I think my years studying the rise and fall of businesses for content marketing purposes prepped me surprisingly well for studying the rise and fall of ancient cities. It feels quite familiar
the first part of my process is to just collect all the interesting anecdotes and stories. when did it start, how did it start, who was involved, what were the challenges, what are the notable elements... this is to 1st get a vague picture, which is invariably wrong in many ways
because stories get warped by marketing and PR. the role of luck gets diminished. competitive advantage / unit economic type things - the boring, ugly, tedious stuff - gets downplayed, while the pretty, sexy, exciting stuff gets emphasised out of proportion
So like while it’s fun for me to talk about Athenian aesthetic resonance - how the city, goddess, architecture are all in alignment - I know that that’s not what made Athens, Athens. (This is the difference between me and marble statue profile pic trad LARP accounts)
Athenian aesthetic resonance is similar to, say, Apple’s sleek and stylish branding. It’s something that extends a moat once you’ve got it, but it’s not the actual *origin* of power. Apple didn’t start with beautiful branding, they couldn’t afford it initially
and like, ultimately there’s a certain unknowability about all large and complex things, and you have to account for that

to pretend otherwise is intellectually dishonest

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More from @visakanv

22 Feb
was using the phrase "camera of consciousness" and wanted to be a little more certain of what the word "camera" actually means, and it actually means chamber. Interestingly, before the word "camera" caught on, there were competing words – cubiculum, conclave... ImageImage
directly related to phrases like "bicameral mind", bicameral legal systems, etc Image
Read 4 tweets
21 Feb
story-ish:

if there's a tribe of 150 people and you want to be king, or friends with the king, it might be tempting to think that you should just go straight to the king. but that's not actually a smart idea IME, unless you have something truly remarkable to bring to the table–
and even then, like, what do you know about the culture? what if people who have the audacity to talk to the king are killed by the kingsguard instantly on sight? you don't know. the first thing you need to actually do is collect info. best thing to do is talk to little guys
if you see anybody that needs help in some small way, it's typically worth helping them out. everybody appreciates being helped in a pinch. if you're generous/abundant about it without being clingy and needy, people start to like you and trust you and they'll tell you stuff
Read 13 tweets
21 Feb
don't wanna keep adding to that thread but i'm still chuckling at someone thinking "visa is going to grift until rich and then fuck off" – buddy I have been earnest-poasting on the internet since I was 7 years old. the internet is my love, my family, my home, my nation, my God
grift is debatable and I welcome being challenged on this, rich is inevitable and honestly not a big deal relative to what I want to do, but most importantly: I will never, never, NEVER fuck off

I will be the last man posting here long after the rest of you have logged off this hellsite. I posted for $0 and 0 followers for years before anybody else knew or cared who I was
Read 4 tweets
21 Feb
“grift until rich & fuck off” is an adorably unimaginative way of thinking about the world
I can tell you precisely what I would do if I wanted to grift, get rich and fuck off. I’m a political blogging veteran and a marketing professional, I know how to do it
Read 7 tweets
21 Feb
my most arrogant thought might be that I believe I know a better approach to communicating than most people - and part of this involves not saying it out loud, but there’s a part of me that feels it’s dishonest not to say it. You see the kind of self-created stress I am under?
you don’t need to take it from me – I didn’t invent this way of being, I simply learned it from studying skilful people throughout history. It’s all free and public information, anybody can look it up, study, contemplate, become skilful, acquire status, experience bliss
people figured this stuff out hundreds of years ago. anybody can learn it
Read 5 tweets

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