Long article on five lessons from history but totally worth reading. The author Morgan Housel's style is reminiscent of Mary Meeker's Internet Trends report of which I am a fan like many others. His subject matter is different and he covers a large time-scale, full of events - some grand others not so much. There is a lot to take-away from this article, but my favorite lines were:
If enough people believe something is true, unsustainable ideas can gain durable life support.
Stories are more powerful than statistics because they take less effort for your brain to contextualize complex issues
There are so many examples all around us of "unsustainable ideas" that "gain durable life support". It could be in the the microcosm of a family unit where everyone believes that one of three kids is the smartest. Its a myth that becomes reality with go good basis. Stories start to form around it and at some point it is reality. On a larger more societal scale, we have fake news, propaganda, biases of every kind that work much the same way
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