Why Does It Feel Like Everyone Is Losing Their Minds? - Konstantin Kisin - #697
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21Insights
Insights & moments
The myth-busts, hot takes, explainers, and tools worth keeping.
⚡Myth Buster· 3
⚡Myth Buster13:30
There Are No Solutions, Only Trade-offs
Kisin introduces the concept of 'trade-off denialism' — the modern refusal to acknowledge that every policy choice has both costs and benefits. He uses climate policy as the prime example, arguing that criticizing a proposed solution gets falsely conflated with denying the underlying problem.
Every decision has both positives and negatives, but public discourse now treats acknowledging costs as heresy
Climate example: questioning a proposed climate solution gets mislabeled as climate denial
Citing Thomas Sowell: 'there are no solutions, only trade-offs'
Links this to why his Oxford Union speech resonated
“we live in a world of trade-off denialism”
“there are no Solutions only trade-offs”
#climate#policy#thomas-sowell#rhetoric
⚡Myth Buster38:00
The '90s Gillette Ads Show What Healthy Masculinity Actually Looked Like
Kisin contrasts Gillette's recent 'toxic masculinity' ad with its own 1990s advertising, which depicted men as protective, nurturing, and responsible — arguing that modern anti-masculinity messaging is a reversal of what healthy masculinity used to be celebrated as.
1990s Gillette ads showed a man holding his baby before work, hugging his son at his wedding, protecting his wife — a positive portrayal of men
Kisin argues today's ads implicitly tell men 'you're a piece of [__], buy our product' instead
He says this anti-masculinity narrative in advertising and movies is genuinely dangerous
Notes his wife, described as apolitical, is 'extremely tired' of men being demonized this way
“healthy masculinity is the '90s Gillette ads — that's what it looks like”
“a man putting his tie on as he holds his baby up before he's going to work”
#masculinity#advertising#gillette#gender
⚡Myth Buster93:00
Romans Grew Grapes on Hadrian's Wall — Climate History Undercuts Today's Panic
Kisin uses historical climate facts — Romans growing grapes near the Scottish border, and rapid gains in Indian life expectancy from fossil fuel use — to argue that current climate discourse ignores basic historical context and trade-offs, calling the conversation 'cult-like.'
Romans grew grapes on Hadrian's Wall, near the England-Scotland border, despite today's cold, wet climate there
Cites a former port town now 40 miles inland from the coast as further evidence of natural climate variability over centuries
India's average life expectancy rose from 37 in 1947 to roughly 82 today, driven substantially by fossil fuel use
Argues climate-related deaths have fallen roughly 50x over the last century, and more people die from cold than heat, per Alex Epstein's research
“the Romans when they occupied Britain, they grew grapes on Hadrian's Wall”
“when India became independent in 1947, average life expectancy was 37 years old — today it's I think 82 — and that's because they burn…”
#climate-change#history#energy#alex-epstein
◆Hot Take· 5
◆Hot Take02:30
Social Media Today Is Like Tobacco Ads in the 1950s
Kisin predicts that in 10-20 years society will view current social media use the way it now views cigarette advertising — a practice once normalized that turned out to be seriously damaging. He describes personally changing how he uses social media as a result.
Prediction: future generations will be horrified at how casually we used social media today
Compares it directly to tobacco companies once promoting cigarettes as healthy
Kisin says he now spends less time 'dunking' on people online because it doesn't make the world or himself better
Notes Twitter/X rarely rewards someone breaking the pile-on and saying 'that was out of order'
“10 15 20 years from now we will look back at the way we use social media now and be horrified by it”
“it's very easy... to get clicks... which is dunk on somebody, and I spend less and less of my time doing that now”
#social-media#self-improvement#culture
◆Hot Take05:00
Extreme Beliefs as Loyalty Signals and Threat Displays
Chris Williamson proposes that holding an absurd or extreme ideological belief functions as a signal of loyalty to your in-group and a threat display to opposing groups — the more irrational the belief, the stronger the signal.
The more absurd or extreme a belief, the more it proves reliability to your own side
Simultaneously it signals to the opposing side that you are a formidable foe
Kisin frames this as ordinary tribal mechanics amplified by online visibility
“an extreme ideological belief is a show of fealty to your own side and a threat display to the other”
“it's Tribal mechanics but multiplied by a thousand... because it's online with everyone scrutinizing you”
#tribalism#ideology#social-media#psychology
◆Hot Take07:00
The Anti-Woke Movement Has No Positive Vision Yet
Kisin argues that people who oppose wokeness have fallen into their own victimhood narrative (cancelled, silenced) and that the real unfinished task is articulating what they're actually FOR, not just what they're against — something he says he'll address in an upcoming ARC talk.
Anti-woke commentators have adopted victim framing themselves ('I've been cancelled')
The harder, unfinished task is defining a positive alternative vision, not just opposition
Compares this to Jordan Peterson's success, which came from telling people to take responsibility
“we know what we're against but not enough people are willing to say what are we for exactly”
#woke#politics#victimhood#jordan-peterson
◆Hot Take26:00
Why We Need to Know Where COVID Actually Came From
Kisin argues the world has neglected the most important unanswered COVID question — its origin — and draws a parallel to Soviet-era cover-ups of disasters. He warns that if gain-of-function research caused COVID and continues unchecked, another pandemic is likely.
Kisin says the origin question is inexplicably neglected despite credible lab-leak assertions
Draws on his own upbringing in a communist country: regimes cover up catastrophes rather than admit fault, citing a Soviet radioactive leak example
Argues that if COVID emerged from gain-of-function research and that research continues, another pandemic is likely
Notes the conversation is complicated by accusations of racism blocking honest investigation of China's role
“I'd really like to know where COVID came from... don't you think that's important?”
“if this is a product of gain of function research getting out into the real world... the world needs to know”
#covid#lab-leak#gain-of-function#china
◆Hot Take101:00
No One Is Actually a Free Speech Absolutist — Including Elon Musk
Kisin argues that true free speech absolutism is essentially impossible in practice, pointing out that Elon Musk calls himself a free speech absolutist but still moderates content once it crosses his own lines, and argues that the American Revolution likely couldn't have happened under a moderated Twitter.
Elon Musk claims free speech absolutism but still shuts down content that crosses his personal lines
Kisin says every platform needs moderation because the technology's reach is powerful enough to help incite real-world violence
Counter-argument: the American Revolution likely wouldn't have happened if 1776-era 'misinformation' had been moderated by the era's version of Twitter
Concludes that anyone claiming a clean answer to content moderation should imagine being the one forced to make that life-or-death call
“Elon Musk says he's a free speech absolutist... and then the moment people trigger his personal preferences he shuts that particular form of conversation down”
“do you get 1776 if there is Twitter and it's moderated? I don't think you do”
#free-speech#elon-musk#social-media#moderation
✶Explainer· 4
✶Explainer00:00
Why Incentivizing Victimhood Creates More Victims
Kisin argues that shifting culture from aiding real victims to rewarding anyone who claims victimhood is a predictable response to incentives. Online spaces make faking victimhood especially easy because anyone can construct an avatar disconnected from their real circumstances.
Human behavior fundamentally responds to incentives — incentivize victimhood and you get more victims
In person, visible wealth/status makes faking victimhood harder; online, anyone can project any persona
This creates a gap between curated online victim narratives and real offline circumstances
“if you incentivize victimhood you're going to get victims”
“online you can create any Avatar you want and that Avatar can be projected onto the online space from a mansion”
#victimhood#incentives#social-media#culture-war
✶Explainer53:00
'No Difference Between Men and Women' Is a Luxury Belief
Kisin applies Rob Henderson's concept of 'luxury beliefs' to gender, arguing that the idea there's no meaningful difference between men and women is a belief only affordable to people insulated from its real-world consequences, and that denying differences forecloses honest conversation about how men and women should relate.
Cites Rob Henderson's term 'luxury belief' — an idea signaling status that costs its holder little but harms those who act on it without the same insulation
Argues that once you accept real differences exist, it becomes acceptable for men to act like men and women to act like women
Connects this to backlash against women being told it's shameful to just be 'at home' raising children
“the principal luxury belief of our time is there's no difference between men and women”
#gender#rob-henderson#luxury-beliefs
✶Explainer66:30
The Fake Facial Scar Experiment That Shows Victimhood Is Self-Fulfilling
Kisin recounts a famous psychology experiment where women were told they'd been given a facial disfigurement for a study on discrimination, but the scarring was secretly removed before their interview — yet they still reported experiencing discrimination that didn't happen, illustrating how expecting mistreatment shapes perception of it.
Women were told scarring would be applied and tested for how interviewers treated them differently
Unbeknownst to them, makeup artists removed the scar before the actual interview
Despite having no visible disfigurement, participants reported specific instances of discrimination they believed occurred
Kisin uses this to argue that teaching people to expect victimhood makes them perceive (and thus experience) more of it, including in contexts like police interactions
“they came back reporting massive levels of discrimination — specific comments that the interviewer had made about them — that they perceived”
“teaching people victimhood is so dangerous because it makes them victims”
#psychology#victimhood#perception#study
✶Explainer90:30
Is a Chaotic Information Ecosystem Deliberately Inducing Learned Helplessness?
Kisin connects the classic learned-helplessness experiment (rats given uncontrollable electric shocks eventually give up) to today's media environment, suggesting a messy, untrustworthy information landscape trains people to stop trying to find truth at all — and argues the fix is making mainstream media trustworthy again, not just trusting it by default.
Learned helplessness experiment: rats with no control over shocks eventually stop trying to escape them
Kisin suggests a chaotic, untrustworthy media landscape could produce the same surrender response in the public
States the solution isn't to trust the mainstream media as-is, but for the mainstream to actually become trustworthy
Acknowledges this is very difficult given how outlets like his own are incentivized and resourced differently than legacy media
“if the rat has no control over the electric shock it will just lie down and take it”
“the solution to that isn't to trust the mainstream — the solution is for the mainstream to become trustworthy”
#media#psychology#trust#misinformation
❝Story· 7
❝Story02:00
The Comedy World's Golden Rule About Male Feminists
Kisin recounts a rule he learned as a standup comedian: the more a male comedian publicly talks about being a feminist on stage, the worse he behaves backstage. He frames this as a compensation mechanism where public moralizing masks private bad behavior.
Rule from Kisin's comedy career: on-stage male feminist rhetoric correlates with sleazy backstage behavior
He calls it a 'never fails' pattern he observed repeatedly
Frames performative virtue as compensation for hidden bad behavior — the performance stands on the shoulders of the wrongdoing
“the more a comedian talks about how he's a male feminist on stage, the sleazier he is backstage”
“people who are hiding a bunch of [__] have to go out and then pretend to be something they're not”
#hypocrisy#comedy#virtue-signaling
❝Story21:00
Kisin's Reaction to Sam Harris's Viral Twitter Backlash
Kisin describes how he felt after a clip from his interview with Sam Harris went viral and triggered a huge backlash, saying his primary concern was for Harris's wellbeing rather than the controversy itself. He reveals the interview also covered more controversial COVID comments that never went viral.
Kisin says he'd never seen a guest go through a Twitter firestorm to that extent and felt terrible about it
He emailed Harris afterward to check on his wellbeing
The most controversial thing Harris said in the full interview was actually about COVID, in a paywalled section, and got far less attention than the political clip
Kisin disagreed with Harris's take but felt Harris earned 'a lot of credit in the bank' due to how decently he behaved off-camera during technical delays
“I felt terrible when that happened, really really terrible”
“there's a reason that Rogan always says don't read the comments”
#sam-harris#cancel-culture#podcasting
❝Story29:30
Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney, and the 'Don't Judge by One Incident' Double Standard
Chris Williamson challenges Kisin on why the same right-leaning audience who insists you 'can't judge someone by one clip' (applied to figures like Joe Rogan) didn't extend that grace to Bud Light after the Dylan Mulvaney marketing campaign. Kisin responds that the backlash reflects a broader pattern of corporations lecturing ordinary customers, not a single incident taken out of context.
Williamson points out inconsistency: people defend Rogan from selective clipping but didn't extend the same charity to Bud Light's marketing team
A Bud Light marketing executive publicly said their goal was to 'educate' customers she called out by a dismissive term, which Kisin says shows more premeditation than a rogue intern
Kisin argues the anger isn't really about one beer brand but about a broader pattern of institutions (Gillette, other corporations) repeatedly telling ordinary people they're bad
He compares it to Rogan's 5,000+ hours of published content providing a track record, versus the opacity of a corporate marketing department
“you sell beer, that's not your job — sell them the beer and shut up”
“here again we've got a corporation just absolutely taking the piss, lecturing the ordinary public”
The 'Safest Internet in the World' Question Time Moment
Kisin recounts an unaired warm-up question before a UK Question Time recording, where he defended even Trump's right to speak publicly, only for another panelist to respond that she wanted 'the safest internet in the world' — which Kisin uses to illustrate trade-off denialism applied to safety versus freedom.
Before filming, panelists were asked whether Trump should have been unbanned from Facebook
Kisin argued a sitting or former US president should be able to speak publicly, even controversially
A fellow panelist responded she wanted the 'safest internet in the world' without acknowledging what that would cost
Kisin's point: safety and freedom both have a price, and North Korea would technically be the 'safest' example
“I think we should have the safest internet in the world”
“safety doesn't have a price... and the other argument is freedom doesn't have a price — and the truth is they both have a price”
#free-speech#uk-politics#trump#trade-offs
❝Story108:00
Scientists Plan to Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth Within 20 Years
Kisin describes a conversation with Ben Lamm, CEO of de-extinction company Colossal, who is using ancient DNA from preserved mammoth remains plus AI to reconstruct a full genome, aiming to implant it in an Asian elephant to birth a living woolly mammoth — and also plans to revive the dodo bird.
Colossal has assembled partial DNA from 40-50 preserved mammoth specimens found in the Arctic, using AI to fill genetic gaps
Plan is to implant a pluripotent stem cell into an Asian elephant so it gives birth to a woolly mammoth
Long-term goal includes releasing mammoths in the Arctic to help fertilize/restore the ecosystem ('farmer of the Arctic')
Also targets reviving the dodo bird, since its extinction was caused by human-introduced predators, as a symbolic warning about invasive species
“within 20 years we will have actual woolly mammoths walking on this planet”
#de-extinction#science#biotech
❝Story131:30
What the UFC's Business Model Teaches About Building an Audience
Kisin explains why he's inspired by Dana White, both for his defiant public persona and for the underlying UFC business strategy of cutting ceremony, building new fighters over time, and not always putting the best fight on the main card.
Kisin loves Dana White's famous 'bet against me' clip and says it reflects genuine philosophy, not performative bravado
Notes the UFC's best fight of the night is only about 30% of the time the headline fight — they deliberately build up new talent on undercards
Draws a direct parallel to his own plans for building other creators/talent through his platform
“bet against me... you can bet against me, tell me it's not going to work”
“the headline fight may very often isn't the best fight that actually happens on the night”
#dana-white#ufc#business#media
❝Story136:00
Three Days in LA Made Kisin Understand Why Hollywood Movies Look the Way They Do
Kisin describes a visceral culture shock from spending three days in the LA entertainment world, where he felt people treated each other as disposable objects valued only for status and success — an experience he says suddenly made Hollywood's output make sense to him.
Kisin says LA's entertainment scene made him, a non-religious person, understand why people need religion
Describes people being treated as 'disposable objects' when status and success are someone's only source of value
Says this experience retroactively explained why Hollywood movies are the way they are
Contrasts this with how Britain, from the outside, thinks it 'understands' America through its media exports, which he says is inaccurate
“I was like, I can see why people need religion — this place needs God, it does”
“if all you have is your success, if your value derives from your status and success... that gets dark quickly”
#hollywood#culture#america#status
✦Tool· 1
✦Tool18:30
The Blog Post That Explains Why Contrarians Are Also NPCs
Chris Williamson recommends a blog post titled 'Why You Are Probably an NPC' which argues that reflexive contrarianism is just as unoriginal as reflexive mainstream belief — both are described as sheep, just facing different directions.
Blog identifies five types of 'NPC' thinking, including the mainstream NPC and the contrarian NPC
Core insight: the contrarian NPC does no deeper thinking than the mainstream NPC — it's just the inversion
Key line quoted: being a black sheep might make you different, but you're still a sheep
Kisin agrees reflexive contrarianism is no more nuanced than reflexive conformity
“being a black sheep might make you different but you're still a sheep”
“reflexive contrarianism is no more nuanced than reflexive belief of the hegemony”
#media-literacy#contrarianism#recommended-reading
▲Takeaway· 1
▲Takeaway118:00
Douglas Murray's Rule: Don't Comment on What You Don't Know
Kisin shares a Douglas Murray anecdote as a model of intellectual discipline — Murray deliberately avoided commenting on COVID despite writing multiple columns weekly, because it fell outside his expertise, a restraint Kisin says he aspires to but often fails at himself.
Murray, despite writing 4-5 columns a week plus books, avoided commenting on COVID because he felt he lacked sufficient expertise
Kisin calls this 'a rare thing in the modern world' and a beautiful outlier philosophy
Kisin admits he struggles to follow this himself once an audience starts wanting his opinion on everything
He extends the point: commentators often lack the 'lived experience' relevant to hot topics they weigh in on
“I'm going to do something which is very rare in the modern world, which is to not comment on something which I know nothing about”