I've been reading Robert Greene's 48 Laws of Power. I'll be [writing about the relevance of a few of his 48 laws](careylening.substack.co…), as how those laws influence everything from blockchain grift to big tech policy.

Here's my Day 2 quote

LAW 27 -- PLAY ON PEOPLE'S NEED TO BELIEVE TO CREATE A CULTLIKE FOLLOWING

"[W]e will manufacture saints and faiths out of nothing."

In periods of turbulence and uncertainty, we want clarity, and will go seek it out. People will literally cling to anything and everything that might explain the world, or importantly offer hope.

I also think this is a big driver of hype cycles (the blockchain is popular when markets are speculative; the Metaverse was a big deal when we were trapped indoors during a pandemic; AI counselors and friends appeal to us when everything feels murky and complicated and there’s a loneliness epidemic).

Expect a post on this -- there's a lot more to unpack here.