A recurring pattern of extremely productive, high-trust environments: an all powerful dictator at the top who rarely wields their power.
- A recurring pattern of extremely productive, high-trust environments: an all powerful dictator at the top who rarely wields their power.
- An "alpha," a "zeus," a "Benevolent Dictator For Life"
- One person being able to act like Zeus and repel invaders is useful to act decisively in emergencies... and is also a corrupting power.
- Everyone can rest easy knowing there is a single person who everyone can trust to referee.
- As long as there is a right to fork the community, and it is credible to execute it, then it balances the power dynamics.
- This pattern works best for virtual communities and ones that are optional.
- One reason dictators don't work at the level of nation-states is because the right to fork isn't credible.
- Civil wars are not allowed (obviously)
- A large swath of the community picking up and moving somewhere else is not credible; way too much friction and hard to coordinate.