using a resource in a certain way -- what you would have done with the resource otherwise; what alternative use you would have put it to.
options		Economics
orders of magnitude	Scientific Law	Math
ordinally ranked data		Statistics
organizational debt		Economics
oscillations		Science
out-group bias	Experimental finding	Social psychology
outlier	Model	Math	Data points that fall well outside of the normal distribution or expected distribution of a data set.
paradox	Model	Logic	A self-contradicting statement or logically impossible event.
paragon	Model	Culture	A standard against which something can be judged — an exemplar example of a thing
Pareto Principle	Experimental finding	Economics	Another term for the 80/20 Rule
path dependent	Math	Computer Science
Pavlovian response	Experimental finding	Science
pax Romana	Legal precedent	History
pearls before swine	Metaphor	Culture	The sense of wasting one's efforts for people who don't really appreciate them.
P/E Ratio	Method	Economics	Price to earnings ratio: standard measure of relative stock performance
permutations	Math	Computer Science
Peter Principle	Theory	Systems Theory	Theory that individuals within corporate and other organizational hierarchies will rise to the highest level at which they become incompetent in their job duties.
phase shift	Scientific Law	Science	The ability of matter to change phases, most famously water from liquid to ice to vapor and back again.
philosopher kings	Ancient Wisdom
Philosopher's Stone	Unsolved Mystery
phonemes	Experimental finding
plant a seed	Metaphor
Platonic forms	Model
Platonicity		Philosophy	adherence to crisp abstract theory & forms that blind us to the mess of actual reality
Plato's Cave	Model	Philosophy	Allegory in Plato's Republic about a cave dweller whose only picture of reality is the shadow on the cave wall thrown by the fire.
pluralism		Government
point of no return	Metaphor	Culture
polling	Method	Statistics
Pollyanna Principle	Model	Psychology	The tendency for people to remember pleasant events more accurately than unpleasant ones.
populism		Government
positron	Scientific Law	Physics	an antimatter electron
Potemkin Village Effect	Model	Systems Theory	Tendency of systems to create the appearance of functioning normally — to appease the operators who wish it so — even when they are not.
precision		Math
present value		Economics	The expected current value of an income stream.
price ceiling		Economics
price floor		Economics
prima facie
principle of indifference		Statistics	In probability, when there is no basis to choose some outcomes as more likely than others, they are given equal weight (1/2 chance of a particular side of a coin, 1/52 to get a particular card from a deck, etc.).
Prisoner's Dilemma	Thought Experiment	Math
private equity (PE)	Method	Economics
probability		Math
probability distribution	Math	Statistics
Procrustean bed	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	Synonymous with ruthlessly enforcing conformity, the phrase comes from a Greek tale of extreme "form fitting" on the part of Poseidon's son Procrustes, a robber who is said to have attacked victims by cutting off men's legs or stretching them on racks accordingly to fit an iron bed size.
profit	Legal precedent	Economics
propaganda	Method	Social psychology	originally, a way to "propagate" any idea; used by both sides in WWI, it thereafter took on a sinister connotation when American & British citizens felt hoodwinked by their govt's use of it
proper frame		Physics	in physics, the frame of reference that accelerates with you and determines your age
proportionality	Model	Math
prospect theory		Psychology
proximate cause	Logic
proxy war	Term	Politics
pseudoscience	Method	Culture
PTSD		Psychology
punctuated equilibrium	Model	Science
putting legs on a snake	Metaphor
Pygmalian Effect		Social psychology
Pyrrhic victory	Metaphor	History	A victory in which the costs of winning far outweigh the rewards.
quantum computing	Method	Computer Science
quantum entanglement	Theory	Physics
quantum physics		Science
qubit		Science
quid pro quo	Legal precedent	Law
quota
r > q	Model	Economics	Thomas Piketty's elegant demonstration of the rise of inequality
random walks		Math
range		Statistics	In a set of numbers, the difference between the highest value and the lowest value in the data set.
rara avis	Ancient Wisdom	Culture	"Rare bird" in Latin; similar to an outlier. Someone who stands out.
rate of return		Economics
Reagonomics		Economics
realism		Philosophy
reality testing	Model	Psychology	Discerning the difference between inner and outer, and seeing events as they really are, and not just what we want them to be.
received wisdom	Ancient Wisdom	Religion
recursion	Method	Math
red shift	Scientific Law	Science
reductio ad absurdo	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	Collapsing things too far, in a way that destroys real significance.
reductio ad finem	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	To analyze to the end — break the concept down into its conponent parts.
redundancy	Method	Systems Theory	Having multiple pathways within a system to accomplish the same task or achieve the same objective.
reference frame		Physics	A frame that does not accelerate; also known as a Lorentz frame.
regnat populus
regression analysis	Method	Statistics
reincarnation	Unsolved Mystery	Religion
reinforcing loop		Systems theory
relativity	Theory	Physics	Einstein's central insight that the experience or perceived passage of time depends greatly on the conditions of the observer, particularly with respect to velocity and gravity
resilience	Model	Systems Theory	Ability to bounce back into shape after having been pressed or stretched; elasticity. The ability to recover quickly.
respice finem	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy	"Consider that you will die" — i.e. live life as you would in order to be proud of it by the time it's over.
res publica	Ancient Wisdom	Government	pertaining to the state
retrodiction
revenue		Economics
ripple effect	Experimental finding	Science
risk	Legal precedent	Economics
risk-weighted assets (RWAs)		Economics
root cause		Philosophy
Rosetta Stone	Experimental finding	History	Metaphorically, a key to unlocking the secrets of a given thing.
rounding	Method	Math
rounding error		Math
rule of law	Legal precedent	Philosophy
run on the bank
sampling	Method	Statistics
samsara		Religion
scarcity		Economics
Schelling's Tipping Model
Schrödinger's Cat	Theory	Physics
search intent	Term	Media
second-order thinking
selection bias	Experimental finding	Psychology
self-governance	Philosophy
set theory		Math
ship of Theseus	Ancient Wisdom	Metaphor
SIFI		Economics	systemically important financial institution; post-2008 financial crisis designation for banks deemed "too big to fail" (currently, firms holding more than $50b in assets)
sigma		Statistics	standard deviation, named for the Greek letter denoting the statistical term
signal path		Physics
significant figures		Math	aka "sig figs"
simulation		Philosophy
sine	Math	Physics
sine wave	Math	Physics
Single point of failure (SPoF)	Term	Computer Science	A part of a system that, when it fails, brings down the entire rest of the system or stops it from working properly
singularity	Theory	Science	A black hole.
SIR model	Model	Science	contagious disease modelling based on possible patient states (susceptible, infected, recovered)
site navigation	Method	Computer Science
six degrees of separation	Experimental finding	Psychology
six sigma	Method	Strategy	Motorola-originated concept of ensuring quality control to a very fine point, by ensuring that parts or other production outputs are manufactured to be within a certain quality range up to 6 times the standard deviation.
situational preparedness	Method	Strategy
skew	Math	Statistics
skin in the game	Ancient Wisdom	Economics	When someone has a stake in the outcome, they are more likely to keep their word in assist its fruition.
slope of a line	Math	Statistics
social contract	Legal precedent	Philosophy	Profoundly impactful document in political philosophy from Jean Jacques Rousseau in 18th c. France, refuting the rights of monarchs to rule the people
Socratic method	Method	Philosophy	Technique of instruction or conversation where the teacher or moderator proceeds by asking the student or pupil a serious of questions, enticing her or him to come up with their own answers to the issues related to the subject at hand.
solipsism
sorting		Math
special relativity	Scientific Law	Science
speech act theory	Theory	Philosophy	British philosopher J.L.Austin's concept that all uses of speech carry a performative aspect.
speed of light (c)	Scientific Law	Science	approx. 300 million meters per second
spread		Statistics
squaring the circle	Unsolved Mystery		A notorious philosophical problem first posed by Plato, the phrase has come to be used to allude to the grandiosity and infeasibility of someone's plans.
standard deviation	Math	Statistics
standing waves	Term
stare decisis	Legal precedent	Law	"It has been decided" — terminology used by a judge or court to indicate that the matter before them has already been decided by a previous ruling.
state of nature	Thought Experiment	Philosophy
status quo	Term	Culture	The way things currently are.
stochastic terrorism	Term	Social psychology
stocks and flows	Model	Systems Theory
Stoicism	Ancient Wisdom	Philosophy
Streisand Effect	Metaphor	Social psychology	When the act of attempting to hide information only makes it more prominently spread, especially via the Internet.
strict father morality			George Lakoff's terminology to describe the conservative worldview.
strict liability		Law	Crimes which have no mens rea requirement, such as rear-ending of another vehicle (where it is always the rear-enders' fault no matter what the circumstances.
subsidy		Economics
success to the successful		Systems theory	A reinforcing loop within complex system — especially economies — wherein the spoils of victory include the means to alter the rules of the game further in the favor of the previous winners.
summum malum	Ancient Wisdom	Politics	ultimate evil — some posit cruelty as this ultimate evil
supply and demand	Model	Economics
supply chain	Term	Economics
sword of Damocles	Ancient Wisdom	Metaphor
symmetric encryption	Term
tabula rasa	Ancient Wisdom	Metaphor	Blank slate
tachyon	Experimental finding	Science	hypothetical particle that travels faster than the speed of light
tangent	Method	Math
tariff	Legal precedent	Economics
tempus edax rerum	Ancient Wisdom	Arts	"Time devours everything." — Ovid
tempus fugit	Ancient Wisdom		Time flies
tempus neminem manet	Ancient Wisdom		time waits for no man
Third Story	Thought Experiment	Philosophy	the story an impartial third-party observer might tell; a version of events any unbiased person could agree on
Thucydides Trap
tilting at windmills	Metaphor	Arts	A reference to the novel Don Quixote, denoting the ongoing pursuit of useless attacks against an implacable enemy. Ineffectual activity undertaken strenuously and loudly.
time dilation	Thought Experiment	Science
time series data	Method	Statistics	A collection of measurements taken over time that create a graph when plotted.
time value of money	Theory	Economics
tipping point	Model	Systems Theory
Tit-for-Tat	Method	Strategy
too many cooks in the kitchen	Metaphor	Culture	A metaphor connoting that too many people are currently involved in the decision-making process.
touchstone	Metaphor	Myth/Metaphor	A black stone once used to judge the purity of gold or silver — now signifying a standard against which something should be judged.
Tower of Babel	Metaphor	Religion	A tale in the book of Genesis in the Bible that purports to explain the origins of different languages, via narrative about God confounding the speech of humans trying to build a tower to reach Him.
trade-offs	Model	Economics
tragedy of the commons	Experimental finding	Economics	An economic term for a situation in which unfettered access to a resource can lead to resource depletion through uncoordinated behavior -- a classic example is overfishing. A commonly-pooled (aka public) resource is overconsumed, but underinvested in.
transitivity	Term	Math
trickle down economics	Method	Economics	Right-wing economics, also known as Reaganomics, supply side economics, fiscal conservatism, tax cut policy, and austerity.
trolly problem	Thought Experiment	Philosophy
turtles all the way down	Theory	Philosophy
twin paradox	Thought Experiment	Science
tyranny of choice	Experimental finding	Systems Theory	The paradoxical effect that having too many options to choose from actually decreases the likelihoof of being able to reach a decision at all.
Unicode	Term	Computers
union	Term	Math	In set theory, a union of sets is a set which consists of all the members of all the sets.
universal law	Philosophy	Philosophy
usury	Term	Economics	The act of charging interest on borrowed money; for thousands of years there have been religous proscriptions against lending money with interest in various societies.
utility	Theory	Philosophy
variance	Math	Statistics	The amount of variation within a data set.
Veil of Ignorance	Model	Philosophy	Philosopher John Rawls' model for making better ethical decisions, in which the decider chooses a course of action based on the predicate that s/he will not know which of the groups or persons affected by the decision they personally would be. This method creates natural incentives to find the fairest outcome for all groups, since the decider doesn't know which group they will "end up in" on the other side of the decision.
Venn Diagram	Model	Math
via negativa	Method	Philosophy	An indirect description of a thing by describing what that thing is not.
Volcker rule	Legal precedent	Economics	Financial rule preventing consumer lending banks from speculative trading in securities for their own profit.
vulnerability	Experimental finding	Psychology
wave function	Scientific Law	Science
wave-particle duality	Experimental finding	Science
wheel of life	Symbol	Religion
when life gives you lemons	Metaphor	Philosophy	You try to make lemonade! Another way of saying, "let's try and make the best of this unfortunate situation."
winner-take-all market		Economics
wisdom of crowds	Model	Social psychology	Derived from the Diversity Prediction Theorem: the average prediction of a group of individuals will be more accurate than the prediction of one average member.
wolves and sheep	Metaphor	Philosophy
wormhole	Theory	Physics	A sort of tunnel formed on the surface of a black hole that may connect two different regions of space
worst case scenario	Model	Systems Theory
zero sum game	Model	Math
z score	Term	Statistics

December 21, 2022

Fascists became conservatives in the 1930s and 40s

Who were the early conservatives? They emerged out of the group of former fascists and Nazi sympathizers in the US.

1930s opposition to Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal

2 main right-wing factions then:

libertarians — right-wing economics faction led by Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, & Friedrich Hayek. Favors dramatically cutting taxes (aka trickle down economics), reducing social spending, while increasing the military budget dramatically — a math that does not add up, numerically or historically speaking.
anti-communists, antisemites, and Nazi sympathizers — Fred Koch, William Randolph Hearst, Henry Ford, Father Charles Coughlin, Charles Lindbergh, McCarthyites. Culminating in the 1944 Great Sedition Trial and the end of WWII shortly thereafter, without real consequences handed to the perps.

After the Allies won World War II, a number of the early Hitler sympathizers “hid out” in anti-communist circles, allowing them to cloak their underlying fascism inside of the American Cold War project and give it a semi-presentable face in conservatism.

In the 1950s and ’60s we saw the emergence of the reactionary backlash:

3. traditionalists — William F. Buckley, National Review (1955), the John Birch Society, Robert Welch, Barry Goldwater

In the 1970s, 2 more conservative groups emerged for a total of 5 main sects:

4. neoconservatives — Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney,

5. the religious right — the Moral Majority, Jerry Falwell Sr. & Jr., Jimmy Swaggart, Jim & Tammy Fae Baker, Pat Robertson, Jesse Helms, Paul Weyrich, Paul Regnery, William Rusher, prosperity gospel

Evangelicals
fundamentalism
- relationship between fundamentalist thinking and authoritarianism
- rejection of science and empiricism
- rejection of the liberal political order
- limitations of received wisdom
Christian nationalism
- Biblical law
- End Times

Conservatives welcomed fascism again in 2016

The ascension of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States gave permission to all the closet fascists practicing ketman as conservatives to come right on out and let their freak bigotry flags fly.

All the little white power sleeper cells and now networked anti-government militia groups were let off the chain and invited to take a swing at our national sovereignty and see if they could steal the American government for him. Thanks to the strength and integrity of numerous civil servants and others they did not succeed — however, the festering mass of fascism isn’t going anywhere much just yet.

Who owns Twitter (X)?

On October 27, 2022, the world’s richest man bought the de facto global town square. Elon Musk‘s purchase of Twitter had been brewing since April when the South African-born tech magnate first offered (or threatened?) to take over the struggling social network to the tune of $44 billion.

He later tried to reneg on the deal, or at least made a big public show of trying to back out of it during the summer of 2022, claiming that Twitter had falsely represented the percentage of bot accounts on the platform. Company executives filed suit to force Musk to agree to the share price in his original offer — despite significant stock price losses due largely to Musk’s own disparagement of the site.

Forced to go through with the deal despite admittedly “overpaying for Twitter right now,” Musk and his set of investor backers took the company private and began an uncertain new era for the heretofore arguably closest thing to a public town square in all of history, with the Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur at the helm. A self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” the billionaire immediately began pronouncing ideas wildly unpopular with its power user base of journalists, academics, and public professionals of all stripes, including:

Re-platforming banned right-wing purveyors of hate speech including Donald Trump, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, apparently antisemitic pop star Kanye West, and a rogue’s gallery of antisemitic “influencers” and violent fanfic enthusiasts
Destroying the essential nature of the account “blue check” verification process, by allowing anyone to purchase a Blue Check for $8/month without providing any proof of identity whatsoever
Offering a video upload service whose primary target market would be porn producers

Who actually owns Twitter now?

Amidst the chaos of Musk’s first weeks of ownership, many inside and outside of Twitter have speculated on the potential ulterior motives of the tech oligarch’s purchase. Theories range from intentional sabotage to gross incompetence — or potentially some mixture of the two. There is widespread disparagement of the idea that a billionaire can simply step in and upend what passed for a fledgling tool of democratic influence, and a bulwark against the march of right-wing authoritarianism around the world.

But who actually owns Twitter, outside of Musk himself? Perhaps the laundry list of investors can now or in the future shed some light on probable strategies behind the massive shakeup at one of the world’s most popular tools for the media-industrial class. Given the company’s privatization, it is now far less transparent about its financials — and it will be difficult to know at any moment in time if given investors have come in or out, or increased or decreased their holdings via their relationships with Musk or intermediaries.

As it stands though, this is the list of Twitter backers I have so far been able to find. Do you know of others I’ve missed, or changes to relative holdings? Please do give me a shout over — where else — on Twitter (while it stands — else on Mastodon) and let me know!

Twitter owners list

The number one primary owner is Elon Musk himself, who already owned 9.6% in shares of the company before taking it over. During the sale he put in $27 billion in cash from his own fortune, liquidated by selling shares of his Tesla stock
Original co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey owned 2.4% in shares and kept them, for about a $1B stake
Larry Ellison of Oracle — $1B
Qatar Holding, part of the Qatar sovereign wealth fund (Qatar Investment Authority)
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia — transferred 35 million shares to Musk (about $1.9B according to Dave Troy)
Binance cryptocurrency exchange — $500M
$13B in bank loans from:
- Morgan Stanley — $3.5B
- Bank of America
- Barclays
- Japanese banks
  - Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
  - Mizuho
- French banks
  - Societe Generale
  - BNP Paribas