The Wilderness of Mirrors

Explicit content warning

07/15/20 • 85 min

A CIA counterintelligence chief once described his world as a wilderness of mirrors. In this episode, we ask how ecological and egalitarian movements can navigate this wilderness. The internet is opening information warfare possibilities to non-state actors, Cambridge Analytica is influencing elections, and Western media is striving for ever-greater hyperbole about the influence of Russia. Is it time for movements to use the same tactics against the powerful that the powerful have long used against movements? We examine the time-honored strategy of divide and conquer, FBI campaigns of disinformation, the psychology of subterfuge, and more.

Previous Episode

Genocidal Mystics

We've looked at some of the psychological traits that correlate with ideology, but what about those that don't? Considering the tendency for systems of power to behave the same regardless of their overt ideology, what should we know about the psychology of power? We look at scales of empathy (or lack thereof), manipulativeness, sense of connection to the world, and more.

Next Episode

Nature-Nurture Death Spiral pt. 1: Margaret Mead Goes to Samoa

What kind of societies are ultimately possible (i.e. within the range of variation our biology allows)? Why are social movements so prone to division and self-annihilation? These questions may seem unrelated, but both imply a journey into the social sciences of the last century and the ideological conflicts that defined them. This series will examine how different political outlooks are the result of different assessments of human nature, and that far from being academic, an explicit description of human nature is an essential foundation for a political movement.