Fake Fans

Post by ghtbircshotbe » Sat, Apr 04, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

balamatom wrote: post #22

fwipsy wrote: post #5

Recently rereading William Gibson's "Pattern Recognition" and I'm struck by his belief that certain art or memes are objectively good and destined for virality. I think both Gibson and this author are wrong. No content is intrinsically destined for success. There are countless amazing artists, available to anyone. Any sort of quality, insight, talent, novelty are table stakes. If someone is big, they're either extrem…

>objectively good >destined for virality Antonyms, in my book. >Any sort of quality, insight, talent, novelty are table stakes So that's why I ain't seeing much of those lately. You sayin' someone left 'em on the table? >If someone is big, they're either extremely lucky, they got in on the ground floor, or there's marketing money behind them. Yes. Meaning, if you're big, I simply do not wish to hear about you or what…

Post by defrost » Sat, Apr 04, 2026, 1:36 PM UTC

lotsofpulp wrote: post #33

wolvesechoes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There has always been reward for merit and suffering for lack of merit. But conflating merit with economical value is very recent invention. > Nothing “anti human” about social Darwinism It didn't arise until rise of capitalism and bourgeoise (lack of) morality. For most of human history, and among countless cultures, social Darwinism wasn't the case. Peak ideology, btw.

What is the definition of “social Darwinism”? I am under the impression that for most of human history, the ability and willingness to inflict violence was what determined the social hierarchy. Would that not be the reason that almost all tribes were patriarchal? It seems to be a very, very recent phenomenon that simply selling goods and services can elevate one in the hierarchy, due to the advent of legal systems an…

Post by gedy » Sat, Apr 04, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

cobbzilla wrote: post #9

girvo wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Great artists are usually not the best marketers, but nothing beats “I am here, this is real”. Agreed 100%, which is why my local city's (Brisbane) post-rock scene of the 2000s-2010s was so important to me But it's also why despite being phenomenal musicians, they all worked normal jobs (even those related bands who were indie-rock enough to be played on Triple J even though they weren't) and they've all stopped pl…

Yeah art is art, it’s never paid well generally. You do it because you love it, and your audience loves it. And that is awesome. And then commerce is commerce, and you make money and more money means you did something good. And then you put the two together and it’s the same shit we’ve seen for thousands of years. tbh no surprises! This is all as expected. There’s still phenomenal live music in every city I’ve ever v…

Post by adamtaylor_13 » Sat, Apr 04, 2026, 2:41 PM UTC

drewbeck wrote: post #35

adamtaylor_13 wrote: post #14

Pieces like this all seem to be written with an unspoken assumption that anyone who wants to make a living wage from being an artist should be able to, as if it's some sort of right. It would be nice if that were true. AI has exacerbated this issue. Suddenly we're faced with the uncomfortable truth that much of human artwork is "mid" as the kids would say and people aren't willing to pay for songs, writing, and/or gr…

I believe that everyone deserves food housing and and security regardless of what they do or don’t do professionally. I have no logical argument only a moral one, which I sense would not be sufficient to convince you.

Post by adamtaylor_13 » Sat, Apr 04, 2026, 2:45 PM UTC

palmotea wrote: post #15

adamtaylor_13 wrote: post #14

Pieces like this all seem to be written with an unspoken assumption that anyone who wants to make a living wage from being an artist should be able to, as if it's some sort of right. It would be nice if that were true. AI has exacerbated this issue. Suddenly we're faced with the uncomfortable truth that much of human artwork is "mid" as the kids would say and people aren't willing to pay for songs, writing, and/or gr…

> Pieces like this all seem to be written with an unspoken assumption that anyone who wants to make a living wage from being an artist should be able to, as if it's some sort of right. Comments like yours seem to be written with the unspoken assumption that everyone's life should be hard unless they can please the market, which technology makes increasingly difficult. It's deeply anti-human. > AI has exacerbated this…