Here are the steps of how this happens, as I see it, though not every one of these steps occurs in every single case:

(1) Many people feel dissatisfied with the state of their society and its impact on their lives, and blame the groups that have long remained in power. (Sometimes these groups that have long been in power deserve blame for the bad state of affairs; other times, the bad state of affairs is due to circumstances largely outside of their control.) Blaming these groups that have long remained in power often also involves distrust in existing institutions.

(2) A new potential leader emerges who is perceived not to be a member of the groups that have historically been in power (or if they come from the original groups of power, then this potential leader typically claims outsider status, presenting themselves as a reformer who is different than the other insiders). Typically, this potential leader is viewed as being more “one of the people” than the prior groups in power.

(3) This leader is charismatic and, though potentially polarizing, many people find this person captivating and persuasive. Oftentimes, this leader is also high on traits commonly associated with grandiose narcissism (e.g., a belief in their own superiority and specialness, a need for admiration, arrogance, manipulative tendencies, a “with me or against me” mentality, and reduced empathy).

(4) This leader promotes a grand vision of what the country could become (or could be restored to again) under their leadership, which gets many people excited.

(5) The leader typically appears to be powerful and courageous, and willing to stand up against (and correct the errors and abuses of) the previous people in power who have held the country back.

(6) In addition to blaming society’s problems on the prior group in power, the leader also uses one or more other groups as scapegoats, and blames many of society’s problems on that group as well (typically a distrusted local minority group, immigrants, or some other country that the population sees as a potential threat). However, the scapegoat group(s) are either not actually a cause of any of the problems in that society, or are only a minor cause (with most of the problems being caused by other factors).

(7) The leader also exaggerates, lies to, and manipulates the people, claiming simple (but inaccurate) narratives about what’s gone wrong that make their solutions seem likely to be effective, and that paint themselves as the heroes and the prior groups in power (as well as the scapegoats) as villains.

(8) Through their charisma, exciting vision for the future, and promises to fix the problems in society by correcting the errors of the previous groups in power and by cracking down on the proposed scapegoats, the leader gets strong public support. The leader then gets into a position of executive power by one of a variety of means (e.g., being elected, being appointed, deal-making, coercion, or a coup).

(9) The leader then attempts to neutralize the power of formerly powerful groups that were in power (e.g., through violence, arrests, seizing their wealth, and/or disparaging them and damaging their reputations).

(10) The leader additionally harms the scapegoated group(s) (e.g., through arrests, preventing immigration, forced migration, tariffs, military action, and/or violence). Sometimes, though not always, the leader also cracks down on leading intellectuals and groups of intellectuals, attempting to weaken their influence or prevent them from being listened to.

(11) The leader amasses power and wealth for themselves while in charge, while also attempting to reduce the checks and balances on their power (e.g., by weakening or consolidating other parts of government, or by exerting control over media and journalism). Additionally, the leader typically engages in information control and propaganda in an attempt to get the population to view all of their actions as positive. The more effective their information control and propaganda are, the more they can get away with making terrible decisions on behalf of society and enriching themselves at the expense of the people.

(12) The leader’s actions sometimes produce no benefit at all for the bulk of the populace, and sometimes produce a short-term benefit to the populace, but ultimately, the leader’s actions come at a meaningful (and sometimes disastrous) long-term cost, leaving society worse off long-term than it was before that person rose to power.

And, with that, as has happened again and again in many societies throughout the world, populations end up trying to improve their country’s problems by electing an exciting new leader, but instead end up being lied to and manipulated, leaving the well-being of the people of their country worse off than it would have been. This is a worldwide phenomenon. It happened with Hitler in Germany, Kim Il-Sung in North Korea, Mao Zedong in China, Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and Putin in Russia. And it will likely keep happening. A first step towards helping stop this pattern is if voters become more aware of it.

To be clear, populism isn’t bad, per se. The unmet needs and desires of ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded are very important. And widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo usually does mean that something needs to change. The real issue is that grandiose manipulators leverage populist sentiment to install themselves in power, leaving their people worse off in the long term.

It’s also important to observe that this pattern isn’t one of the right or the left – it’s a pattern that arises on both sides of the political spectrum.

This piece was first written on August 31, 2025, and first appeared on my website on October 23, 2025.

• The new thing seems likely to be beneficial or enjoyable OR is different enough from things you’ve done in the past that you don’t think you can accurately predict how you’ll react to it

• Trying the new thing doesn’t require a substantial investment of time or resources AND is extremely unlikely to cause you long term or significant amounts of harm (or cause other people harm at all)

Personally, I almost always accept the chance to try new things when they meet these criteria. There obviously isn’t much point in pushing yourself to do new things that you don’t consider valuable (e.g., punching yourself in the head), unless of course, your model for what is valuable for you is not very accurate (e.g., maybe you think there would be no value in doing an improv class, but actually it would teach you useful skills and help you overcome fears).

The benefits of trying new things:

• Sometimes you’ll discover new things you really like, which you can then choose to do many times in your life (e.g., by trying mixed martial arts I learned that I really like it, and it became a hobby as well as a method of staying fit)
• Building a more accurate model of yourself, which you can use to predict your responses to other things in the future (e.g., by going to a tea tasting, I discovered a lot about my tea preferences, including the fact that I typically prefer mid-priced teas over both expensive and cheap teas)
• Gaining a better understanding of what the thing is and why others might enjoy it (even if you don’t end up liking it yourself), hence deepening your ability to relate to others (e.g., spending a day going bird watching, which is definitely never going to turn into a hobby, but which gave me a greater understanding of people who take joy in cataloging activities and of the richness in those sorts of activities)
• Deepening your knowledge of how things work or of the variety that exists in the world (e.g., taking a tour of a traditional home in Bali taught me about some interesting differences in living arrangements and burial practices across cultures that I hadn’t previously known about)
• If the thing makes you irrationally afraid, challenging that fear and teaching yourself to push through (unfounded) fear more generally. There often is value in challenging yourself to do things you are afraid of that you know are not actually dangerous because, in addition to the benefits of the new thing itself, it helps ensure that you don’t let fear prevent you from getting the most out of life (e.g., taking opportunities to speak in front of a group when I had very little time for preparation and knew I would have to do substantial portions off the cuff)
• Causing a positive change in yourself (e.g., trying meditation made me more aware of the way in which my mind is not usually fully focused on just one thing and what an alternative might look like)
• Potentially deepening relationships with others, either by doing the new thing with people you already know (creating a memorable shared experience) or meeting people during the new activity

Possible drawbacks of trying new things are:

• They take time, and sometimes other resources like money as well.
• They are sometimes unpleasant while you are doing them (though this is mitigated when they are the sort of thing you can stop in the middle if you want)
• They can (in rare cases) be traumatic or cause long term harm.

Overall, I suggest using the rule of thumb: “if it is new to me, relatively easy to try, and not likely to be harmful but may yield benefits, I should try it.” I think that following that heuristic will usually leave your life richer, more enjoyable, and more full of growth than the alternative.

You can, of course, proactively seek out new experiences, rather than waiting around for opportunities to arise (e.g., committing 2% of your free time to new things).

Here are some activities you could consider trying, if new to you:

Experiential

• spending a day listening to many different types of music that you wouldn’t normally listen to
• asking your friends for their favorite movies and then watching the ones that you wouldn’t normally choose to watch
• beginning a daily practice of writing in a journal
• miracle berries
• eye gazing
• going to Burning Man
• traveling alone in a foreign city
• going a week or longer without electronic devices
• going blindfolded for a day while still trying to do your daily activities at home
• wearing earplugs for a day while still trying to do your daily activities at home
• fostering a pet
• trying a totally new diet (e.g., going vegan for a week)
• jotting down your dreams each day when you wake
• making a list of 3 things you’re grateful for every night before bed
• making a list of 3 things that went well today and what caused each to go well each night before bed
• thinking of one thing you’re excited about each morning as soon as you wake up
• going to a therapist
• fantasizing about something you’d never normally fantasize about or trying to come up with a new fantasy that you find highly appealing
• volunteering for a day to work with people in need
• having a week where you spend at most only a tiny (fixed in advance) amount of money each day
• trying a new cuisine
• cutting out caffeine for two weeks
• cutting out all unhealthy foods for two weeks (by whatever your metric for “unhealthy” is)
• not watching any TV for two weeks
• exercising every day for two weeks
• spending a whole day trying to be as aware as you can of each of the thoughts you have
• spending a whole day trying to be fully optimistic about everything that happens
• spending a day where you only allow yourself to do fun things
• cuddling non-sexually with a consenting close friend
• buying a few healthy snacks that you’d not normally try and see if you like any of them
• observe carefully in a mirror how exactly your face changes when you make expressions of fear, anger, surprise, happiness, sadness, and contempt
• walking a route home that you have never taken
• consciously designing an adventure for yourself and some friends and then going on it together
• imagine a future life for yourself that you’ve never seriously considered
• house sitting for a month in a place you’d never considered living permanently
• running or sprinting a few times per week
• going to a convention or conference about something you really like
• spending two full days without communicating with another human being

Skills

• toastmasters (for public speaking practice)
• tying martial arts
• meditating daily for a month
• massage lessons or practice
• cooking class
• improvisation class or acting
• creating art of a form you wouldn’t normally attempt
• giving a lecture on a topic that interests you
• trying a team sport you’ve never played
• try high-intensity interval training daily for a week
• trying a form of exercise you’d never done before
• language classes (e.g., sign language)
• circus arts
• explore a nearby neighborhood that you’ve never explored
• go to a familiar neighborhood and try to notice ten things you’ve never noticed before

Social

• organizing a retreat for your close friends
• throwing a themed party or social experiment of your own invention
• trying speed dating
• doing activities you used to love as a kid but haven’t done in many ears
• chatting with total strangers in an online chat room
• going to a nude beach
• trying new sexual activities you’ve never tried before
• going to a Meetup
• starting a new Meetup
• going to a few events where you know you won’t know anyone and challenging yourself to have a certain number of conversations
• doing the “20 questions to fall in love” with your romantic partner or with someone you don’t know well
• imagining what sort of person you’d most like to be and then act as though you have that personality for a day
• purposely doing five kind things for five different people in one day
• going to a store and trying on clothes that you wouldn’t normally try on
• calling someone who you haven’t talked to in many years
• becoming a “big brother” or “big sister” or mentor for a young adult or child
• starting ten conversations with strangers in one day (who seem open to conversation, without forcing them to talk to you)