Comments on: If you’re not in the meetings, you can’t accurately estimate the relative levels of dishonesty and self-delusion involved https://www.isegoria.net/2025/08/if-youre-not-in-the-meetings-you-cant-accurately-estimate-the-relative-levels-of-dishonesty-and-self-delusion-involved/ From the ancient Greek for equality in freedom of speech; an eclectic mix of thoughts, large and small Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:55:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 By: Isegoria https://www.isegoria.net/2025/08/if-youre-not-in-the-meetings-you-cant-accurately-estimate-the-relative-levels-of-dishonesty-and-self-delusion-involved/comment-page-1/#comment-3759339 Isegoria Fri, 29 Aug 2025 01:09:01 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=53392#comment-3759339 I’ve read Tainter’s The Collapse of Complex Societies, but I haven’t commented on it since then. I did discuss it a long time ago: Bureaucracies Temporarily Reverse the Second Law of Thermodynamics. (I’ve also discussed the whole genre of books about societal collapse.)

]]> By: Harry Jones https://www.isegoria.net/2025/08/if-youre-not-in-the-meetings-you-cant-accurately-estimate-the-relative-levels-of-dishonesty-and-self-delusion-involved/comment-page-1/#comment-3759328 Harry Jones Thu, 28 Aug 2025 16:47:48 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=53392#comment-3759328 I’ve read that Tainter book. It’s one of huge books that go into a lot more detail than what’s needed to prove the point. Beating the dead horse, with citations and footnotes.

Summation: a society gets too big for its top down organization to keep track of everything. Those at the top refuse to delegate or relinquish authority because they like being in power. And so they fail to keep track of everything. The collapse is overdetermined.

]]> By: T. Beholder https://www.isegoria.net/2025/08/if-youre-not-in-the-meetings-you-cant-accurately-estimate-the-relative-levels-of-dishonesty-and-self-delusion-involved/comment-page-1/#comment-3759324 T. Beholder Thu, 28 Aug 2025 08:52:53 +0000 https://www.isegoria.net/?p=53392#comment-3759324

If you’re not in the meetings, you can’t accurately estimate the relative levels of dishonesty and self-delusion involved.

Is accurate estimation even needed on this scale?

Let’s look at US. And then remember that shit flows downhill, thus the lesser Almost Perfect Happy Fun Quaker States are not going to be noticeably better off, at least.

Rep. Thomas Massie: «95% of classified briefings are a joke. They are propaganda sessions.» (screenshot here: https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-62925-russia-launches-largest)

But when 95% of the “classified” ones are a low-quality circus, what 95% of the rest are going to be, any better?

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