I enjoyed the bit on Cummings, I think the Cassandra analogy is a good one but I’d adjust it slightly to instead of being ignored like Cassandra, Cummings curse is to be listened to but his actions to fix will make the initial problem worse.
E.g. identifying issues with the EU, getting the country out then finding none of those issues are solved, making Boris Johnson PM to get Brexit done but then discovering you’ve made Boris Johnson PM! being correct about the need for lockdowns but then through his Barnard Castle adventure doing the single most damage to the government message on lockdowns.
He should be hired to run red teams and find and assess problems, but absolutely forbidden from doing anything to fix them.
He isn’t and never has been, the reason I know is because I’ve read enough of his stuff to see myself in him, he’s just (like me) clever enough to make other people think he’s smart, he’s read enough books to develop the vocabulary that is broad enough to convince ppl a wide vocabulary equals intelligence, it doesn’t
He is also just clever enough to mask his ignorance behind a false humility
He’s smart enough to be able to criticise things that are wrong but he doesn’t have the right answers to fix them, I mean he bizarrely keeps referring to the Apollo project as some proof that the State can’t do things
On every big question in his life he’s been wrong, at some point an Oxbridge education and knowing which fork to use has to be ranked behind ‘reached the wrong conclusion on what is the best answer to a problem’ when measuring intelligence
He is an ignorant stupid arrogant man and we can all stop pretending that riding the back of the UK Tabloids to feed peoples prejudices back to them then having no idea what to do with power when handed it by capitalising on that campaign doesn’t mean someone is clever.
Ha! I think he’s smart — and reading your acknowledgements of all the things he’s done, so do you! But I agree that he’s a self mythologiser in a way that’s very unhelpful
Replace Petersen with Cummings in this passage from Kareem and it about sums it up, especially the not following ‘his standard technique.....’
“I have little tolerance for lazy thinkers, especially when they are as massively influential as Peterson. Since this article first appeared, Peterson’s public pronouncements have gotten even more scattered and rambling. His standard technique of invoking random studies and history tidbits that sound smart, but are rarely directly related or have any causation, remains compelling to those easily swayed. Propaganda incites passion in order to override reason. That’s his scam.”
I have a very similar photo from my own university days, but instead of someone cool like Matthew Perry, my friends and I met Karl Kennedy from Neighbours.
it seems Cummings likes to be the maverick who doesn't play by the rules, thwarted by mediocrities who can't handle his brilliance. Or you know, you could be less of a dickhead and achieve some more stuff?
I don’t see anything wrong with your hairstyle. At your age (at the time) my daughter was going around with hair either blue or green, whenever I met her. There is something wonderful about group photos of young people. All the potential in one place.
At last a journalist who can separate the personality from the value of what they say (or at least some of it). I did work in a government department in the UK for a few years of public service. I recognise a lot of what Cummins said and also the exasperation in his missives. I'm not a fan of his (I laughed for about a week when Marina Hyde called him 'Otto Von Jizzmark') but I did think he was credible in the inquiry insofar he was obviously dealing with a bunch of ****wits and I can attest to the fact that those unmitigated doughnuts exist.
Cummings is a tragic figure, but I cannot help but sympathise. The curse of intelligent “system thinkers” is not how clever they are, but how clinically, desperately disappointed they are when they are allowed behind the curtain. The shock and revulsion they feel when confronted with the - in Cummings parlance - total wankers who pull the strings, must be totally devastating
I too (despite myself) find Cummings a fascinating character. Where did the apparently cast iron certainty in his own brilliance and exceptionalism come from? Does he sees himself as a Nietzschean Ubermensch, setting himself apart from society's mundane morality and norms, the better to walk his lonely path to greatness and genius?
Cummings seems to be a widely-read dilettante who believes that he alone has uncovered the key to improving everything. Where Silicon Valley (clearly an obsession for him) believes passionately in the disruptive power of technology to improve everything, Cummings believes disruption is a thing in itself. That everything should simply be disrupted, by any means available. And whilst that disruption will cause pain now, in decades to come everyone will realise how right he was.
I think there's an important crossover with your gurus work. Cummings clearly consumes a lot of the Simon Sinek-style business/leadership guru-ism, but apparently doesn't notice how little substance or rigour there is to it. There's a group of gurus who extract lots of money from very wealthy tech people by essentially finding academic and literary snippets and stylishly packaging them as 'proof' that said tech people are geniuses and they will change the world. Cummings thinks he's a genius but is just another Kool Aid drinker.
I had to endure watching The Greatest Showman when I was researching for a podcast about P.T. Barnum, and can honestly say it is the worst film I have ever seen. Grossly offensive when you compare the depiction to the real PT Barnum. But also excruciatingly Partridge at every stage!
I liked your argument with DC. I think the immense intransigence of the Tory party is what makes housing/infrastructure reform unattainable. Cameron failed at that too. DC's biggest achievements are science funding, e.g. creating ARIA, which no-one cares about but could be massively important over coming decades. It's linked to vaccines and testing, via Kate Bingham. Massive win. He did that while the Tories were moron-barking about HS2 and other NIMBY things. He's a dolt in some ways, but that might be the most important thing any government has done since 2010.
Clearly the "people" populating Tattooine are all settler colonialists exploiting the planet for resources (though some appear to be "chosen" people as well).
I enjoyed the bit on Cummings, I think the Cassandra analogy is a good one but I’d adjust it slightly to instead of being ignored like Cassandra, Cummings curse is to be listened to but his actions to fix will make the initial problem worse.
E.g. identifying issues with the EU, getting the country out then finding none of those issues are solved, making Boris Johnson PM to get Brexit done but then discovering you’ve made Boris Johnson PM! being correct about the need for lockdowns but then through his Barnard Castle adventure doing the single most damage to the government message on lockdowns.
He should be hired to run red teams and find and assess problems, but absolutely forbidden from doing anything to fix them.
I like this analysis (probably because it also applies to journalists)
Ouch.
‘ Cummings is cursed to be very smart’
No Helen, NO!
He isn’t and never has been, the reason I know is because I’ve read enough of his stuff to see myself in him, he’s just (like me) clever enough to make other people think he’s smart, he’s read enough books to develop the vocabulary that is broad enough to convince ppl a wide vocabulary equals intelligence, it doesn’t
He is also just clever enough to mask his ignorance behind a false humility
He’s smart enough to be able to criticise things that are wrong but he doesn’t have the right answers to fix them, I mean he bizarrely keeps referring to the Apollo project as some proof that the State can’t do things
On every big question in his life he’s been wrong, at some point an Oxbridge education and knowing which fork to use has to be ranked behind ‘reached the wrong conclusion on what is the best answer to a problem’ when measuring intelligence
He is an ignorant stupid arrogant man and we can all stop pretending that riding the back of the UK Tabloids to feed peoples prejudices back to them then having no idea what to do with power when handed it by capitalising on that campaign doesn’t mean someone is clever.
I typed all those words only to discover you better explained the mistake ppl make when describing Cummings as smart at the end of this very blog post
‘ This story is a really fascinating reflection on how much of “genius” is about an aura—reputation, mystique, exclusivity, branding ’
Ha! I think he’s smart — and reading your acknowledgements of all the things he’s done, so do you! But I agree that he’s a self mythologiser in a way that’s very unhelpful
Nope, I’m acknowledging he’s a C+ intellect masquerading as an A-
And too many ppl from his social class believe the masquerade
Replace Petersen with Cummings in this passage from Kareem and it about sums it up, especially the not following ‘his standard technique.....’
“I have little tolerance for lazy thinkers, especially when they are as massively influential as Peterson. Since this article first appeared, Peterson’s public pronouncements have gotten even more scattered and rambling. His standard technique of invoking random studies and history tidbits that sound smart, but are rarely directly related or have any causation, remains compelling to those easily swayed. Propaganda incites passion in order to override reason. That’s his scam.”
If Cummings *is* smart, he's smart like Satan in 'Paradise Lost': "man will hearken to his glozing lies..."
I have a very similar photo from my own university days, but instead of someone cool like Matthew Perry, my friends and I met Karl Kennedy from Neighbours.
it seems Cummings likes to be the maverick who doesn't play by the rules, thwarted by mediocrities who can't handle his brilliance. Or you know, you could be less of a dickhead and achieve some more stuff?
“Madame Ovary” !!!!!!
I don’t see anything wrong with your hairstyle. At your age (at the time) my daughter was going around with hair either blue or green, whenever I met her. There is something wonderful about group photos of young people. All the potential in one place.
This is, truly, the only genuinely funny SNL sketch in existence! I actually laughed and I don’t know what to make of that.
Usually their comedy doesn’t work at all (does anyone other than the self-satisfied performers rate it?)
But this time, something went wrong with their normal processes. Just this one time.
hey this is random but where do you get those 'difficult woman' shirts ? do you make them?
Your hair’s just fine.
Hello! New subscriber here… can you explain the meaning of Partridge in number 3. for me?
Alan Partridge!
At last a journalist who can separate the personality from the value of what they say (or at least some of it). I did work in a government department in the UK for a few years of public service. I recognise a lot of what Cummins said and also the exasperation in his missives. I'm not a fan of his (I laughed for about a week when Marina Hyde called him 'Otto Von Jizzmark') but I did think he was credible in the inquiry insofar he was obviously dealing with a bunch of ****wits and I can attest to the fact that those unmitigated doughnuts exist.
Cummings is a tragic figure, but I cannot help but sympathise. The curse of intelligent “system thinkers” is not how clever they are, but how clinically, desperately disappointed they are when they are allowed behind the curtain. The shock and revulsion they feel when confronted with the - in Cummings parlance - total wankers who pull the strings, must be totally devastating
I too (despite myself) find Cummings a fascinating character. Where did the apparently cast iron certainty in his own brilliance and exceptionalism come from? Does he sees himself as a Nietzschean Ubermensch, setting himself apart from society's mundane morality and norms, the better to walk his lonely path to greatness and genius?
Cummings seems to be a widely-read dilettante who believes that he alone has uncovered the key to improving everything. Where Silicon Valley (clearly an obsession for him) believes passionately in the disruptive power of technology to improve everything, Cummings believes disruption is a thing in itself. That everything should simply be disrupted, by any means available. And whilst that disruption will cause pain now, in decades to come everyone will realise how right he was.
I think there's an important crossover with your gurus work. Cummings clearly consumes a lot of the Simon Sinek-style business/leadership guru-ism, but apparently doesn't notice how little substance or rigour there is to it. There's a group of gurus who extract lots of money from very wealthy tech people by essentially finding academic and literary snippets and stylishly packaging them as 'proof' that said tech people are geniuses and they will change the world. Cummings thinks he's a genius but is just another Kool Aid drinker.
I had to endure watching The Greatest Showman when I was researching for a podcast about P.T. Barnum, and can honestly say it is the worst film I have ever seen. Grossly offensive when you compare the depiction to the real PT Barnum. But also excruciatingly Partridge at every stage!
I liked your argument with DC. I think the immense intransigence of the Tory party is what makes housing/infrastructure reform unattainable. Cameron failed at that too. DC's biggest achievements are science funding, e.g. creating ARIA, which no-one cares about but could be massively important over coming decades. It's linked to vaccines and testing, via Kate Bingham. Massive win. He did that while the Tories were moron-barking about HS2 and other NIMBY things. He's a dolt in some ways, but that might be the most important thing any government has done since 2010.
Clearly the "people" populating Tattooine are all settler colonialists exploiting the planet for resources (though some appear to be "chosen" people as well).
The resulting political schema write themselves.