I started watching Breaking Bad. It’s generally awesome in every way. One thing that really stands out to me is how lies are contagious and rapidly increase in complexity, needing more and more covering stories to cover the gaping contradictions and loose ends.
Amazing series, probably my all-time favorite. Walter’s character is brilliantly developed, and what I found amazing is the credible portayal of a smart man who has to deal with unexpected problems. He doesn’t have a magic staff, but he is usually able to use his intelligence to find a solution to the problems he has to face. What’s brilliant is that you can see or at least reconstruct his thought process (no “magical deductions” à la Sherlock Holmes) and very often things go wrong beacause of something he didn’t know or couldn’t predict, pretty much as it happens in the real world. Despite that, he never gives up and looks for a better fixing (with all the most catastrophic consequences).
I started watching Breaking Bad. It’s generally awesome in every way. One thing that really stands out to me is how lies are contagious and rapidly increase in complexity, needing more and more covering stories to cover the gaping contradictions and loose ends.
Also the amazing power of rationalization, and the nature of revealed preferences.
Amazing series, probably my all-time favorite. Walter’s character is brilliantly developed, and what I found amazing is the credible portayal of a smart man who has to deal with unexpected problems. He doesn’t have a magic staff, but he is usually able to use his intelligence to find a solution to the problems he has to face. What’s brilliant is that you can see or at least reconstruct his thought process (no “magical deductions” à la Sherlock Holmes) and very often things go wrong beacause of something he didn’t know or couldn’t predict, pretty much as it happens in the real world. Despite that, he never gives up and looks for a better fixing (with all the most catastrophic consequences).
I see Walter as a man with a high IQ who when making big decisions acts foolishly because of pride, and this is why things go wrong for him.
It also illuminates the sin of pride—an important exercise given the high value our culture places on self-esteem.