We will have to "rewrite history" at scale… when I speak about these issues I highlight how we have been hit with a technology shock that was not paired with expansion of adequate training under high powered incentive and pressures, this was the most...
https://x.com/michael_wiebe/status/2032577645771399216?s=20important motivation for causal claims work. This has been shaped by my own experience in so many ways that is just unfathomable to describe and having experienced the own work contributing to shaping some societal narratives profoundly but noisily. The process of rewriting....
history is now necessary due to the "noise" but creates huge vulnerabilities cognitive dissonance/disillusion that is dangerous. Why? Societies are effectively bundles of broadly shared stories, beliefs/narrations. Its a key feature of (modern) statehood. Rewriting stories may...
create cognitive instability, inducing frameworks of thinking and belief systems to change deeply. In such settings instability ensues. And on historical narration, being narrative consistent (while narratives around you change) may become a power vector. When you ask Putin...
about why he invaded Ukraine, he starts with a history lecture going back to around the year 900 arguing that Ukraine is an artificial, incomplete, or illegitimate construct unless tied to Russia. He spans a story and weaponizes storytelling to legitimize the unlegitimizable:
resorting to violence. This is corrosive because dissonant stories can chip away the shared narration & story-telling that makes up identity, eroding trust as the backstop in (most) societies. Folks struggle with reasoning chains when I point out how Putin weaponized climate...
action or "climate hypocrisy" as his actions create narratives casting doubt on the commitment to climate action from the most vocal proponents who are forced to expand fossil fuel subsidies to mitigate adverse impacts of Putin's actions. We may see a repeat with the Iran war...
Thiemo Fetzer 🇪🇺🇺🇦 - same
