Something Strange

It is a very informative video.
The video argues that societies are networks of individuals, interconnected by relationships. In social networks, shortcuts and hubs (nodes with many connections) accelerate information flow but also concentrate influence.
These hubs can distort cooperation: a highly connected person (or group) can exploit their position, undermining trust.
In a standard Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) game theory, two players must choose to cooperate or defect. The networked version shows how individuals may be tempted to defect (betray) when they perceive they can benefit from a hub or shortcut advantage.
Over time, the shortcuts and hubs magnify defection: nodes (people) find it rational to betray rather than cooperate, knowing that hubs either shield them or get rewarded disproportionately.
That leads to systemic corruption, betrayal, and breakdown of cooperative norms. If I cannot bypass a department like bank/police or railway ticketing, etc, then I must have to be diplomatic in dealing with them. Giving a department authority over others kills the system.

Core Argument

In Pakistan, power groups such as the media, political elites, bureaucracy, ISI, and the military often operate in insulated environments, segregated from ordinary citizens. Because they don’t have daily, meaningful contact with the public, empathy is weakened. This isolation fosters toxic, sadistic, and sometimes cruel behaviour toward those outside their circle. By contrast, individuals or groups who engage with society directly (e.g., podcasters, grassroots politicians, or public-facing media personalities) often show stronger alignment with public concerns.

Human beings cooperate best when they face their peers, relatives, or colleagues directly. When separated by walls, barriers, or class divides, cooperation collapses.
So, what we must incorporate into our system over time:
Mandatory Public Service for Elites
Politicians, civil servants, and military officers should be required to complete a structured public contact service.
This could include roles in hospitals, schools, local councils, or municipal offices.
Such service breaks their isolation and expose them to the daily struggles of citizens.
Integration into Entry-Level Roles
Newly recruited CSS officers should begin in lower-rank, people-facing positions (similar to how army officers start at the bottom).
For example, serving as traffic wardens, municipal inspectors, or assistant teachers for a set period before moving up.
This builds empathy and accountability from the start.
Transport and Connectivity
Develop reliable, affordable, and widespread public transport systems to physically connect communities.
Breaking geographical and mobility barriers fosters more mixing between social classes.
University and Institutional Exchange.
Introduce inter-city or inter-provincial mobility schemes for students and young professionals.
Exchange programmes between universities, public offices, and even media houses would reduce social silos and help build a shared civic culture.
Media Responsibility
Encourage TV anchors, journalists, and influencers to spend more time in field reporting from rural and low-income communities, not just studios or gated cities.
This reduces the echo chamber effect and helps amplify neglected voices.
Civil-Military-Political Dialogue Platforms
Structured public forums where politicians, military representatives, civil servants, and citizens can interact openly.
Encourages accountability, dismantles myths, and reduces mistrust. Perhaps, weekly or monthly media talks.
 
@31:27
the power of choice.
Now, think about why disparity and trust deficit rise when leaders are not elected or not of public choice.
 
PDF in a nutshell.
The closer networks(among Pakistanis) tend to cooperate(or defect) more - versus the longer one like those from India or other countries tend to reduce “cooperative” behavior among others who get more hostile.

This isn’t a “derision” of non-Pakistani members but the idea that at the end the choice lies with each individual member and their intent to cooperate in building a civil discourse or sticking to defection(trolling/flaming/abuse)
 
Oscar said:
PDF in a nutshell.
The closer networks(among Pakistanis) tend to cooperate(or defect) more - versus the longer one like those from India or other countries tend to reduce “cooperative” behavior among others who get more hostile.

This isn’t a “derision” of non-Pakistani members but the idea that at the end the choice lies with each individual member and their intent to cooperate in building a civil discourse or sticking to defection(trolling/flaming/abuse)
Click to expand...
The concept is not different like birds with the same feathers flock together etc.. and that if we don't have to face a person in real life, then we can be aggressive towards him online (defect). When choice is given, people select where they can cooperate, so unfortunately, we choose Pakistanis even if they are worng, Leguee choose PMLN, Insafians, PTI, etc

I shared because the cross-link spreads corruption, diseases, fear, anxiety etc. Like a random person with a viral disease landing in your vicinity. So if we bypass the law bcz we have cross-connections (power), that raises mistrust, corruption, fear, incompetence (defect) in those organisations which we bypass. Employee tend to mistrust their own colleague as anybody can stab anybody in the back for allegiance to power. The values, ideology and order fade away as a result, and the office/org collapses.

I think I can explain better, but I hope you get the idea.
 
Goenitz said:
The concept is not different like birds with the same feathers flock together etc.. and that if we don't have to face a person in real life, then we can be aggressive towards him online (defect). When choice is given, people select where they can cooperate, so unfortunately, we choose Pakistanis even if they are worng, Leguee choose PMLN, Insafians, PTI, etc

I shared because the cross-link spreads corruption, diseases, fear, anxiety etc. Like a random person with a viral disease landing in your vicinity. So if we bypass the law bcz we have cross-connections (power), that raises mistrust, corruption, fear, incompetence (defect) in those organisations which we bypass. Employee tend to mistrust their own colleague as anybody can stab anybody in the back for allegiance to power. The values, ideology and order fade away as a result, and the office/org collapses.

I think I can explain better, but I hope you get the idea.
Click to expand...
@Irfan Baloch, please don't visit negative SM too much, as it can bring toxicity in your life.

Lastly, the OP also highlights how important it is to bring connectivity for the better good.
@Signalian Perhaps you also like it.
 
Goenitz said:
@Irfan Baloch, please don't visit negative SM too much, as it can bring toxicity in your life.

Lastly, the OP also highlights how important it is to bring connectivity for the better good.
@Signalian Perhaps you also like it.
Click to expand...
it has hurt me badly I agree, this is why I left the forum and the social media for long time. what hurts me more is when my own class fellows and people I grew up with use this hateful language.
I will take a long leave from forum and social media
 
Irfan Baloch said:
it has hurt me badly I agree, this is why I left the forum and the social media for long time. what hurts me more is when my own class fellows and people I grew up with use this hateful language.
I will take a long leave from forum and social media
Click to expand...
A temporary break is sometimes necessary to filter one's thoughts. If you use a computer, save the passwords and delete history and cookies. You will not get a new feed based on your previous.

It hurts me too. As I mentioned somewhere, both my family and my in-laws are in the army and ISI, and living in the UK, I value equality, justice, accountability, etc. Therefore, I don't debate with my family members, as it has resulted in hard talk and heated arguments.

Hence, I stopped the newsfeed, which made me argue in the first place. We can't settle this quagmire any time soon.
 
Goenitz said:
A temporary break is sometimes necessary to filter one's thoughts. If you use a computer, save the passwords and delete history and cookies. You will not get a new feed based on your previous.

It hurts me too. As I mentioned somewhere, both my family and my in-laws are in the army and ISI, and living in the UK, I value equality, justice, accountability, etc. Therefore, I don't debate with my family members, as it has resulted in hard talk and heated arguments.

Hence, I stopped the newsfeed, which made me argue in the first place. We can't settle this quagmire any time soon.
Click to expand...
funny part is that i was at a naan shop and it was the day the news came out of the 6 Indian jets getting shot down . while being served he decided to pass his commentary on me saying no such thing happened and it was a drama, Pakistan military was incapable of doing any thing like that and will get a lot of beating from Indians because its using Vegos only to abduct PTI supporters. he said the Indian and Pakistani generals were scheming together.

I only commented, it has proven to be a very expensive drama for Indians so far. there is no escape. lol
 
Goenitz said:
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@JamD @Quwa @RescueRanger @M. Sarmad @Waz
Click to expand...

Back in about 2007 or so, Mark Zukerberg started a group on Facebook called "6 Degrees of Separation".e It had very limited number of people and I got the invitation from a classmate in the UK.

It was a closed group with around 500 people from all across the world which I luckily got into. Zuckerberg himself was regular poster in that group behind an Alias. He would magically reveal our links to each other through our FB contact chain. He kept up the ruse of being able to do so, by saying that he was he was a "former myspace developer" and after linking us all by degrees of separation, he only revealed himself as being Zuckerberg about a year later, when he published all of our links to himself. The whole idea was to test this theory.

Us being linked to each other in the group did not count as a valid link to any 3rd person in the group. Each 2 people in the group had to be linked to each other end to end, without anyone anyone else from within the group being involved in that chain. This was all to make sure that we do not get coincidentally linked up due to any existing cross-links between any of the 500 group members.

I found people living in places I had never been, like Tokyo or Adelaide, in upto 4 to 6 links maximum. Mark Zuckerberg himself was 3rd to 6th Degree contact of almost everyone, which was unbelievable to most of people. He turned out to be my 4rd degree contact. A Pakistani relative living in California was working for an employer who had studied with Zuckerberg's work colleague in the past. Of course I would have never been able to guess that myself, without whatever algorithms Zuckerberg was using, but that was a brilliant case in point. The concept is very real. There were very rare cases where 6 degrees of separation could not be established (it only happened like 20 times, out of thousands of permutations between the 500 of us), but that might have been because Zuckerberg was using Facebook contacts and not everyone was on Facebook at that time.
 
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1. Nice (show respect)
Humans are vulnerable/social animals, so they need to cooperate. Our children are the dumbest infants among the animals. A healthy 10-15 years are needed, just to convert them to be useful, which is why family is important. Without this robust structure, defects will be dominant in our society (and other examples).
2. Forgiving (if somebody makes a mistake, forgive and move on).
Again, humans are vulnerable and prone to mistakes. So, forgiveness must be part of the government/authority. The healing touch is necessary for growth (tit for tat)
3. Retaliatory (eye for an eye)
Self explanatory.
4. Clear (no complex rule)
Islam is simple in law-making. Making laws complex creates loopholes and excuses for corruption.

In the long run, cooperation or Nice strategies win over Nasty or defection

Please refer to the videos and give your explanation.
 
Goenitz said:
1. Nice (show respect)
Humans are vulnerable/social animals, so they need to cooperate. Our children are the dumbest infants among the animals. A healthy 10-15 years are needed, just to convert them to be useful, which is why family is important. Without this robust structure, defects will be dominant in our society (and other examples).
2. Forgiving (if somebody makes a mistake, forgive and move on).
Again, humans are vulnerable and prone to mistakes. So, forgiveness must be part of the government/authority. The healing touch is necessary for growth (tit for tat)
3. Retaliatory (eye for an eye)
Self explanatory.
4. Clear (no complex rule)
Islam is simple in law-making. Making laws complex creates loopholes and excuses for corruption.

In the long run, cooperation or Nice strategies win over Nasty or defection

Please refer to the videos and give your explanation.
Click to expand...
@Persian Gulf @RescueRanger @ShapurII @Waz @safriz @Irfan Baloch

I am fortunate enough to see the practical implementation of 'tit for tat'. The thing is, cooperation wins in the long run. So, if UAE, SA, etc., reverts, then it should be accepted with open arms. Please have a look, I have time-stamped the video.
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Goenitz said:
@Persian Gulf @RescueRanger @ShapurII @Waz @safriz @Irfan Baloch

I am fortunate enough to see the practical implementation of 'tit for tat'. The thing is, cooperation wins in the long run. So, if UAE, SA, etc., reverts, then it should be accepted with open arms. Please have a look, I have time-stamped the video.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
Click to expand...

I will be saying many things here, which the touchy sensitive Iran lovers wont like.

I don't think the Persian empire even wants to make peace with the Arabs, who happen to be the people who ended the Persian empire .
Its like oxygen to the Iranian regime ,and essential for their survival.
The entire Gulf region had been plagued with Iran Backed Shia insurgencies and threats to the Ruling kings. Shah Saud dubbed as Aal e Yahood by Iran, and very intentional and highly evolved propaganda against the Arabs. The main reason why the Arabs fell into the USA laps for protection.
Intentional and pre planned disruptions of hajj started as soon as Khomeini took over in 1979. The first Hajj after him, was Iranian Hajis coming to Hajj with Big pictures of Khomeini, and displaying that During Hajj rituals. When the Arabs tried to stop that, they were dubbed Wahabi, anti Iran.
Then the 2015 Mina Stampede which caused 2500 Haji losing their lives, also had Iranian hands.
Then an elected government of Yemen which was sunni, was overthrown by Shia supported by Iran, and the country is still in a civil war.

Until the time Iran stops Creating and supporting Shia insurgencies all over middle east, and stops trying to overthrow the Arab monarchs and stop their Anti Arab propaganda, the Arabs will remain wary of Ira, , will continue looking elsewhere for protection, and nothing will change.

I watch veritasium, and i remember this video. Iran is too complicated and Arabs are no angels either. Specially UAE are vile. They are the ones funding many far right political parties in UK and Europe for propaganda against Muslims in the EU and UK.
Just because some muslims in the EU / UK said something about them. However Saudis are different and they dont do such things. However Iran settled their score with all arabs by attacking their industrial asreas, oil refineries, Civilian air ports, because USA and Israel attacked Iranian industries. Wheres the justification in that? Attacking US military bases in any Arab countries was a legitimate action.

They too need to stop their shenenigans
 
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