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Predictive History, Professor Jiang, No Ads

No advertisements lectures. All credit goes to Jiang Xueqin, aka Professor Jiang. Audio files of Jiang’s lectures.

Latest Episodes:

Game Theory #3: Rich Dad, Poor Dad Apr 08, 2026

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In this Tuesday, January 13, 2026 lecture to his Beijing high school students, Professor Jiang explains who succeeds, and why.Notes and References:1. The Marshmallow Test by Walter Mischel2. Mindset by Carol Dweck3. Peak by K. Anders Ericsson

Game Theory #2: Why Schools Suck Apr 08, 2026

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In this Thursday, January 8, 2026 lecture to his Beijing high school students, Professor Jiang uses game theory to explore the limitations of schools.

Game Theory #1: The Dating Game Apr 08, 2026

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In this Tuesday, January 6, 2026 lecture to his Beijing high school students, Professor Jiang introduces the concept of game theory, and how it applies to the dating game.

Civilization #END: The Decline and Fall of the American Empire Apr 08, 2026

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In this final talk of the "Civilization" course, Jiang Xueqin explains the rise and fall of the American empire. At the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, America proposed that the dollar should be the world's reserve currency. In return for this "exorbitant privilege," America pledged that its currency could be exchanged for gold. But with America spending exorbitantly to fund the Vietnam War, the Space Race, and the Great Society, countries started to doubt this promise. After France withdrew all its gold from America, President Nixon announced that the dollar could no longer be converted to gold. To create new demand for the dollar, Nixon visited China, and brought it into the Pax Americana.After the fall of the Soviet Union, America financialized its economy, which led to the 2008 Great Financial Crisis. With Putin's invasion of Ukraine, the supremacy of the USD is more threatened than ever. In response, America may invade Iran, which would start World War III. References:1. Farewell Address of Dwight Eisenhower (Military Industrial Complex)2. The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides3. Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley 4. The Open Society by Karl PopperFurther Watching:1. The System of Money: • The System of Money | Documentary Money Cr... 2. Who Controls All of Our Money?: • Who Controls All of Our Money?

Civilization #59: The Man of Steel Apr 08, 2026

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How did a poor Georgian high school drop-out help lead a fringe and fanatical political party (the Bolsheviks) into absolute power in Russia? How was Stalin able to eliminate his competitors? How did he defeat Hitler in World War II? In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Stalin was the "ubermensch," the man of steel who willed a new reality into being. Lenin could not have maintained the Bolsheviks without financing from Stalin's criminal activities. After the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, Lenin was intent on stopping Stalin's rise to power. But Stalin outmaneuvered his adversaries, including Leon Trotsky, the heir to Lenin's legacy. After the Great Purge, Stalin created a cult of personality, and bent the entire state apparatus to his will. This proved pivotal in World War II when Stalin transformed the Soviet Union from a poor feudal nation into a global industrial power. References:1. State and Revolution by Vladimir Lenin2. Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler3. Joseph Stalin's wiki bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...4. Vladimir Lenin's wiki bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimi...Recommended Watching:I watched many YouTube videos to prepare for this lecture. Here are some recommendations.1. The Rest of History podcast on Operation Barbarossa: • 182. Operation Barbarossa 2. Noj Rants on "Lenin's Non-Marxist Origins": • The Non-Marxist Origins of Lenin (History ... 3. Zoomer Historian on "Operation Barbarossa Myth": • Video 4. Russian History Museum on the Friendship between Lincoln and Czar Alexander II: • The Tsar and the President: Alexander II a...

Civilization #58: Birth of the Nation-State Apr 08, 2026

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Nationalism is the main cause of World War One. How and why did it originate?In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that nationalism was a response to religious, economic, and cultural challenges in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.The Protestant Reformation produced a crisis of faith in people, and many made the nation-state into their new religion. The Industrial Revolution made the bourgeoisie the new dominant elite, and they demanded property rights that only the nation-state could guarantee. Rapid industrialization and urbanization caused alienation and disorientation, which led people to embrace the nation-state for community and direction. References:1. Seeing Like a State by James Scott2. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson3. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques Rousseau4. The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt5. The Open Society by Karl Popper

Civilization #57: How Modernism Ruined Everything Apr 08, 2026

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Freud proposed the theory of the Oedipal Complex. Where did he get the idea? Why did it become so popular?In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Freud developed his psychological theories in order to protect the interests of the powerful. His protege Carl Jung would take Freud's theory of the unconscious, and turn it into a systemic model of human psychology. Because of modernist literature and art, this "cult of the self" has permeated throughout the entire culture, becoming the air we breathe. This has led to devastating social consequences, especially among the young.References:1. Aetiology of Hysteria by Sigmund Freud2. Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud3. Civilization and Its Discontents by Sigmund Freud4. The Assault on Truth by Jeffrey Masson5. Ulysses by James Joyce6. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

Civilization #56: What Marx Got Wrong Apr 08, 2026

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Why was Karl Marx -- who believed that industrial capitalism would evolve into a worker's paradise -- wrong? In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that while Marx understood the ills of capitalism he failed to appreciate the psychology of people. People strive for religious community, not economic equality. We want to connect with God, and we seek status. That's why those countries that did succeed in their communist revolutions devolved into theocracies dominated by cults of personalities. References:1. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels2. Letters of Karl Marx3. Three Lectures to Swiss Members by Mikhail Bakunin

Civilization #55: Kant, Hegel, and the Theory of Everything Apr 08, 2026

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What is the legacy of Immanuel Kant, considered our greatest philosopher?In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Kant's insights had a tremendous impact on the development of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and quantum mechanics. Kant's philosophical revolution was equivalent to that of the Copernican revolution in astronomy. With his precise logic, Kant showed us that we were active participants in the making of reality, rather than just passive observers. But Kant's epistemology had three major limitations:1. He argued we could never know true reality (the "things-in-themselves"), thus creating an ontological dilemma.2. He did not show us the source for our capacity to interpret the world. 3. He failed to show us why interpretations would be uniform across history and cultures. These problems led Hegel to develop his theory of the dialectic of the "geist," which will come to influence the development of both Marxism and the nation-state. References:1. The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant2. The Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant3. The Phenomenology of the Spirit by Friedrich Hegel

Civilization #54: The German Will to Power Apr 08, 2026

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What explains the rise of Adolf Hitler?In this talk to his Beijing high school students, Jiang Xueqin explains that Hitler was a manifestation of the German obsession with the unity of will. After the humiliating defeat of World War I and amidst the economic turmoil of the Weimar Republic, Germans sought salvation and redemption in their civilization, especially the music of Richard Wagner and the philosophy of Frederick Nietzsche. They longed for an "ubermensch" to emerge, and Hitler rose to the occasion. References:1. The World as Will and Representation by Arthur Schopenhauer2. The Ring Cycle by Richard Wagner 3. The Genealogy of Morals by Frederick Nietzsche 4. Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley5. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler

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