Prof Jiang’s Predictive History and other lectures Secret History #4: How Evil Triumphs
Feb 5, 2026
A speculative lecture links modern public violence to ancient ritual sacrifice and explains how extreme acts build secretive group cohesion. The talk surveys historical sacrificial practices, explores transgression as a coordination strategy, and connects ritualized unity to elite power formation. Philosophy and game theory are used to frame why secret coordination can produce synchronized, enduring social orders.
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Ritual Violence As Political Cohesion
- Collective ritualized violence can be a deliberate political strategy to unify and galvanize a population around a shared identity.
- Mr./Prof. Jiang argues elites may use public transgression to create a 'river behind' effect that forces absolute cohesion and sacrifice.
Monkey Island Thought Experiment
- Jiang uses a thought experiment about 100 stranded men on an island to show how extreme sacrifice builds leadership and synchronicity.
- The story illustrates how shared hardship and ritualized devotion can produce a secretive, powerful elite across generations.
Ancient Systems Created Extreme Cohesion
- Historical examples (Sparta, Thebes) show institutionalized hazing, mentorship, and sacrificial rituals create elite military cohesion.
- These practices made those city-states feared and effective despite moral condemnation by others.