You'd be forgiven to think that David Brin is from the future after reading this excerpt from his book, The Transparent Society, where he discusses the tension between the cultural benefits of transparency and accountability, claiming that accountability is what made the North American civilization so successful.
Except, it was written in 1996 and while Brin isn't foreign to predictions that actually turn out to be true, this essay is scary in how accurately it describes the societal changes that we've seen between 1996 and 2020.
Despite being ancient by today's standards, where something from yesterday is considered old news, it reminds us that some forms of thinking are truly timeless as they deal with how human nature affects our behaviours. However, old doesn't mean out of date, as Taleb has explained with the lindy effect.
All of this to say that this piece helps making sense of the current nonsense. I'll leave you with this (one of too many!) golden nugget from the article:
"In all of history, there has been only one cure for error discovered, one partial antidote against making grand, foolish mistakes. One remedy against self-deception.
That antidote is criticism.
Alas, criticism has always been what human beings - especially leaders - hate most to hear.
I call this contradiction the 'Paradox of the Peacock.'"
Sounds familiar?