Severin Matusek

What people such as Altman and Andreessen envision is the logical end point of technology itself—a push to eliminate cognitive resistance and bridge the gap between imagination and reality.

This is Vibe Theory: an expression of elite anxiety masquerading as a politics of resistance. It is also exemplary of what the tragic ur-European philosopher Walter Benjamin once called the “aestheticization of politics,” which in this case is the result of the odd incentives that ensue when the art world makes the invitations, pays the speaker... See more

I keep thinking about something Ezra said in our conversation - Trump embodies the attention economy so completely that he's become indistinguishable from it.

Indeed, the success of a meme coin depends on its ability to circulate semiotic fragments of itself—images, slogans, icons—that evoke a sense of belonging, rebellion, or humor, however fleeting or contradictory.

For both publications and universities, there are narrow pathways to follow the example of Hollywood, where, after its strike two years ago, the Writers Guild won historic if imperfect protections against GenAI in screenwriting. Under the 2023 WGA contract terms, writers can’t be replaced by AI, or be required to use it (and where they choose to,... See more

In this podcast Michael Pollan expands on his understanding of "spirituality" as a universal feeling of connectedness.

To distribute content via email, message boards, blogs and social media users must act as nodes in the network, filtering feeds and pushing their own and others’ content into the network. They are the circulatory force that moves content around the network. Because of this, networks favor viral and memetic media. In this sense, network media... See more

Now ask yourself: How much physical stuff is yours? Think of every item in your house: books, paintings, photos, CDs, heirlooms, trophies, etc. What’s the market value of all that? As our lives move further online, so will our stuff, and we’ll need some sort of infrastructure that allows us to own it.