Taleb makes a somewhat analogous point, but rather than talking about sacrifice at various levels, he talked about how it's more acceptable to take risks at lower levels. So it's totally acceptable for individuals to take risks, somewhat acceptable for families to take risks, and completely unacceptable for nations to take risks.
Family and nation are a kind of psychofauna (not the only kind) that includes a notion of corresponding to a particular group of people. I agree that they seem to be less prominent than they have been, but I think they still play particularly important roles.
I also feel like we need a better taxonomy of these things. How does the nature of ideas influence how it reproduces? What are the meaningful categories?
Taleb makes a somewhat analogous point, but rather than talking about sacrifice at various levels, he talked about how it's more acceptable to take risks at lower levels. So it's totally acceptable for individuals to take risks, somewhat acceptable for families to take risks, and completely unacceptable for nations to take risks.
I further elaborated on this idea in one of my posts: https://www.wearenotsaved.com/p/a-deeper-understanding-of-how-bad-things-happen
I get psychofauna, but family and nation don’t strike me as dominant. Or at least not anymore. My picks would be: capital, analysis, justice.
Family and nation are a kind of psychofauna (not the only kind) that includes a notion of corresponding to a particular group of people. I agree that they seem to be less prominent than they have been, but I think they still play particularly important roles.
I also feel like we need a better taxonomy of these things. How does the nature of ideas influence how it reproduces? What are the meaningful categories?
Cf. “There Is No Antimemetic Division,” qntm, 2015-2021.