Seva
@seva.bsky.social
Seva Gunitsky, associate professor of political science, University of Toronto. http://individual.utoronto.ca/seva/. book: http://amzn.to/2oRD2yG
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Seva
@seva.bsky.social
· 3d
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
this new years eve I'm reminded of an old Soviet toast: Here's to another average year - worse than the one before it, but better than the one ahead
December 31, 2025 at 8:43 PM
this new years eve I'm reminded of an old Soviet toast: Here's to another average year - worse than the one before it, but better than the one ahead
Reposted by Seva
Your teacher in 2005: don't use Wikipedia as a source! People can change it! Use dot gov sites!
Teacher in 2025: don't use dot gov sites, they say Tylenol causes autism. Wikipedia is curated by honest and trustworthy nerds who require real citations. 1
Teacher in 2025: don't use dot gov sites, they say Tylenol causes autism. Wikipedia is curated by honest and trustworthy nerds who require real citations. 1
December 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Your teacher in 2005: don't use Wikipedia as a source! People can change it! Use dot gov sites!
Teacher in 2025: don't use dot gov sites, they say Tylenol causes autism. Wikipedia is curated by honest and trustworthy nerds who require real citations. 1
Teacher in 2025: don't use dot gov sites, they say Tylenol causes autism. Wikipedia is curated by honest and trustworthy nerds who require real citations. 1
Wikipedia’s journey from citation pariah to crowdsourced miracle to right-wing punching bag is such a perfect encapsulation of internet history.
December 31, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Wikipedia’s journey from citation pariah to crowdsourced miracle to right-wing punching bag is such a perfect encapsulation of internet history.
Reposted by Seva
This happened to me so I started thinking I probably wasn’t a Bayesian.
Then I had to start thinking I was a Bayesian again.
Then I had to start thinking I was a Bayesian again.
everyone thinks they’re a bayesian until they have to update their priors
December 30, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This happened to me so I started thinking I probably wasn’t a Bayesian.
Then I had to start thinking I was a Bayesian again.
Then I had to start thinking I was a Bayesian again.
Reposted by Seva
This is a perfect example of how a historical question needs to be narrow rather than broad
As in, not an elephant, but what the elephants drink
As in, not an elephant, but what the elephants drink
I always tell students if you ask a good question the article will write itself
December 30, 2025 at 4:24 AM
This is a perfect example of how a historical question needs to be narrow rather than broad
As in, not an elephant, but what the elephants drink
As in, not an elephant, but what the elephants drink
everyone thinks they’re a bayesian until they have to update their priors
December 30, 2025 at 10:29 PM
everyone thinks they’re a bayesian until they have to update their priors
putin’s notion that we are a great powerful civilization but also we are constantly helplessly victimized by the west -- it’s the same combination of entitlement plus victimhood that you find in the US far-right. No wonder they like him
December 30, 2025 at 4:22 PM
putin’s notion that we are a great powerful civilization but also we are constantly helplessly victimized by the west -- it’s the same combination of entitlement plus victimhood that you find in the US far-right. No wonder they like him
I always tell students if you ask a good question the article will write itself
December 30, 2025 at 4:12 AM
I always tell students if you ask a good question the article will write itself
everywhere I look I see hidden agendas, secret alliances, and shadowy figures. except for my mysterious benefactor, who is beyond reproach
December 30, 2025 at 2:41 AM
everywhere I look I see hidden agendas, secret alliances, and shadowy figures. except for my mysterious benefactor, who is beyond reproach
Reposted by Seva
japan and south korea see themselves as part of a "judeo christian west" that includes half of latin america
missed this when it came out but FP sent a year in review and this was a subscriber pick. I think it's wrong for two reasons: 1) as the new NSS demonstrates, the US is promoting a fracture *within* the west and 2)kleptocratic transnational networks do not care about civilizational differences
December 29, 2025 at 6:53 PM
japan and south korea see themselves as part of a "judeo christian west" that includes half of latin america
leading to this uh, memorable FP cover
December 29, 2025 at 6:59 PM
leading to this uh, memorable FP cover
missed this when it came out but FP sent a year in review and this was a subscriber pick. I think it's wrong for two reasons: 1) as the new NSS demonstrates, the US is promoting a fracture *within* the west and 2)kleptocratic transnational networks do not care about civilizational differences
December 29, 2025 at 5:29 PM
missed this when it came out but FP sent a year in review and this was a subscriber pick. I think it's wrong for two reasons: 1) as the new NSS demonstrates, the US is promoting a fracture *within* the west and 2)kleptocratic transnational networks do not care about civilizational differences
Russian society is so warped by the war that any sudden outbreak of peace would be like an alcoholic going cold turkey; delirium tremens on a society wide level. This is an invisible constraint even on Putin that we don't often talk about
December 29, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Russian society is so warped by the war that any sudden outbreak of peace would be like an alcoholic going cold turkey; delirium tremens on a society wide level. This is an invisible constraint even on Putin that we don't often talk about
Reposted by Seva
December 29, 2025 at 1:29 AM
the wolf wants to see the three little pigs succeed
December 29, 2025 at 1:07 PM
the wolf wants to see the three little pigs succeed
Reposted by Seva
it is extremely funny that RFK both does not believe in the germ theory of disease and is a lab leak truther
December 28, 2025 at 8:24 PM
it is extremely funny that RFK both does not believe in the germ theory of disease and is a lab leak truther
Reposted by Seva
This is very good, especially the discussion about gambling. Puts words to a lot of what I struggle to explain.
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
This is very good, especially the discussion about gambling. Puts words to a lot of what I struggle to explain.
last semester in class we did a star chart on gorbachev (pisces) and yeltsin (aquarius) and it turns out the collapse was inevitable
December 28, 2025 at 11:26 PM
last semester in class we did a star chart on gorbachev (pisces) and yeltsin (aquarius) and it turns out the collapse was inevitable
Reposted by Seva
"...The dead wood of overextended empires, elite corruption, and institutional bloat is never burned away. Instead the kinetic energy of decline is funneled inward, turning into polarization and and civil strife."
Hegemonic suicide...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
Hegemonic suicide...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 8:07 PM
"...The dead wood of overextended empires, elite corruption, and institutional bloat is never burned away. Instead the kinetic energy of decline is funneled inward, turning into polarization and and civil strife."
Hegemonic suicide...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
Hegemonic suicide...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
Reposted by Seva
"The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking bolstered by tech-enabled information bubbles."
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 6:25 PM
"The emergence of the post-literacy world is accompanied by the rise of Medieval Peasant Brain, a mental soup of superstition and magical thinking bolstered by tech-enabled information bubbles."
Reposted by Seva
"Skilled gamblers in casinos are treated as degenerate parasites, but if you’re successful on Polymarket you get invited for an interview on 60 Minutes. After all, aren’t Ivy League quants just harvesting alpha? In both cases the winnings are funded by a large base of losers."
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:53 PM
"Skilled gamblers in casinos are treated as degenerate parasites, but if you’re successful on Polymarket you get invited for an interview on 60 Minutes. After all, aren’t Ivy League quants just harvesting alpha? In both cases the winnings are funded by a large base of losers."
very kind of putin to prep trump for the meeting
Trump said he just had a "good and very productive" phone call with Putin ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy later today.
December 28, 2025 at 6:59 PM
very kind of putin to prep trump for the meeting
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
2025: Hegemonic Suicide and Other Innovations
Every generation, on reaching middle age, begins to see the world around them in decline in order to habituate themselves to their own decay.
hegemon.substack.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:42 PM
2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...
I disagree with this. There is in fact some poli sci work on this, which suggests that going after criminal leaders is common and does not undermine democracy
t.co/waO7N2OrLW
t.co/waO7N2OrLW
December 28, 2025 at 5:04 PM
I disagree with this. There is in fact some poli sci work on this, which suggests that going after criminal leaders is common and does not undermine democracy
t.co/waO7N2OrLW
t.co/waO7N2OrLW
Reposted by Seva
The fundamental bargain, from the Putin-Lavrov perspective: Russia gets Ukraine, China gets Taiwan, Trump gets Greenland and Venezuela.
December 28, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The fundamental bargain, from the Putin-Lavrov perspective: Russia gets Ukraine, China gets Taiwan, Trump gets Greenland and Venezuela.