Happy Saturday, my friends. I quick post for you this morning.
I want to share a thread I posted on Twitter that explores a theory I’m toying with:
An idea I’ve been toying with is that seafaring nations seem to reap advantages—from trade, interconnectedness, and the abundant resources that can be taken from the sea—that lead to cultural growth.
But in order to become a seafaring nation, the citizens need to master a whole host of skills. These skills stretch, expand, and test the mettle of folks that other societies never experience.
If citizens 1. possesses these kinds of skills, and 2. like each other (social cohesion), then they can work together in clever ways to expand their influence in outsized ways. They can achieve a level of wealth, security, and culture that far surpasses nations with more brute force but less competent, socially tight citizens.
I call the first example the MARINER mindset and the latter a FORTRESS BUILDER mindset.
I’ll let my thread speak for itself. Enjoy!
This might require some explaining. This plant is called the fukinoto in Japan. In Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, he visits Japan with Chef Masa Takayama (season 8, episode 6), and they discuss the concept of umami. Masa argues that it’s not just a taste sensation, but the essence of an ingredient. The fukinoto grows underground, covered in snow, cold—but then little by little emerges through the surface and unfurls: the first sign of spring. Like Persephone leaving Hades.
Masa: [The fukinoto’s] blood is bitterness—very bitter. Need bitters to grow.
Anthony: This is Italian! Amaro dolce. At the end of an Italian meal. Sweet, fat, sweet, fat. At the end of the meal, something bitter, to remind you of the sadness.
Masa: This is umami too.
(Clearly I am very in touch with this sensibility, hence my love of negronis.)
FORTRESS BUILDING is short-hand for a mindset that seeks safety by accruing and hoarding, and then protecting the surplus stores by investing heavily in defense. It’s a “store all of your eggs in one basket” strategy.
It leaves the community immobile, inflexible, disconnected, and ultimately vulnerable.
A MARINER mindset trusts in the strength of networks, connections, and distributed power. The Kingdom of the Ragusa was a tiny kingdom in a dynamic and turbulent part of the Mediterranean, but it endured for a long time because of this world view. It’s capital city was protected by thick walls, yes—but also by the skill and dedication of individuals operating autonomous abroad (foreign diplomats and naval officers).
Maritime republics relied on the competency of many individuals acting autonomously in the best interest of the republic. They are rewarded with the wealth and security that is needed to build beautiful habitats and cultures.
This is a lesson that any community or organization can adopt.
However, it is hard to put into practice, because it requires individuals who are: 1. competent, and 2. dedicated to the group. Social cohesion is required to achieve the MARINER mindset, which is why it is so rare today.
What do you think about this theory? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section!