2/ This is true first in religion & politics—where indoctrination happens very young (emulating parents) and the chains of belief are too WEAK to be felt until too STRONG to be broken—pain of being social ostracized is horrible.
And a "biological trap" for many—how?...
3/ A "biological trap" is like the moth in the fridge. 🦋
A moth is trapped in a fridge.
Open the door to free it—
But it cannot leave.
Because— the 💡
Show most the light and the binds of the tribe triumph tightly over truth that can free..
4/ Religion + politics are tribally biological traps—BUT so are markets.
The dopamine hit of reward from making money combined with comraderie of winning—makes it (like religion + politics) perfect for sheep 🐑 where what other people believe other people believe matters...
5/ Notably—different in sports. Fans can foment frenzy tribally over a TEAM but are overtly critical of their own team individual players if they objectively—play poorly. Players can cheat but otherwise hard to fake skill + evidence/TRUTH of scoring (unlike preachers, pols, CEOs)
6/ Back to the WISE and CLEVER.
Both break from the masses of sheep
But they break from each other on ethics and intentions
The wise mostly explore (and help)
—the more detected the better for them
The clever mostly exploit (and hurt)
—the more undetected the better for them
7/ wise: motivated to reveal and catch the clever
clever: motivated to not get caught
Think Tom Hanks "I'm on to you" of Leonardo Dicaprio's Frank Abagnale in "Catch Me if You Can"
Fraudsters, hucksters, cons, promoters
vs
Scientists, sleuths, journalists, short-sellers
8/ Every generation has to learn its own lesson. But it only gets taught when the wise catch the clever. Or the clever get too greedy and confident and make messy mistakes.
The wise today got wise by getting burned by the clever in the past...
9/ "Fool me once".
Today's young traders will in 20 years be warning the next generation how they are getting duped
Just as those that were in their 20s— 20 yrs ago during .com/Enron/WorldCom/Tyco era went from
"this time is different"
to
"wtf just happened"
very quickly..
10/ As Charles Mackay said in "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" in 1841(!)
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds—while they only recover their senses slowly,
one by one.
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1/ We are ABSOLUTELY insanely lucky to be able to witness this conversation
MASTERCLASS in military + geopolitical strategy + Arab/Israeli conflict
@havivrettiggur's brilliance+ Dan Schueftan's realpolitik rationality
watch whole thing or pick any segment🤯
2/Key excerpts (summarized).
Hard to disagree with anything.
The Nature of the Enemy + "Barbarism"
The Definition of Barbarism: Barbarism is not just violence; it is a societal decision to value the death of the enemy over the lives of one's own children. When Hamas places weapons in tunnels but forces civilians to stay above ground during war, they are declaring that they do not care for their own survival, only the destruction of Jews.
The "Love of Death" is Literal: We must stop projecting Western rationalism onto enemies who openly declare, "You Jews will lose because you love life; we will win because we love death." This is not a slogan; it is a strategic doctrine that renders traditional deterrence mechanisms (like threat of death) ineffective.
The Danger of "Happy Wife, Happy Life" Geopolitics: The Western belief that economic prosperity ("a better life") leads to moderation is a fatal fallacy. The Second Intifada was launched when Palestinians had their best economic situation in history. You cannot buy off an ideology that considers killing Jews a higher calling than feeding children.
Culture is Deterministic: You cannot "de-radicalize" a society that does not want to change. Just as Libya’s failure is cultural rather than resource-based, Gaza’s failure is rooted in a culture where the only role models are those who kill Jews. The West’s refusal to discuss culture—viewing it as "progressive" to ignore it—blinds them to reality.
3/ (Summary continued) Strategic Realpolitik
Solutions are for Crossword Puzzles: In the Middle East, serious problems do not have solutions. The two-state solution is a fantasy for the "simpleminded." The only realistic strategy is combining "damage control" with the use of opportunity. If you are looking for a solution, you are looking for something that does not exist.
"Violent Maintenance" is the Only Peace: There will never be "peace" in the Western sense. There is only the constant destruction of the enemy's capacity to wage war. Israel must adopt a policy of "violent maintenance"—preemptively destroying capabilities (like factories and tunnels) before they can be used, regardless of the immediate diplomatic cost.
The "New York Times" Test: When fighting "barbarians," proportional response is a mistake. The response must be so overwhelming that it shatters the enemy's will. A good rule of thumb for Israel: "If the New York Times is not outraged, it's the wrong response.".
Western Aid Funds the Conflict: The West is funding its own enemies. Palestinians are the only refugees in history paid billions for generations to remain refugees. This funding teaches them that "behaving like barbarians" is a profitable business model that attracts French, British, and American support.
CZI led by Mark Zuckerberg + Priscilla Chan who've admirably committed tens of billions (and the entirety of their wealth to CZI) has acquired Lux family co Evolutionary Scale––just 2yrs after it's founding at a great multiple...
2/ We first teamed w/ @alexrives cofounder of EvolutionaryScale ~10yrs ago
cofounding Lux family Kallyope (cutting-edge bioetch focused on gut-brain axis)
Alex had the prescience to see the future of bio was computer science + AI. So he got his PhD at NYU and then...
@alexrives 3/...then Alex went to Meta, built an absolute cutting-edge AI bio group and published work that competed with Alphafold/Deepmind.
I tried to convince him to spinout in late winter of 2022––but Meta was funding him too well...