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Thinking about how at the right moment in history, somebody like Joe Manchin gets to basically shape the history of the planet based on what appear to be entirely petty considerations Theories of history underestimate how events frequently cast small minds into big moments
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The academic crusade against “great man history” has the corollary of also overlooking minor men at crucial moments. When considered at all, they are usually treated as accidents
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In aggregate it's not a bad assumption... most petty people in petty moments kinda cancel each other out... but there's these butterfly flapping moments, where systems that tend to adversely select for petty people in critical moments/places systematically destroy themselves
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by contrast, there are systems that seem to get moments of nobility out of normally petty people because they somehow encourage rise-to-the-moment tendencies
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