I think it's a "causation runs both ways" phenomenon. On the margin the leader has power to sway decisions, but so do individuals to a smaller extent. I think Bruce Buena de Mesquite's work is relevant here
Every year after the AP test, I read to the students a short excerpt from War and Peace, Book 11, Chapter 1 where Tolstoy references calculus to promote his theory of history that Bryan critiques above. I make no claims on whether Tolstoy is right or wrong or under which circumstances, but It's fun to show the kids where one of the world's great novels intersects with what they've been learning.
I was very impressed by Isaiah Berlin's exegesis of Tostoy's views on history in the famous essay "The Hedgehog and the Fox": https://www.blogs.hss.ed.ac.uk/crag/files/2016/06/the_hedgehog_and_the_fox-berlin.pdf
The essay is rich in questioning how we view or interpret history.
Tolstoy was an anarchist for that reason too.
Can you fix the links on coordinate games and focal points? They 404 for me.
Tell us about the science of economics prior to Aristotle's discovery of scientific method.
I think it's a "causation runs both ways" phenomenon. On the margin the leader has power to sway decisions, but so do individuals to a smaller extent. I think Bruce Buena de Mesquite's work is relevant here
Every year after the AP test, I read to the students a short excerpt from War and Peace, Book 11, Chapter 1 where Tolstoy references calculus to promote his theory of history that Bryan critiques above. I make no claims on whether Tolstoy is right or wrong or under which circumstances, but It's fun to show the kids where one of the world's great novels intersects with what they've been learning.
I think a George W Bush who was very personally convinced that invading Iraq was a bad idea would not have invaded Iraq.