In hindsight, I view this post on the illusion of complexity the most important that I've written, primarily because it crystallized my thinking on the fractal nature of human cognition (and, more importantly, human action) and did so in a manner that tied it back to so-called "complexity."
NOTE: those links are to three different posts, the first being the most important and the other two putting stakes in the ground re: fractal cognition and complexity, respectively.
I think I can boil things down further. My working theory is that the true elite (however you label them) are able to shape and control the illusory complexity of society by manipulating a very simple, fractal function that underlies how human beings make decisions and, therefore, act. I've described the base fractal function qualitatively numerous times in the past, including in all of the linked-to posts, above. To understand how the same simple fractal function can lead to widely different results, see here. You manipulate the human fractal through the social institutions that set societal values (i.e., the coefficients in the equation). The founders of Neoliberalism understood this and set out to control those institutions. And they succeeded.
My approach to reality forces me to look for the human fractal and its manipulation. I can't help myself. For example, whenever I see somebody boil down macro-politics to an either-or, binary choice, I usually confirm both the human fractal and its manipulation. The fractal is apparent from the urge to drive certainty by limiting the available options to only two. The manipulation of the function is apparent from the fact that the two options are both ALWAYS dictated by the manipulator. How is that? Because the manipulator defines the status quo, and the human fractal naturally creates the opposite of the status quo through the process of normative inversion.
Another way of getting at what I am trying to say is that if you use their frame, you will lose the game. An example of this phenomenon may be found here.
What I ultimately hope to accomplish through The Project is to articulate the human fractal in a way that everybody will understand. Anybody who comes to understand the human fractal can manipulate those who don't and, at the same time, avoid being manipulated. If EVERYBODY understands the human fractal, NOBODY can manipulate or be manipulated. My goal is to make sure that everybody gets it.
Change the frame. Change the game. Don't get suckered into fighting power with power. Knowledge trumps. That's why we're taught to avoid it.
