Brian Klaas

And sometimes when you're writing historical narratives, the same thing happens that, oh, of course, this was inevitable because the great trends of history brought us to this moment. Every time that I started to look more deeply into anything that happened, whether it was in history or a case that I was studying in my social science research, all of that sort of fell by the wayside.

And sometimes when you're writing historical narratives, the same thing happens that, oh, of course, this was inevitable because the great trends of history brought us to this moment. Every time that I started to look more deeply into anything that happened, whether it was in history or a case that I was studying in my social science research, all of that sort of fell by the wayside.

And it became utterly clear to me that the idiosyncratic personalities, the small decisions, the tiny little flukes were things that swayed history forever. And of course, We don't know when they're going to be consequential, right? I mean, this is the thing is that sometimes a tiny decision doesn't really sway history that much. And other times it redirects the course of the future forever.

And it became utterly clear to me that the idiosyncratic personalities, the small decisions, the tiny little flukes were things that swayed history forever. And of course, We don't know when they're going to be consequential, right? I mean, this is the thing is that sometimes a tiny decision doesn't really sway history that much. And other times it redirects the course of the future forever.

And it became utterly clear to me that the idiosyncratic personalities, the small decisions, the tiny little flukes were things that swayed history forever. And of course, We don't know when they're going to be consequential, right? I mean, this is the thing is that sometimes a tiny decision doesn't really sway history that much. And other times it redirects the course of the future forever.

And I think that the sort of narratives that we build around telling stories of where we, how we ended up where we are today, write that out. They pretend it's meaningless noise. And so I'm trying to correct that and argue that the small stuff really matters.

And I think that the sort of narratives that we build around telling stories of where we, how we ended up where we are today, write that out. They pretend it's meaningless noise. And so I'm trying to correct that and argue that the small stuff really matters.

And I think that the sort of narratives that we build around telling stories of where we, how we ended up where we are today, write that out. They pretend it's meaningless noise. And so I'm trying to correct that and argue that the small stuff really matters.

Well, it sort of builds the narrative sequentially through a series of sort of claims, right? So the first one is that the world is much more swayed by the arbitrary and the accidental than we imagine. And I start with a story about the atomic bomb, which I think we'll probably get to in a moment. So I won't talk about that yet.

Well, it sort of builds the narrative sequentially through a series of sort of claims, right? So the first one is that the world is much more swayed by the arbitrary and the accidental than we imagine. And I start with a story about the atomic bomb, which I think we'll probably get to in a moment. So I won't talk about that yet.

Well, it sort of builds the narrative sequentially through a series of sort of claims, right? So the first one is that the world is much more swayed by the arbitrary and the accidental than we imagine. And I start with a story about the atomic bomb, which I think we'll probably get to in a moment. So I won't talk about that yet.

But I sort of am illustrating that this is something where throughout history, these accidental changes have happened. And then I explain why it happens. And the reason why it happens is because of chaos theory, which is effectively that when you have a complex interconnected system, which we all live within, right? We live within this system of 8 billion interacting humans.

But I sort of am illustrating that this is something where throughout history, these accidental changes have happened. And then I explain why it happens. And the reason why it happens is because of chaos theory, which is effectively that when you have a complex interconnected system, which we all live within, right? We live within this system of 8 billion interacting humans.

But I sort of am illustrating that this is something where throughout history, these accidental changes have happened. And then I explain why it happens. And the reason why it happens is because of chaos theory, which is effectively that when you have a complex interconnected system, which we all live within, right? We live within this system of 8 billion interacting humans.

that what somebody does halfway around the world, even somebody long dead, can have a ripple effect that affects the trajectory of our lives. And of course, we were extremely clearly illustrated this point a couple of years ago in the pandemic hit, because one person getting infected in Wuhan, you know, changed the world.

that what somebody does halfway around the world, even somebody long dead, can have a ripple effect that affects the trajectory of our lives. And of course, we were extremely clearly illustrated this point a couple of years ago in the pandemic hit, because one person getting infected in Wuhan, you know, changed the world.

that what somebody does halfway around the world, even somebody long dead, can have a ripple effect that affects the trajectory of our lives. And of course, we were extremely clearly illustrated this point a couple of years ago in the pandemic hit, because one person getting infected in Wuhan, you know, changed the world.

And of course, history operates like this too, where you can have, you know, the World War I example, which we can talk about as well, of a single person getting assassinated, and then all of a sudden you have millions of deaths.

And of course, history operates like this too, where you can have, you know, the World War I example, which we can talk about as well, of a single person getting assassinated, and then all of a sudden you have millions of deaths.

And of course, history operates like this too, where you can have, you know, the World War I example, which we can talk about as well, of a single person getting assassinated, and then all of a sudden you have millions of deaths.