The hottest Institutions Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top U.S. Politics Topics

Zealots, extremists, ideologues, and fanatics (ZEIFs)

Brain Pizza • 860 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Belief systems Fantasy Institutions Conversations
  1. ZEIFs, including zealots, extremists, ideologues, and fanatics, may exhibit cognitive rigidity, black-and-white thinking, and resistance to considering alternative perspectives.
  2. ZEIFs may have underlying personality traits like low agreeableness, high conscientiousness, and high neuroticism, but personality dimensions alone may not fully explain extreme behavior.
  3. Social factors like group identity, echo chambers, and societal polarization play key roles in reinforcing and amplifying the extreme beliefs and actions of ZEIFs.

Illegal Immigration at the US Border: Who's Behind It and Why

Peter Boghossian • 727 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Immigration Government Progressives Institutions Crisis
  1. Chris Martenson discusses the journey of migrants from Ecuador to the US border, often aided by organizations like the UN and Catholic charities.
  2. The conversation highlights the hypocrisy of Western governments allowing illegal immigration and the resulting distrust in governmental institutions.
  3. The talk concludes on a hopeful note, despite the challenges discussed.
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Everyday Freedom

News Items • 432 implied HN points • 25 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Elections Government Policy Leadership Institutions
  1. Trump's popularity stems from his rejection of the establishment and tapping into American resentment towards broken systems.
  2. Americans are seeking a new public operating philosophy that prioritizes trust and accountability in government.
  3. The need for rebuilding government on a foundation of human responsibility and simplicity to restore everyday freedom for Americans.

The Kaiser's Long Stare

Daily Dreher • 1552 implied HN points • 30 Sep 23
🌍 World Politics Empires Institutions Leadership Geopolitics Democracy
  1. The novel 'The Radetzky March' explores the decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through three generations of the von Trotta family.
  2. The book reflects on the importance of faith in institutions and the internal decay that can lead to their downfall.
  3. The text draws parallels between historical events and the current social and political challenges, highlighting the importance of an animating spirit within a society.

Links to Consider, 2/13

In My Tribe • 182 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🚌 Education Beliefs Institutions Parenting Schools Reform
  1. Individuals may prioritize social rewards over truth in belief adoption, leading to collective delusions. It's hard to overcome irrationality at the individual or group level, so focusing on institutional change is crucial.
  2. There is a pattern in how some view different races, depicted by Coleman Hughes in his book. This mirrors the concept of the Moral Dyad, simplifying moral situations to assign feelings or agency.
  3. Challenges in education include the negative impact of excessive parental spending on education. To promote equality, the idea of a luxury estate tax on high-tuition schools was proposed years ago and still holds potential.

Conservatives Follow People, Liberals Form Institutions

sebjenseb • 216 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Conservatives Institutions Networks Political parties
  1. Conservatives tend to follow specific people, while liberals tend to create and rely on institutions.
  2. Right-wing movements often form networks based on individual leaders, while left-wing movements have institutions like newspapers and universities.
  3. Organizations that are not explicitly right-wing tend to become left-wing over time, according to Conquest's second law of politics.

Markets as Error Correction Processes

Knowledge Problem • 196 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
💼 Business Economics Markets Institutions Behavioral Economics Entrepreneurship
  1. Markets are error correction processes that help us adapt to changing conditions and create value.
  2. Individual adjustments in response to price signals lead to error correction in markets.
  3. Through adaptation, decentralized coordination, knowledge ecosystems, and error correction, markets enable us to achieve more and flourish compared to other social institutional frameworks.

Matt Gurney: Let's talk about what Canada being broken means

The Line • 2476 implied HN points • 31 Mar 23
🌍 World Politics Canada Institutions Social Mobility Comparative Analysis Challenges
  1. Canada may be facing challenges and declining in certain areas, despite still being prosperous and stable compared to other countries.
  2. There are concerns about social mobility and the effectiveness of Canadian institutions, with signs pointing to potential long-term issues.
  3. While not completely ruined, Canada needs to address dysfunctional institutions and respond coherently to challenges to secure its future.

Of Experts And Echo Chambers

Good Reason • 284 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🔬 Science Medicine Research Experts Institutions Beliefs
  1. Experts can be wrong and have been wrong throughout history, like medieval doctors with bloodletting.
  2. Expert communities often become echo chambers, reinforcing shared beliefs and resisting change.
  3. Challenging experts and subjecting beliefs to testing, even within scientific-minded groups, is important to avoid falling into the trap of groupthink.

The Knowledge Problem and Institutions

Knowledge Problem • 196 implied HN points • 25 Oct 23
🚌 Education Institutions Knowledge Economics Regulation Analysis
  1. The knowledge problem is pervasive among individuals and socially, impacting coordination and decision-making among agents.
  2. Different types of knowledge problems exist, such as complexity and contextual knowledge problems, affecting decision-making and outcomes.
  3. Institutional design should consider the knowledge problem, as institutions interact with preferences and the environment to shape individual actions and interactions.

Oil, Climate, Oppenheimer, and Restructuring

Life in the 21st Century • 275 implied HN points • 17 Jul 23
🌞 Climate & Environment Oil Climate Energy Renewables Institutions
  1. Transitioning away from oil use is crucial for addressing climate change and reducing energy waste
  2. Restructuring transportation infrastructure to be more efficient can help in cutting oil consumption
  3. There is a need to reevaluate and revalue daily human life to address the inadequacies and obsolescence of current institutions and values

The Infrastructure of Genius

The Ruffian • 270 implied HN points • 08 Jul 23
🎭️ Culture Institutions
  1. Some geniuses are highly distinctive and have a significant impact on their field.
  2. Scenes or particular times/places with networks of practitioners can foster genius.
  3. Genius often arises from a social phenomenon, within an ecosystem of artists, entrepreneurs, and thinkers.

Why are East Asians culturally tight collectivists?

The Great Gender Divergence • 255 implied HN points • 05 Jul 23
🎭️ Culture Cultural Evolution Social norms Institutions Identity politics
  1. East Asians prefer social cohesion and harmony over self-expression and individualism
  2. Factors like rice farming, socio-economic threats, Confucianism, and authoritarianism may contribute to cultural tightness
  3. Despite cultural tightness, societies like South Korea have shown resistance and democratization

Rules, Rules Rules

Trying to Understand the World • 7 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🚌 Education Management Institutions Rules Organizations Common Sense
  1. Organizations often create more rules and regulations when they lack a clear sense of purpose and long-term goals, leading to a focus on detail rather than overall objectives.
  2. The abundance of rules and bureaucracy, especially in modern society, can hinder problem-solving and practical decision-making, as well as replace traditional customs with overly complex regulations.
  3. The Professional and Managerial Caste (PMC) proliferation of rules can result in controlling mechanisms rather than fostering productive environments, ultimately leading to dysfunctional organizations and discontent among staff.

College leaders should say what they stand for

Science Forever • 298 implied HN points • 03 Apr 23
🚌 Education Leadership Higher education Politics Institutions Challenges
  1. College leaders should clearly communicate their values and beliefs, even in the face of political pressure. Staying true to one's values can lead to respect and support from the community.
  2. Presidents who stand up for their beliefs may face challenges, but they often land in new fulfilling positions. Those who prioritize the board's wishes over campus values may not fare as well.
  3. Institutions benefit from leaders who stick to their principles. Even if presidents are let go, they usually find other positive opportunities as long as they remain aligned with their beliefs.

We Can Come Back From The Brink

Hold That Thought by Sarah Haider • 235 implied HN points • 29 May 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Culture Institutions Elections Modernity Youth
  1. Institutions in the US are under assault, but they continue to function and there are mechanisms for resistance and change.
  2. The American people have the power to influence their political landscape through voting, ensuring a system of checks and balances.
  3. Modernity relies on objective realities like physics and mathematics, which will persist despite ideological pressures.

Epistemology and Synthetic Market Design: Examples from Ecosystem Services

Knowledge Problem • 176 implied HN points • 30 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Epistemology Market design Institutions Policy
  1. Some of the most illuminating work in market design has been in payment for ecosystem services (PES).
  2. Synthetic markets and deliberate institutional design are criticized for being epistemic and teleological.
  3. Testing is essential in synthetic market design to understand how people respond to incentives in different institutional frameworks.

Announcing the Symposium Foundation for the Study of Liberalism

Symposium • 137 implied HN points • 27 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Liberalism Free speech Institutions Partisanship Education
  1. The Symposium Foundation for the Study of Liberalism has been created to support intellectual defense of a free society.
  2. Current threats to liberalism come from corruption in established institutions on both the left and the right.
  3. New explicitly liberal institutions are needed to rebuild the case for a free society and bridge ideological divides.

The death of a monarch

The Leftovers • 99 implied HN points • 14 Sep 22
🎭️ Culture Monarchy Power Nationalism Ceremonies Institutions
  1. Ceremonies and rituals are carefully designed to influence emotions and reinforce power dynamics.
  2. The construction of nations and nationalism relies on various tools like monuments, media, and rituals to maintain power structures.
  3. The death of a monarch highlights how society is manipulated through indoctrination, rituals, and the normalization of power.

The Long March Away From the Institutions (Part I)

Nephew Jonathan • 1 implied HN point • 19 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Institutions Philanthropy
  1. The geographic distribution of top universities and public institutions in the US shows a concentration in the East, highlighting historical factors and wealth distribution.
  2. Philanthropy has shifted from building institutions to directly addressing issues, potentially contributing to societal atomization.
  3. The dearth of social clubs and community spaces like private townhouses may be impacting civil society, leading to a need for more such load-bearing pillars.

The Case for Plan B

The Permanent Problem • 4 implied HN points • 18 Apr 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Policy Institutions Reforms Social Issues International relations
  1. Given the pace of change, it's important to plan for the future on multiple time horizons.
  2. Considering alternative 'Plan B' options is wise, as core institutions may not suffice in all scenarios.
  3. In light of potential catastrophic risks like pandemics, climate change, and AI, exploring new institutions for resilience is crucial.