This old slatestarcodex post is fascinating to revisit in the context of everything that has happened in the 7 years since it was written:

https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/07/25/how-the-west-was-won/

But even going beyond politics and into "lifestyle culture", the whole network state concept ("keto kosher") is an active attempt to fight against entropy to a limited extent - whereas earlier libertarian-adjacent movements tended to go along with it.

Since the first time I read the post, I've probably become somewhat less confident in the idea that high-entropy cultures are almost always better.

And I feel like that's a common update coming out of recent trends: trumpism and wokeness have both proven themselves high-entropy, and it's kinda hard to approve of both.

I don't know why, but reading this I thought this reads like a psychohistory treatment — as in clear-eyed, objective and refreshing.

grew up in Lebanon.

can confirm high entropy cultures can lead to some dysfunctional societies. 

but wouldn’t generalize as such, lots of different details that might swing things.

What I dislike about this is the underlying assumption that there is ONE universal truth, ONE that is superior to everything else, which is never the case when it comes to people or society. The world is a lot more fun because it's not monolithic.

loved this one https://i.imgur.com/2pzeClX.jpg