Chronotope’s avatarChronotope’s Twitter Archive—№ 138,080

    1. I'm reading the latest Michael Lewis book and, as it always does when I read his work, it strikes me how every huge system that surrounds us is both fragile and overwhelming at once.
  1. …in reply to @Chronotope
    Exploiting them or fixing them is a trend that takes many voices, but defying them either to your own advantage or to help others is surprisingly possible.
    1. …in reply to @Chronotope
      It's an interesting frame, his close POV style posits that there is no great man theory of history, but that there are great people who, while they can't roll the boulder up the hill, can move small clusters far off the beaten path, for better or for worse for the smaller group.
      1. …in reply to @Chronotope
        And the wild thing to differentiate these individuals isn't outlier skill or intelligence, but will & a lack of belief in the bedrock established rules that say what they should or shouldn't do. Often they have supporters, and people who approve & agree, but don't move with them.
        1. …in reply to @Chronotope
          They're not people who invent new stuff so much as they are people who understand how things work and just disagree, not with the facts or science or math, but with the human systems. It's an interesting choice of subjects.
          1. …in reply to @Chronotope
            It's refreshingly unlike others who cover big events thru eyes of big (mostly) men. It's an assertion change never comes from the top, it's always bottom up, even when the top takes credit; which gives you fascinating situations where the president is a minor character of a story
            1. …in reply to @Chronotope
              I think it's especially interesting because it's a choice. He absolutely could reach big names and interview them, his success would allow that, but he keeps at it, starting from nearly the bottom and working to the middle. I think it's why his books continue to be so good.
              1. …in reply to @Chronotope
                I think it's why so many journalistic nonfiction authors seem to really only have 1 good book in them. When they start off, they have to go bottom up w/o a rep. But after they make it big they don't do it again & end up publishing boring hagiography of the powerful.


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