Snapshot · Modern Wisdom
During a San Francisco rolling blackout, Tim Ferriss observed neighbourly behaviour turn to open hostility over a single generator within 15–18 hours, illustrating how thin the veneer of civilised behaviour is.
Where this was said
At 2:01:30 · chapter starts 2:00:14
The conversation reaches a philosophical crescendo when Tim Urban observes that domesticated pigs, released into the wild, undergo physical reversion within months — growing tusks and bristly hair. He extrapolates: humans have domesticated themselves psychologically and intellectually even if not biologically, meaning most people would perish if dropped into 50,000 BC. Tim Ferriss provides vivid empirical support: during his time as a NERT volunteer in San Francisco, he recalls how a PG&E rolling blackout turned neighbourly curiosity into open hostility over access to one man's generator — within 18 hours. The incident, he notes, was preceded by NERT trainers predicting that San Francisco's 1.2 million residents would be served by approximately ten fire engines in a major earthquake, and that water and power could be out for seven to ten days. The Mongols, steppe hordes, and 'wild people' clashing with domesticated civilisations provide historical context for what happens when the thin veneer of social order is stripped away.
During a San Francisco rolling blackout, peaceful neighbours turned openly hostile over a single generator within 18 hours. Tim Ferriss, trained as a NERT volunteer, had been told the city had ten fire engines for 1.2 million people and could be without water for a week. The gap between civilised and feral is terrifyingly thin.
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