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A Dark Night
Some observations on the Batman movie massacre two days ago: It’s clear the line between reality and fantasy is quickly disappearing. When the smoke bombs went off and the gunfire started, moviegoers...
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I, Phone (Part Two)
Everyone requires a cell phone now; to debate this point is akin to doubting gravity or arguing that time moves in reverse. My iPhone distinguishes me from all non-iPhone users. It expresses me. It’s...
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Breaking News
An event, especially a painful experience, feels most intense to the person or people directly involved in it. Hearing about something that happened to someone else can be troubling, but pales in...
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Tweet Nothings
Why do newspapers and news stations insist on including a reporter’s Twitter handle? Will I find a follow-up quote regarding a serious piece of journalism or a fun fact about unicorns? There’s no limit...
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Small Minds Think Alike
“The future of the book is the blurb.” –Marshall McLuhan, 1964 The miniaturization of the mind is upon us. There’s always a use for BIGGER, but life these days keeps getting smaller. Twitter is the...
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If Sartre Married A Kardashian
Way back in the twentieth century Sartre famously declared: “Existence precedes essence.” You exist first, Sartre said, then you build a life. You are nothing more—or less—than the choices you make. As...
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Private Eyes
In 1983 Sophie Calle published Suite venitienne, a “true” account of her adventures following a man named Henri B. for two weeks in Venice. Sophie barely knows Henri. She’s not attracted to him. But...
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The Nine Billion Names Of God
In The Perfect Crime Jean Baudrillard references Arthur C. Clarke’s short story “The Nine Billion Names of God” to set up his critique of virtual reality and our desire to actualize the world in its...
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Cynic-In-Chief
Many of us are familiar with the definition of a cynic. Disillusioned by “politics as usual,” cynical Americans don’t trust Washington insiders to work for the common good. This is not how the Ancient...
View ArticleThree Of A Mind
thesis – antithesis – synthesis Id – Ego – Superego talk – text – data conservative – liberal – anarchist client – therapist – transference duty – honor – country lather – rinse – repeat shadow –...
View ArticleDemocratic Nihilism
In one of his final books, Telemorphosis, Jean Baudrillard discusses the spectacle of reality TV. He sets his sights on Loft Story, the French adaptation of the popular American show Big Brother....
View ArticleConnection Issues
In his 2017 book In the Swarm: Digital Prospects, Byung-Chul Han examines the challenges of working in a global economy. Concerned about employee burnout, Han writes, Even though we are now free from...
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