The Creative World’s Bullshit Industrial Complex

The bullshit industrial complex is a pyramid of groups that goes something like this:

Group 1 : People actually shipping ideas, launching businesses, doing creative work, taking risks and sharing first-hand learnings.

Group 2 : People writing about group 1 in clear, concise, accessible language.

[And here rests the line of bullshit demarcation...]

Grou... See more

There is so much mystique around the creative life. It’s fetishized and coveted and seen as mysterious even by the people who inhabit it. We have a cultural script that says: There’s too much consumption, not enough creation! If you want to be a [tasteful/interesting/admirable/happy] person, you should make more things. But then also: Social media ... See more

Those who work bullshit jobs are often surrounded by honor and prestige; they are respected as professionals, well paid, and treated as high achievers - as the sort of people who can be justly proud of what they do. Yet secretly they are aware that they have achieved nothing; they feel they have done nothing to earn the consumer toys with which the... See more

I really hate the term content creator. It’s such a corporate way of describing artists, writers, intellectuals, and other creatives who ultimately just want to create work they’re proud of.

Part of the problem is that the big social networks are not content platforms supported by advertising. They are better understood as advertising platforms supp... See more