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In the belly of the MrBeast

kevinmunger.substack.com

61–70 of 410 posts

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#61
post #49
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and I think "literally" abuse is a sympton of that

They changed the definition of 'literally' to fit the modern meaning. You can no longer call it abuse now as the misuse fits the new definition. See definition 2 here: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/literal...

Literally false: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/misuse-of-literally

Use of literally in, well, the non-literal sense dates back hundreds of years.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#63

> in cybernetic terms, a long lag time in production is deadly. Does "long lag time" or "deadly" mean something else in cybernetic terms than in regular terms? I found the "in cybernetics terms" insert quite puzzling.

An interpretation that made sense is "cybernetics" as the ancient Greek word for the one who steers the ship.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#64

"They have been interpellated by audience metrics; their subjective experience already takes audience reactions into account." This is great. I think there's a body of research to be done regarding the creation of self in the age of social media. (Not just creators but everyone)

> creation of self in the age of social media

That's a large part of the field of Cyberpsychology, and of course there's quite a body of research already.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#65
post #2

At the top of the heap (Mr Beast, Nastya, Ryan, etc), this is true: > The ideal creator has no distance between themselves and their persona. They have been interpellated by audience metrics; their subjective experience already takes audience reactions into account. > Or more simply, YouTubers are not “Creators” but Creations. Audiences, rationalized by the platform, and the vloggers who upload the videos those audie…

Youtube is also killing a lot of history channels because if there's any violence (eg war) they get demonetized, the algorithm avoids them, or they can even have their channels disabled. Most now blur out pictures of the holocaust, which negates a lot of the otherwise serious impact on a serious subject.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24QgMpvX3mw

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#66
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also explains why there's been an alarming trend over the last 10 years of people just getting more vehement about everything.

and I think "literally" abuse is a sympton of that

Dickens did it. And people have been doing it since the 1700s.

Not to mention, if you're using the word "literally" to mean "something that actually happened", you are also using the word wrong. Because it means "relating to or expressed in letters".

I also notice people complain about "literally", but they never complain about "really" which also gets used in the same ways even though it means the opposite.

And I've noticed people do it as a substitute for intelligence. They complain about these things to seem intelligent. To seem knowledgeable. But when confronted with knowledge that contradicts the complaint, they try to dismiss the knowledge rather than adjust their point of view. Similar with fewer/less. These words mean the same thing. There are no rules as to when to use one or the other. There was the preference of one guy, who even said that he had no reason for it, he just liked it. And people took that as an ironclad rule. Or the gif debate. People try to invent all of these rules, but get pissy when you point out all the places where English does not follow those rules.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#67
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Possibly true, but I'm sure you'd agree that it can't really be called steadily since around 2010-2014

There is a straight line through 70s Falwell, 90s Limbaugh, tea party, to MAGA. All fueled by a self-reinforcing rage machine.

Reminds me of this quote: "The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way." -They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45[0] [0] https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.htm

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#68
His view counts seem cooked to me. I would be interested to see what countries his viewers are claiming to be from. This article even reads as a guerilla upsell that his numbers are legitimate.

Surely the urge to cheat is unbearable with millions of dollars on the hook. (Alot of apps on the app stores also claim to have quarter million 5 star reviews. Uhhuh)

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#69
post #5

> The ideal creator has no distance between themselves and their persona. They have been interpellated by audience metrics; their subjective experience already takes audience reactions into account. Isn't this sort of one of the themes from The Prestige(2006)? That certain magicians were so dedicated to their craft that they became inseparable from it. The performance never actually stopped

Vonnegut also uses this in Mother Night.

    We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

Re: In the belly of the MrBeast

#70

Interesting experience to read an essay of such insight regarding a subject that is the opposite of insight. Best thing I’ve read this week. I am happy to say I have never seen a Mr. Beast video, and now I will be sure never to see one in the future.

There's not much you're missing. His videos try to appeal to the lowest common denominator and are relatively vapid. Sort of like the junk food of YouTube.
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