---
type: "Topics"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/topics/40130286.md"
description: "When I was younger, I liked reading a lot of conspiracy theories, the so-called Art of War, various games, and power plays.In the end, I realized that in a society that advocates deceit, everyone has to spend 90% of their energy guarding against being deceived. This internal friction leads to systemic poverty. It's as if everyone is living in hell. Some choose it voluntarily, others are forced to endure it.Deceitful tactics may seem profitable in a single game (local optimum), but in repeated games (long-term civilization), they lead to a collapse of trust and infinitely rising transaction costs.Many people like to use "moral relativism" to cover up a "lack of principles." They like to champion dialectics because things are complex.But I think "dialectical thinking doesn't mean having no stance. If someone's dialectics make you lose the ability to distinguish between 'civilization' and 'barbarism,' then this kind of thinking will only make them sink deeper into the quagmire of logic."Those who advocate deceit often think they have seen through the dark side of the world, harboring the illusion that "the world is drunk, I alone am sober." But in reality, seeing the dark side and still choosing to build civilization is the true logic of the strong."
datetime: "2026-04-23T09:37:22.000Z"
locales:
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/topics/40130286.md)
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/topics/40130286.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/topics/40130286.md)
author: "[Fee.](https://longbridge.com/en/profiles/17077668.md)"
---

# When I was younger, I liked reading a lot of consp…