Niall Ferguson’s “The Square and the Tower”

Recorded on November 9, 2017

With social networks like Facebook and Twitter in abundance, the effects of networks on society in the twenty-first century are inarguable. However, Niall Ferguson, author of The Square and the Tower, argues that networks are not a new phenomenon and have been impacting human culture from the beginning of history.

Niall Ferguson and Peter Robinson discuss networks and hierarchies throughout history in this episode of Uncommon Knowledge. Ferguson breaks down what he means by networks and hierarchies using the imagery of the Piazza Del Campo in Siena, where the Torre del Mangia, representing the hierarchy, casts a long shadow over the Piazza Del Campo, representing the network. Ferguson argues that this powerful imagery invokes the essence of his book and the intertwined nature of networks and hierarchies within society.

Ferguson goes on to discuss the importance of networks in social movements throughout history, including Martin Luther and the Reformation, Paul Revere and the American Revolution, Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union, and social media and Donald Trump. He argues that a networked world is a dangerous world, in that it allows movements and societies to advance in unexpected ways.

For the full transcript go to

Interested in exclusive Uncommon Knowledge content? Check out Uncommon Knowledge on social media!

About the Guest:

Niall Ferguson, MA, DPhil., is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior fellow of the Center for European Studies, Harvard, where he served for twelve years as the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of History. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation Distinguished Scholar at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. He is the author of fifteen books, most recently The Square and the Tower.

Related Articles:

[cyntheawellings]

I am lying in bed on Sunday morning listening to this wonderful discussion. It is such a stimulating way to start my day. Niall Ferguson is truly challenging and I laud his ideas.

[jimdeiner]

Niall Feruson is incredible, and Peter Robinson is terrific as an interviewer. I've watched many of his Podcasts. He's read the books, he asked great, insightful questions that get to the heart of (whatever) matter. Many, many in media could take a lesson from him.

[fairsplitdivorceseparation]

If there is anything I am thankful to newly emerged networks (YouTube - prime example), is ta chance to watch and learn from Niall Ferguson. Even 20 years ago, this would have been the privilege of the Oxford and Harvard and alike. Love him!

[freespirit]

Thanks for all your contributions to balanced critical dialogue, Mr. Ferguson. And thanks to the ever-excellent Peter Robinson too. Also to many of the commentators below.

[TerrorGeneric]

Niall Ferguson for the win!
If there are any Thomas Sowell fans lurking about, I have a series on my channel that adapts his book 'Basic Economics' chapter by chapter for your audiovisual pleasure. Eight chapters in so far - check it out!

[owendavies]

Niall Ferguson is one of my favourite authors and his Ted Talk on the critical apps of the West, is one that I reference over and over again. This was a fascinating conversation and I’m going to from this comment section to Amazon to order his book!

[TerryPullen]

The internet has helped me become more politically moderate by allowing me to better understand the desires of my fellow Americans. A common comment from people I talk to is that they are tired of the polarization and tension caused by the constant drip of confirmation provided by the personnel information bubble. I am hopeful that as a society we will learn to resist polarization and come together to solve our common problems. - Thanks for an enlightening interview.

[StereoSpace]

"(Stalin's) paranoia extended even to eavesdropping on a poet..." The German movie 'The Lives of Others' about the communist East German Stasi is very much about this level of all-seeing totalitarian monitoring of its citizens.
Also, paraphrasing Alexis de Tocqueville, "Centralization is the enemy of liberty and decentralization is the friend of liberty." No truer words were ever spoken.

[theredscourge]

The Bazaar and the Cathedral is a name for a common debate in computer science, between unstructured open source development and rigidly structured closed source software.

[herbspencer]

NF is a real creative, discovering insights that he then shares through his book.

[GeoffreyJohns]

I found that very valuable. I read the book but I needed that conversation to get my mind around it

[LSERBY]

Brilliant discussion. Niaill is a proper genius with real insight.

[WillyTheComposerOfficial]

I think Niall Ferguson hit on something big here that even he may not have realized, but I will be examining more closely myself. What if human societies are not structured from the bottom-up or the top-down as commonly described, but from the outside-inward or the center-outward? This could change our entire perspective of history, that it's not the case that the "little guy" has to climb up the ladder and knock the "big guy" of his perch, but the outsider who must advance forward towards the center and push the central authority to the outside. I came to wonder this when Niall proposed that a hierarchy is itself a form of network.

[gfyork]

Through most of this episode, I was leaning toward getting this book; the last fifth managed to dissuade me. G.

[Cryotyde]

Just got his book in the mail and am very much so looking forward to reading it.

[edwardpaterson]

there is a common theme with Teleb's "Antifragile" in which teleb describes systems that are centralized as more rigid and therefore more fragile, while decentralized systems are more capable of dealing with real life changes.

[libertariantiger]

It would be interesting to listen to Niall Ferguson's view on the Free Software movement as a way to possibly reverse or ameliorate the growing power of the big internet companies (Facebook, Google, Amazon).

[bastiatintheandes]

A banquet for the intellect. Thanks so much.

[danpatrick]

Interesting way to make sense of the world. Thank you for posting.

[brokenbulbs]

This is why the Chinese government just love the concentration of "platforms" and the chat companies. In the West, to think that Whatsapp, Instagram, and Facebook are the same company - and that governments have not, yet, stepped in to break up their monopoly-like business - is truly mind boggling!