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I was hoping to find out what he thought “thick” and “thin” desires were, but he never bothers defining them. Maybe he talks about them in another essay? But wi

I was hoping to find out what he thought “thick” and “thin” desires were, but he never bothers defining them. Maybe he talks about them in another essay? But without definitions, this piece is just a catalogue of all the ills of society, justified by some unseen value system. And the title is just wrong, it’s not about the pursuit of thicket desires (whatever those are), it’s about cataloguing society’s pursuit of thin desire (whatever those are). And an advertisement at the end.

karaterobot 5y ago
About that ending: At first I thought the article was merely vague and perfunctory, but the advertisement for his $1500 course at the end recast him in the light of a self-help guru. The thing is, he made what I feel could be some good points, but now I wonder whether it's just so non-specific that I'm reading my own anxieties and hopes for meaning into them, like a classic rube. The implication that I need to pay him money to really understand what the hell he's saying makes me wonder if his philosophy might be a little "thin".
presentation 5y ago
He talks about it in his book, Wanting
exo-pla-net 5y ago
Examples of thin desires: our desire to spectate on petty rivalries + hot takes. >> petty rivalries dominate politics and Hot Take Artists sit in their cages, hungrier than ever while inducing hunger in others. Another thin desire: porn. >> Readers will know by now that I believe pornography is one of the primary scourges on our culture, particularly our youth. Example of thick desire: searching for glory (?) >> NATO is an institution that does not, for instance, seem able to withstand the thick desires of Vladimir Putin More thick desire: strength + honor >> "We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function." I stopped reading at this point, since it seems to be a reactionary rant. The author appears to want a return to our days of glory, when we laid down our lives for our country, and we righteously murdered all those we deemed wicked or too effete to withstand us, allowing us to take their wives and their daughters as our own, etc. This is a common authoritarian sentiment, and it's the polar opposite of the ideas developed during the Enlightenment (espousing science, humanism, etc.). Steven Pinker talks about it in Enlightenment Now, an excellent book.

karaterobot 5y ago

About that ending: At first I thought the article was merely vague and perfunctory, but the advertisement for his $1500 course at the end recast him in the light of a self-help guru. The thing is, he made what I feel could be some good points, but now I wonder whether it's just so non-specific that I'm reading my own anxieties and hopes for meaning into them, like a classic rube. The implication that I need to pay him money to really understand what the hell he's saying makes me wonder if his philosophy might be a little "thin".

presentation 5y ago

He talks about it in his book, Wanting

exo-pla-net 5y ago

Examples of thin desires: our desire to spectate on petty rivalries + hot takes. >> petty rivalries dominate politics and Hot Take Artists sit in their cages, hungrier than ever while inducing hunger in others. Another thin desire: porn. >> Readers will know by now that I believe pornography is one of the primary scourges on our culture, particularly our youth. Example of thick desire: searching for glory (?) >> NATO is an institution that does not, for instance, seem able to withstand the thick desires of Vladimir Putin More thick desire: strength + honor >> "We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function." I stopped reading at this point, since it seems to be a reactionary rant. The author appears to want a return to our days of glory, when we laid down our lives for our country, and we righteously murdered all those we deemed wicked or too effete to withstand us, allowing us to take their wives and their daughters as our own, etc. This is a common authoritarian sentiment, and it's the polar opposite of the ideas developed during the Enlightenment (espousing science, humanism, etc.). Steven Pinker talks about it in Enlightenment Now, an excellent book.