>“I think this reflects a tremendous hunger among people for ‘reality’—for ordinary reality. It’s very difficult to find the ‘real,’ because the environment is

>“I think this reflects a tremendous hunger among people for ‘reality’—for ordinary reality. It’s very difficult to find the ‘real,’ because the environment is totally manufactured.” I'd say just "reality", not necessarily "ordinary". Other than that, I agree with Ballard's sentiment. We're starved for genuineness, and instead we're compulsively throwing ourselves into hyperstimuli-ridden mockeries of essential needs: sex, friendship, love, food, stories, competition, playtime, spirituality, exploration. It's honestly baffling. And going only for their genuine counterparts is such an incredibly lonely experience, given the state of the world that we live in nowadays, that you'd need incredible willpower to withstand it.