Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
- Eric Weinstein is a mathematician, economist and managing director of Thiel Capital.
- In a recent interview with Rebel Wisdom, Weinstein spoke about the origins of the Intellectual Dark Web, and his theory of how our institutions are plagued by an “embedded growth obligation. ”
- Disagreeable people, Weinstein says, could help institutions correct themselves.
We are living in a fever dream from which we cannot wake up, and it is because we cannot figure out whom to trust, says Eric Weinstein, a mathematician and economist who serves as the managing director of Thiel Capital.
This problem stems in part from two generations’ worth of dishonesty — both subtle and obvious — from society’s accepted experts, many of whom have been corrupted by their institutions’ relentless drive to survive and continue growing, no matter the cost. It’s from this problem, Weinstein suggests, that the Intellectual Dark Web emerged.
In 2018, Weinstein emerged as a prominent figure of the Intellectual Dark Web (IDW), a term he coined, half in jest, to describe a group of individuals from various fields who hold – or at least are inclined to explore – heterodox ideas, mainly through alternative media like YouTube. The members of the IDW don’t all share a political cause, but rather, Weinstein suggests, they share the personality trait of disagreeableness, or a willingness to stick to your beliefs even when it comes at a high cost.
In an interview recently published by Rebel Wisdom, a media group that regularly covers the IDW, Weinstein says this trait isn’t just simple contrarianism – it’s what many of our institutions need to survive the long term.
That’s because developed society has long been addicted to “high levels of broadly distributed, stable technology-led growth,” Weinstein says, but that kind of growth can’t continue forever. So, what happens when you deny people the ability to continue on the path to which they’re so addicted?“That means that you’re set up, potentially for war, for civil unrest, for communism if people try to grab what their neighbor has, or fascism if people try to maintain order at all costs.”
How did we get here? Weinstein suggests it’s largely due to a phenomenon he calls the “embedded growth obligation.”
“An embedded growth obligation is how fast a structure has to grow in order to maintain its honest positions,” Weinstein says. “If you have a situation in which you have trial lawyers and they’re supported by various associates, and the associates all want to become…
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