Mechanisms That Break Civilizations
Introduction to 10 part Series

uortego.substack.com/p/mechanisms...

Interesting essay. Calling Attachment Theory “white supremacy” mistakes the mechanism.
The danger isn’t the theory — it’s when systems turn science into ideology.
Once a model becomes a moral code, it stops healing and starts disciplining.
That’s the real machinery at work.

Exactly. Fear hides the machinery; understanding exposes the incentives.
Part II is up now — here: uortego.substack.com/p/the-purity...

Totally—real psychohistory is fiction. I’m not claiming we can calculate fear loops. The point is softer: when enough individuals face the same pressures, incentives, and uncertainties, their choices start to rhyme. Not equations—just patterns that repeat across history.

I appreciate that. I’m not aiming for consensus—just clarity. Putting ideas out invites criticism, but that’s the point. Push them hard, break what doesn’t hold, keep what does. At least we’re doing the work instead of letting the incentives think for us.

I wasn’t pointing to one article—just the mechanism. And sure, TSA loosening some rules is a good counter-example. The core idea isn’t a slippery slope, it’s how individuals reacting to shared incentives can aggregate into a “fear loop.” Societies don’t act—people do, under pressure.

Correct that individuals act. But they act within shared incentives, risks, and constraints. When many people respond in parallel, their behaviors aggregate into predictable patterns. Those emergent patterns—not a literal ‘society’ acting—are what drive systemic collapse.