Reconsider

Two kinds of revolutions:Throwing off an external oppressorOften violent, sometimes notForcing regime change in your own country through extra-political or violent meansLargely violentLargely nonviolentThe outcomes tend to be very different.(Focusing on outcomes where they win -- turns out most revolutions fail militarily)Those throwing off an outsider tend to work out pretty well!US revolutionSpanish-American independenceHaitian slave revolt (note unlike many slave revolts, the Haitians were the natives)Indian revolution (mostly)Greek & Balkan revolutions, generally the revolutions of Nationalism of the 19th centuryGenerally the anticolonial revolutionsThose forcing internal change through violence tend to lead to brutal dictatorshipsRussian revolutionFrench revolutionChinese revolutionEnglish revolutionCuban revolutionIranian revolutionRoman Republic revolutions / civil warsGENERALLY:-Kicking people out works out pretty well-Civil wars don’t: they lead to dictatorshipsOK why?-Kicking people out: you use

Become a Patreon and Support ReConsider!This is probably going to get me a lot of flak but I realized that I’d be shying away from a commitment to challenge how we think about stuff if I didn’t talk about this out of fear.Disclaimer:I actually have a very underdeveloped political position on transgenderism and generally just stay out of it, the way I do about abortiton (but for different reasons--with abortion I am just morally conflicted), and I tend to default to, “you do you” and thus away from restrictions on what people can do with their genderI have a number of delightful friends who are trans and my emotional position is that I feel very supportive and loving of them and their transition seems to “make sense” to my gut in some deep way that being transracial doesn’t really seem to make quite so much sense… but I couldn’t explain to a martian why I think this.The way we argue about trans stuff is totally unproductive and drives me battyConfession: I cannot for the life of me understand why being transge

I think a lot of the societal breakdown we are seeing is a matter of human psychology -- designed for pre-historical humans by evolution -- running up against technology that it can’t handle and goes kindof crazy trying to confront.-This is probably why social media is so harmful for teenagers -- social dynamics on steroids that you can’t ever really win-Also talked about this a lot with bubbling behavior and learning things from people who look like me rather than people who seem smart-I think one form - social shaming - is leading to an unintended acceleration of radicalization Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the 1930s, Fascism was surprisingly popular in the US. Then a World War made the word anathema, but wanting a strongman to make everything better for us is getting more popular. Believe in our liberal institutions is in decline. Are we getting more tolerant of totalitarianism?Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Social market dynamics are driving the ever-greater fracturing of public discourse. Can it be pulled back together? In this episode Erik finishes his series with the MIT Enterprise Forum on media technology and political polarization.Check out the show notes for the original slide deck at http://www.reconsidermedia.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Erik expands substantially on work from Wedged, talking about how media technology, now and in the past, contributes to (or doesn't contribute to) political polarization.Check out the show notes at http://www.reconsidermedia.com for the slide deck!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the words of the legendary Terry Pratchett, in the Discworld novel The Truth:“A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth has had a chance to get its boots on.”Or from one of my favorite bands, The Protomen in their song, “The Hounds”:“When I say he was a monsterWhen I set fire to his nameIt does not matter where you hear it fromWhether truth or lies, it gets said all the sameBecome a ReConsider Patron…Whatever’s on the table plays!”Volume biasI’ve been on a kick recently about a propensity for us to misunderstand or misrepresent people who aren’t in our tribe. And how BS gets amplified.In “How to casually radicalize a citizen,” we talked about how people with less-than-awesome intent can easily (and do) create a stream of the worst of the opposition. You can see this and then get a bit radicalized yourself, as we see.But this is happening passively, too. I call it VOLUME BIAS.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out informati

What are you willing to forgive in the heroes of your story? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Agenda:Weren’t nukes good for global stability? The idea of Mutually Assured DestructionGame Theory and the First Strike problem of most nuclear weaponsThe Dr. Strangelove scenarioWere there close calls? Yes, here are all of themAlso, the broken arrow problemCan you actually get rid of nukes? Probably not…....but can you get rid of the first strike problem? Probably!The magic of stealth boomer submarinesFmr. SecDef William J Perry’s modest proposalHow would you get this done? Who do you lobby?https://www.wjperryproject.org/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I finally managed to get a bunch of patrons to send me questions. Many who are eligible have still sent none, so I’m going to be doing another soon!Some GREAT questions came in this time! Enjoy! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you ever feel like your political opposition is talking right past you? As if you are having two entirely different conversations?You might be working with COMPETING FRAMES. Come learn how those work - and how to win. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How does the United States escape spiraling political polarization? Waiting for a hero may not work. The cause of polarization is structural; the solution must be, too. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an age of sensationalism and hyperbole for political points, words like 'insurrection' and 'coup' might make us numb. but let's dig deeper. Was the Jan 6th Capitol Riot an "Insurrection?"(Note: this episode long delayed due to potential threats to the hosts' welfare, but we're finally releasing it!) Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If Trump had just decided to stay in power (and managed it), if Democracy had failed, might you have stormed the capitol? What does belief drives us to do? Do we, too, operate on false premises? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If I could convince you to spend two hours per day on certain Subreddits or other internet forums, I could probably make you a radical of any stripe I want. Knowing how this process works is the only way to avoid it. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

BTC is over $60k!? GME hit $300!? Inverted Yield Curve!? What the heck is going on? Dr. Jake Meyer returns to help us try to make... _any_ sense of this. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Weird people are moving to my neighborhood, rent is going up, and I'm not happy about it! Am I protesting gentrification, or immigration? Am I upset about both, or only one? And why? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Yes, I'll be speaking again, and yes, again, it will be awesome.Get your tickets with the discount code "reconsider" for all-day awesomeness, straight to your living room.https://www.intelligentspeechconference.com/product/intelligent-speech-spring-2021/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's happened before, and under similar stresses: American parties have shattered into splinter groups, and the ensuing land grab has led to deep realignments, and even the end of American parties. What causes these realignments, and could they happen today? Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Long before the capitol riots, a few good people began working on a documentary about the best Americans working to bridge our yawning divide. They created a movie: The Reunited States.Erik asks them hard questions--not about the movie, but about America. Can we walk backwards... or somehow go forward? Three amazing Americans who have spent the last few years devoting themselves to bridging the divide answer Erik's tough questions about what next comes for a bruised and battered nation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/reconsiderpodcast.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.