Severin Matusek

Rather than building tools that compete with them, the smarter strategy is to create incentives for their participation.

The cutesy image of the Shiba Inu, the ambiguous volatility of Pepe the Frog, and the militant bravado of Trump meme coins do not contest economic logics so much as offer a cathartic participation within them. They perform precisely what Rieff recognizes as the function of “releasing symbols”—forms of engagement that facilitate emotional discharge,... See more

I argued before that “social media” was an alibi for injecting more TV into people’s lives to take advantage of increased network connectivity — that we had to be persuaded that it was a pro-social thing to do to carry little TVs around and watch them at every possible moment. Conflating friendship and entertainment was part of that campaign. Now... See more

Generative AI is disruptive, is transformative, and is reducing friction, but the economic incentives for using it are geared far less toward supercharging human potential and much more toward producing abundant slop.

However, with the trend of deglobalisation, major powers are now placing greater emphasis on self-strengthening and self-reliance. Their competitive strategies have shifted toward enhancing their relative advantage by restricting the development of rivals. Even if their own growth slows, they aim to ensure that their competitors develop at an even... See more

Walk into Lululemon’s new Chicago flagship and you might wonder if you’ve stumbled into a wellness resort.

The logic is simple enough. Amazon demolished traditional retail’s convenience advantage years ago. Physical stores had to find a new selling point or die trying. Their answer? Theatre. From Samsung’s product-testing playgrounds to Canada... See more