I have to agree with Noah that Genghis Khan is perhaps the prime example of a zero-sum mentality. Keep in mind that his armies effected the slaughter of about 20 - 40 million residents of Eurasia. This was at a time when the world population was substantially smaller and this loss of life was close to 20% of Asia’s population at the time.
Victory for him meant absolute defeat for his enemies. I truly hope the world has moved on from such a mindset of raw conquest. However, it is like we are getting a taste of it in the Ukraine war.
Thanks! I got to know you a bit via Rohit's interview and learn some new things. As a consequence of collaborating with some Japanese engineers and visiting Japan several times, I have more appreciation for Japanese society.
It's interesting that you call out "winner-take-all" markets so much, because zero-sum is a problem I've spent a lot of time thinking about in the past couple years.
Not trying to shill or anything, but what do you think about zero-sum systems in politics, in general, etc? Are they good, bad?
I have my own personal opinions (see below), but I'm curious what other, more renowned and practiced thinkers think.
Earlier in my career (tech product management, semiconductor and industrial equipment) I spent a fair amount of time in Japan, and I concur with your thoughts here. I could never put pen to paper like you did and connect the dots, but you nailed it.
> But I think our pursuit of meritocracy has caused us to neglect a few important things.
The really strange thing about "meritocracy" discourse is that the word "meritocracy" was invented for a book about what a bad idea it is. I think if you actually work in a hierarchical organization the problems with measuring current/past "merit" like the Peter principle and Goodhart's Law become obvious. The solution is… well, I don't know, sortition?
And of course the Japanese production concepts like kaizen are actually our own management techniques sold back to us, but apparently we don't read our own books.
I have to agree with Noah that Genghis Khan is perhaps the prime example of a zero-sum mentality. Keep in mind that his armies effected the slaughter of about 20 - 40 million residents of Eurasia. This was at a time when the world population was substantially smaller and this loss of life was close to 20% of Asia’s population at the time.
Victory for him meant absolute defeat for his enemies. I truly hope the world has moved on from such a mindset of raw conquest. However, it is like we are getting a taste of it in the Ukraine war.
Thanks! I got to know you a bit via Rohit's interview and learn some new things. As a consequence of collaborating with some Japanese engineers and visiting Japan several times, I have more appreciation for Japanese society.
It's interesting that you call out "winner-take-all" markets so much, because zero-sum is a problem I've spent a lot of time thinking about in the past couple years.
Not trying to shill or anything, but what do you think about zero-sum systems in politics, in general, etc? Are they good, bad?
I have my own personal opinions (see below), but I'm curious what other, more renowned and practiced thinkers think.
https://davesdailydiscourse.substack.com/p/americas-zero-sum-electoral-systems?r=e9tr3&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=copy&s=w
Thanks!
Earlier in my career (tech product management, semiconductor and industrial equipment) I spent a fair amount of time in Japan, and I concur with your thoughts here. I could never put pen to paper like you did and connect the dots, but you nailed it.
Thanks!!!
When I hear random Japanese words and phrases thrown around, it tends to come from one of two people --
1. Anime fans.
2. Project Managers that have just taken a Six Sigma course.
(late comment, whoops)
> But I think our pursuit of meritocracy has caused us to neglect a few important things.
The really strange thing about "meritocracy" discourse is that the word "meritocracy" was invented for a book about what a bad idea it is. I think if you actually work in a hierarchical organization the problems with measuring current/past "merit" like the Peter principle and Goodhart's Law become obvious. The solution is… well, I don't know, sortition?
And of course the Japanese production concepts like kaizen are actually our own management techniques sold back to us, but apparently we don't read our own books.
Great interview! Where can I read more on Tokyo’s block system (rather than typical grid)? Hadn’t heard this distinction before.