When I was younger I recall being intrigued by what R.A. Heinlein I read (far from all of it, he wrote a lot) but these days I feel like I primarily experience Heinlein's work in the form of pithy quotes which do not for a moment survive my historian's brain.
'Specialization is for insects' - is just a wild take both historically and also for a naval officer...but then Heinlein only had to operate, not design, those systems.
I guess the design work was done by insects.
I guess the design work was done by insects.
'Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group' - fairly conclusively disproved - market actors collectively routinely outperform the 'wisest men' in the market. Markets may not be perfectly efficient, but they are smarter than you.
'In the past popularly elected governments have been no better and sometimes far worse than overt tyrannies.' - For all the flaws of democracies, they tend not to be found among the worst genocides or human rights violations (not perfect, but the bar for tyrannies is low here).
And on the previous tweet before folks rush in to list all of the nasty stuff democracies have done - yes, yes, I know. I am aware.
And yet the autocracies still manage to be consistently worse, often by literal orders of magnitude. The point is comparative.
And yet the autocracies still manage to be consistently worse, often by literal orders of magnitude. The point is comparative.
Of course Heinlein is a foundational author for science fiction, don't get me wrong - I'm not dismissing his impact.
Just maybe not the place to go for one's moral philosophy or sociological reasoning.
Just maybe not the place to go for one's moral philosophy or sociological reasoning.
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