Tanner Greer
Essayist, journalist and independent researcher on Chinese politics, strategy and cultural history; author of the blog The Scholar's Stage.
Tanner Greer did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
Latest x.com
What they believe
-
The AI industry has significantly underestimated the risk that political forces outside its control could slow or halt progress in artificial intelligence.
those leading and investing in the AI labs have underestimated-vastly underestimated-the chance that progress in machine intelligence can be slowed, damaged, or outright strangled by political forces outside the industry's control.
scholars-stage.orgSaid 19 Sept 2026This on korrents
-
What matters in judging technological progress is the trend over time, not the state at any single moment.
But the real story, the story historians will tell a generation from now, is never about the model of the moment. What matters is movement between those moments. History is made by the trend-line.
scholars-stage.orgSaid 21 Mar 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 22 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The AI industry has significantly underestimated the risk that political forces outside its control could slow or halt progress in artificial intelligence.
those leading and investing in the AI labs have underestimated-vastly underestimated-the chance that progress in machine intelligence can be slowed, damaged, or outright strangled by political forces outside the industry's control.
The Cure for Cancer Is Not a Pure Math Benchmark Said 19 Sept 2026
Public opposition to AI data centers is driven mainly by local concerns rather than opposition to AI itself.
Survey data and on-the-ground reporting suggest that opposition to supercompute hinges on local issues.
The Cure for Cancer Is Not a Pure Math Benchmark Said 19 Sept 2026
Public backlash against the tech industry stems from a perception that distant elites are getting rich at ordinary people's expense.
Americans understand that very far away, other Americans are becoming very rich. They fear that this is all happening at their expense.
The Cure for Cancer Is Not a Pure Math Benchmark Said 19 Sept 2026
Show 19 more
What matters in judging technological progress is the trend over time, not the state at any single moment.
But the real story, the story historians will tell a generation from now, is never about the model of the moment. What matters is movement between those moments. History is made by the trend-line.
China and the Future of Science Said 21 Mar 2026
Dominance in scientific research literature tends to translate into dominance in applied technology.
it is not hard so hard to find examples of dominance in the scientific literature leading to dominance in the world of applied technology.
China and the Future of Science Said 21 Mar 2026
A country's scientific trajectory can keep advancing even if political instability or economic uncertainty slows its broader progress.
even if you believe that political instability or economic uncertainty might arrest China's upward climb, that might not change the trajectory of Chinese science.
China and the Future of Science Said 21 Mar 2026
Authoritarian order is more natural to human societies than democracy, and may prove more durable over time.
Authoritarian order seems far more "natural" to our species than democracy-and in the long history of human polities may prove less brittle.
On Bombing Iran Said 1 Mar 2026
Killing a country's head of state incentivizes its leadership to retaliate outside the normal norms of conduct.
By assassinating their head of state we incentivize the Persians to act outside the normal pale.
On Bombing Iran Said 1 Mar 2026
A regime that survives an attack will also survive whatever future retaliation is threatened against it.
If they survive this they will survive whatever form of retaliation we might threaten then.
On Bombing Iran Said 1 Mar 2026
A technological revolution cannot persist without a corresponding change in culture and law.
No revolution in technology will persist without like change in culture and law.
35 Theses on the WASPs Said 12 Jan 2026
Changes to elite university admissions policies are a lagging indicator of an elite's decline, not a cause of it.
In other words, Ivy League admissions policies are a lagging indicator, not a leading one.
35 Theses on the WASPs Said 12 Jan 2026
Past cultures tend to be remembered as they appeared just before their decline, rather than as they existed across their history.
We tend to remember past cultures as they were just before their close. A living culture is never too sharply defined.
35 Theses on the WASPs Said 12 Jan 2026
A governing class needs a political coalition, an economic base, and a set of institutions and customs giving it a culture distinct from the wider country.
Any governing class requires three things: a political coalition to which it owes allegiance and over which it exercises influence; an economic base that provides this class with wealth and unites its members around shared material interests; and finally, a set of institutions, rituals, and social customs that give this class a culture distinct from the country at large.
Book Notes: The Technological Republic (2025) Said 10 Dec 2025
Silicon Valley's old dominant ideology has collapsed and no new one has emerged to replace it.
Silicon Valley's "California ideology" is dead but no new ideology has risen up to take its place.
Book Notes: The Technological Republic (2025) Said 10 Dec 2025
American civil society today is dominated by expert-led NGOs rather than mass-membership organizations.
Today's civil society is different, dominated by expert-led NGOs with no mass component.
Bullets and Ballots: The Legacy of Charlie Kirk Said 14 Sept 2025
Persuasion and mobilization have been core to the American political tradition since the 19th century.
This sort of persuasion and mobilization has been core to the American political tradition since the 19th century.
Bullets and Ballots: The Legacy of Charlie Kirk Said 14 Sept 2025
Nationalist populist conservatism can win majority support in America.
His conviction that nationalist populism could win in America has been vindicated by events.
Bullets and Ballots: The Legacy of Charlie Kirk Said 14 Sept 2025
A U.S. president's personal fondness for or disgust with a foreign country rarely affects trade negotiation outcomes, since trade talks are handled separately from strategic policy questions.
Trump's personal fondness for or personal disgust with a foreign nation rarely makes any difference in these deals. Trade talks are also walled off from the broader strategic questions in the relationship.
Did Taiwan “Lose Trump?” Said 16 Aug 2025
Strategic considerations now function as a floor rather than a ceiling on American tariff rates.
In previous eras, strategic considerations set the ceiling for American tariffs. Now they set the floor.
Did Taiwan “Lose Trump?” Said 16 Aug 2025
The divide between Taiwan's DPP and KMT is about nationalism, not social progressivism versus conservatism.
The real divide between the two parties has nothing to do with social progressivism or social conservatism. What divides the DPP from the KMT is nationalism.
Did Taiwan “Lose Trump?” Said 16 Aug 2025
It is harder for a writer to portray happiness meaningfully than to portray suffering.
Any author can make suffering seem significant. Only the greatest authors can plumb the depths of happiness.
Book Notes: Stoner (1965) Said 20 Jun 2025
A person's dignity does not depend on how much they have suffered.
Dignity is not dependent on pain. We know this truth, but it is not easy to translate that knowledge into a compelling story.
Book Notes: Stoner (1965) Said 20 Jun 2025
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 5 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Disliked The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West
In form and tone it resembles a business class airport book—and this comparison is insulting to the airport paperbacks.
scholars-stage.org 10 Dec 2025
Loved Stoner
Williams sees a soul where others see a stand-in.
scholars-stage.org 20 Jun 2025
Recommends Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900
David Graff's Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900 is actually a political-institutional history of China from 200 AD-1000 AD, and is probably the best political narrative history we have for the time period.
scholars-stage.org 1 Jul 2022
Show 2 more
Mixed on Early China: A Social and Cultural History
Feng Li's Early China: A Social and Cultural History is a staid yet serviceable overview of the pre-imperial period.
scholars-stage.org 1 Jul 2022
What others say about Early China: A Social and Cultural History →
Recommends The Early Chinese Empires: Han and Qin
Mark Edward Lewis' The Early Chinese Empires: Han and Qin is probably the best companion piece to your Sima Qian readings
scholars-stage.org 1 Jul 2022
What others say about The Early Chinese Empires: Han and Qin →
Where they publish
Blog scholars-stage.org The Scholar's Stage, his blog of essays, book notes and reading courses.
Link verified 4 Sept 2026.
x.com @Scholars_Stage His X account.
Recent
- Two cheers for the architecture 14 Oct 2026
- That white Americans and Indian Americans are about par on this metric should not surprise anyone. 14 Oct 2026
- This is a meaningful shift in the term’s definition 12 Oct 2026
Show 17 more
- Is this the new line now? 10 Oct 2026
- I have never read and her and have refrained from commenting for that reason. Give me three places to start. 10 Oct 2026
- Reading the statue avatars’ response to the Carson win, I am curious: who exactly is the based choice for the Nobel Lit prize? Which living authors do you personally think deserve it? 10 Oct 2026
- Often, a scholar leaves a PhD a more careful thinker yet a worse writer. For good reason: you write as you read. the prose ingested by academics is not marked by beauty, clarity, or power. Which discipline bucks the trend? What field of study regularly creates superb writers? 10 Oct 2026
- On the debacle with Canada: Causes are many, but the most important was the election of Carney himself on a “stand up against America” platform. That was not inevitable or even likely. Cagney was elected solely because of the President’s memes. 10 Oct 2026
- Completely wrong. Healthy discourse only possible in walled spaces. 30 Sept 2026
- I just don’t see it. Americans are generally far too risk adverse and cowardly. This aspect of our culture should be stamped out not incited. Vast majority of students will not come close to risking detention. More likely to get a gruesome disease in the developing world than locked away in China. Academic freedom doesn’t matter. Students can swallow restrictions on academic freedom for a semester and see what that feels like. They will learn something from the experience. They must understand that going to China means temporarily sacrificing certain freedoms—freedoms of association, speech,… 25 Sept 2026
- This is a bit cute. Haywood has multiple book reviews where he rejects—in an intellectual way, but nevertheless rejects—the American Revolution and its goals, constitutionalism, and Straussianism. He sees them all as dead ends. There is much daylight between Haywood and Jaffa, and it’s a bit silly to pretend that there isn’t. Haywood’s ideas are not in code, or shared only in secret! They are openly declared for anyone to read. Do not insult our intelligence. 24 Sept 2026
- I question this view: “[sending US students to China] allows them to surveil and shape some of the Americans they're most interested in surveilling and shaping” This is true but just how much does it matter? If we have to weigh the risks and balances of sending future China analysts/scholars/policy makers to China, this trade off clearly seems to our advantage? IMHO America has gained more from my personal experience in China than the MSS has gained from whatever dossier they put together from observing my activities there. 24 Sept 2026
- Comment on the Greenland deal: As long as NATO exists this simply codifies explicitly items which were always implicitly granted. The real significance of the deal is that it keeps all of these things in force were the alliance to fall apart. Let the reader understand. 23 Sept 2026
- This is silly. Mao did not retire the term “主席” — or Xi would not allow it to be used so widely! And that is the reason McFaul wants people to use the term they use in China, just as it is the reason Han wants us not to use it. It establishes continuity one wishes us to remember and the other wishes us to dismiss. This is a matter of connotation not denotation, and in both languages the word “chairman,” when applied to a national leader, has a Maoist flavor. In the Chinese system this is a boon: it connotes authority, prestige, and a commitment to China’s communist heritage; in the United Sta… 23 Sept 2026
- This is silly. Mao did not retire the term “主席” — or Xi would not allow it to be used so widely! And that is the reason McFaul wants people to use the term they use in China, just as it is the reason Han wants us not to use it. It establishes continuity one wishes us to remember and the other wishes us to dismiss. This is a matter of connotation not denotation, and in both languages the word “chairman,” when applied to a national leader, has a Maoist flavor. In the Chinese system this is a boon: it connotes authority, prestige, and a commitment to China’s communist heritage; in the United Sta… 23 Sept 2026
- I have been thinking about this ever since I read @tylercowen’s recent book. The history Tyler narrates there explains why economists welcome AI eclipse of human agency: as a field they have already surrendered understanding to the algorithms. 23 Sept 2026
- Walt Whitman on AGI: I am an acme of things accomplish’d, and I an encloser of things to be. My feet strike an apex of the apices of the stairs, On every step bunches of ages, and larger bunches between the steps, All below duly travel’d, and still I mount and mount. Rise after rise bow the phantoms behind me, Afar down I see the huge first Nothing, I know I was even there, I waited unseen and always, and slept through the lethargic mist, And took my time, and took no hurt from the fetid carbon. Long I was hugg’d close—long and long. Immense have been the preparations for me, Faithful and fri… 21 Sept 2026
- On that last point — I have a vivid memory of talking with a BJP politico type in Bangalore who was absolutely incredulous when I told her the average Indian American is a committed progressive. Had to convince her that the assimilative powers of my country are greater than she assumed, and that the moral sense of the median Indian Americans is, at this point, more American than Indian. 20 Sept 2026
- Why do the professor need to earn $150,000? There are thousands of adjuncts working right now for only $30,000 a year. You can triple their salary and still come under the numbers used here. 20 Sept 2026
- Longer termism is bad. Let me propose an alternative: medium termism. Weigh consequences of your actions on the century scale, but not a generation longer. 20 Sept 2026
Link verified 4 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.