Do we have any say in history? “The self you experience as yourself—the deliberate, choosing, narrating self—is not the primary phenomenon. It is a secondary formation, a surface effect produced by deeper processes. Your desires, your fears, your loves, your… Read More »Fate, Structure, Mimesis
And leads to strange results.
Usually we deceive ourselves. “We are systematically deceived — not primarily by external temptation but by our own affections, which dress themselves as reasons.” https://tantaman.com/2026-04-06-jesuit-formation.html
This is why virtue signaling is dumb. “virtus, channeled by the other virtues, leads to admirable deeds” https://acoup.blog/2024/03/29/fireside-friday-march-29-2024-on-roman-values/
More of this. “Christina Koch became the first woman to travel to the vicinity of the moon. The last time humans went to the moon, women could not have their own credit card” https://lizplank.substack.com/p/artemis-ii-is-competency-porn-and
Same old story. The Economist (EU) Sat, Apr 11, 2026 “They promoted an old idea, common in monarchies throughout history, that injustice cannot be the good tsar’s fault: it must be his bad officials’. The story of one local administrator… Read More »The disinformation state
People are dumb. Even those in power. “The Economist (EU) Sat, Apr 11, 2026 The Kaiser thought a short, sharp war would reshape the Balkans to Germany’s advantage and boost his own standing at home. He doubted that many other… Read More »How to avoid world war three
Central comitees rarely work. “In 1958, Mao ordered every village in China to produce steel. Farmers melted down their cooking pots in backyard furnaces and reported spectacular numbers. The steel was useless. The crops rotted. Thirty million people starved.In 2026,… Read More »The AI Great Leap Forward
It is all about stories. “The corporation does not wonder whether formation is possible. It has quarterly OKRs around it.” https://tantaman.com/2026-04-06-formation-we-admit-to.html
Flexibility matters. “That flexibility becomes decisive because of what I’d argue is a real Roman equipment advantage, which isn’t really a technological advantage, per se. The only new technology the Romans are using is mail armor, which, to be fair,… Read More »Collections: Phalanx’s Twilight, Legion’s Triumph, Part IVc: Perseus