Why Is Eric Weinstein So Popular?

Source: Raw Image: Wikimedia Commons. Final image created by Steve DiPaola using a convolutional neural network.

Here’s why I think he’s become so popular:

1. He has a self-made worldview.

People differ along a spectrum with respect to the degree to which their internal model of the world, or worldview, is a product of their own making (Gabora, 2019; Maland & Gabora, 2019). At one end of the spectrum is someone whose worldview is a compendium of their direct experiences, the bits and pieces of knowledge they’ve been taught, and the social rules they’ve picked up. At the other end of the spectrum is someone who is constantly putting their own spin on the ideas they encounter, and reframing whatever they come across in their own terms.

My colleague Mike Steel and I have modeled this distinction using reflexively autocatalytic foodset-generated networks (RAFs), which distinguish between foodset elements, F, that are available "ready-made" so to speak, and foodset-derived elements, FD, which must be constructed anew using the F elements as ingredients (Gabora & Steel, 2017, 2020a, 2020b, submitted). When RAF networks are applied in a cognitive context, the foodset, F, consists of information acquired through direct experience or social learning, and the FD elements are the result of reflecting on, and thereby restructuring, this information. Someone with a high proportion of FD elements is said to have a self-made worldview, and Weinstein is a canonical example. One has the sense of encountering someone who has pieced together an internal model of the world that is relatively coherent, yet uniquely distinctive, and this is more intriguing than meeting someone who is smart in a more conventional way.

It makes sense that young people who are sensing the need for a cultural pivot would be attracted to role models who not only provide radically new perspectives but who find the courage to call it like they see it. At some level, the mere existence of someone like Weinstein tells us: Despite the endless pressure to conform, the world won’t end if I speak my truth.

2. He's a late-bloomer in his prime.

The more deeply you delve into abstract ideas, as Weinstein has, the longer it may take to surface, to find a form for these ideas in which they can be articulated and shared. By analogy, a line that branches off in many directions will take longer to form a completely closed-off object than a line that doesn’t branch at all and simply has to curl around and find its starting point. In the end, however, the deeper you dive, the more "jewels" you may find and bring to the surface (Karlgaard, 2019). Self-made worldviews may take longer to "come into focus"; that is, people with self-made worldviews may be at their sharpest a little later in life than other people.

In the language of RAF networks, Weinstein not only generated FD ideas out of F ideas, but generated FD items out of FD items, reiteratively, taking him further and further from consensus reality, and now he’s reverse-engineering that process so that he can share his ideas with others. One has the sense that Weinstein is a late-bloomer, and now he’s surfacing, in his prime, barely able to hide the giddy delight of flashing his unconventional, carefully honed views. He puts on a show, and it’s compelling.

3. He has a burning story to tell.

There is no disputing that Weinstein has led a life of privilege (and he’s not necessarily in an ideal position to meaningfully contribute to some of the issues he weighs in on). Nevertheless, one senses that he has deeply suffered. It isn’t just his unconventional ideas that are surfacing, but a "dark web" of bitterness and struggle and gradual acceptance that enshrouds them. From a RAF network perspective, he is bridging isolated little networks of memories and feelings about these experiences into his maxRAF: the network that represents the bulk of concepts and ideas that make up his worldview. This results in a more all-encompassing level of autocatalytic closure, i.e., his worldview becomes more integrated. As he shares his personal experiences in the school system and at Harvard, the cathartic relief is palpable. He’s warning those who wronged him that he’s onto them. He’s warning kindred spirits—young people who are themselves forging the self-made worldviews that may yield solutions to the serious problems our world faces—what obstacles they may face, and sharing thoughts on how to overcome these obstacles.

I don’t necessarily agree with Weinstein’s ideas and positions on various topics but I think it’s no accident that he rose to social prominence at this time. The faster the environment changes, the more quickly our worldviews must evolve to keep up with this environmental change. Exposure to people with self-made worldviews can inspire others to think deeply, to forge their own ideas and perspectives, find their authentic voice, and call it like they see it. Such people may be polarizing, but in 2021 they are the people we need.