Within the Pretense of No Pretense | The Point Magazine

Niceness emerged from the relentlessly public character of modern life—a response to the fear that new communication technologies had made it possible for anyone to tear your reputation to shreds. Niceness was the thin crust atop this hatred. It was toxic in the first place because it was inauthentic and transactional and dominated our relationship... See more

Trow explains that television has two abilities:

to do a very complex kind of work, involving electrons, and then to cover the coldness of that with a hateful familiarity. Why hateful? Because it hasn’t anything to do with a human being as a human being is strong. It has to do with a human being as a human being is weak and willing to be fooled: the

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The desire for a drug can be very strong: Does the strength of the desire make it an authentic love? Does it make it nourishing? The people angry at the critic who says an entertainment is not art are not angry at his elitism. They are angry at being reminded that the choice does not offer happiness or power but a brief distraction from our neglect... See more