The ethics problem: models as weapons

Reading on, the host hits the article's ethical core: the models are equal-opportunity insight generators — a recipe for accelerating secularization is also a recipe for blocking it, and knowing what makes extremist groups thrive yields targeting criteria. They joke that this is mostly common sense (a charismatic leader who practices what he preaches is obviously effective), while warning that macro-analysis can erode people's trust in their own judgment.