Ep. 7 Book Club - When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows [AUDIO]
Added 2025-12-12 18:00:18 +0000 UTCRecorded on: December 12th, 2025
Comments
He knows that he knows that he knows the book states that he knows that she knows that he knows it's repetitive. It was a hard read, the beginning and end were ok but could of cut 80% of it
Ross Lilley
2025-12-16 13:53:28 +0000 UTCI quite liked this book. There was some over explaining of concepts, but Stephen Pinker is good at making clean arguments to support his ideas, not storytelling. I think the examples with innuendos, bribes, etc. show the utility of preventing common knowledge. One interesting application was China's specific censorship tactics. He points out that they don't try to censor every post saying the government is bad. Preventing people from realizing the government has problems is a losing battle. But what you can do is prevent common knowledge, i.e. prevent people from getting on the same page. This is how dictatorships and personality cults maintain their structure. I'm not going to talk bad about the government because I don't know you feel the same way I do. Even if I see you bad-mouthing the government, I can't be sure that you won't think I'm a government plant and report me out of your own sense of self preservation. Common knowledge is necessary for a regime change to work. And that's what China specifically censors. To address Aiden's point, if you ask someone to hook up and they say 'Yes', that choice can feel socially binding later on if they get cold feet. It's actually easier for them to change their mind later on if you use an innuendo. That's the point. It's not to trick someone who thinks they're going to watch netflix into having sex. Also, if you want a cool book that's actually a more fun read, you should read "Sun and Steel" by Yukio Mishima. He was a Japanese poet in the 1960s and a through-line to the current nationalist movement. Dude had a crazy interesting life. I won't spoil anything, but go read his Wikipedia page if you want a wild story.
Sweggish
2025-12-12 18:30:50 +0000 UTCHey, if you know you know you know you know you know you know you know you know you know, you know. You know? I know.
Sweggish
2025-12-12 18:22:38 +0000 UTC
