Sages & Prophets, Part 1 - Andy Warhol
(This is an import from a forum, a response I wrote to someone who mentioned Andy Warhol's famous prediction that in the future, everyone would have the chance to be famous for 15 minutes.)
There's a phrase of my own, which those around me have heard (perhaps too often):
One crucial discussion at this point is to distinguish fame from infamy. The line between the two is increasingly being blurred by the mass media - famous or infamous, they don't care so long as it fills airtime. But infamous is another way of saying notorious, and is notoriety really how people want to be remembered? The message increasingly seems to be yes - whatever it takes, positive or negative, to stand out above the teeming masses of the pack, do it no matter how demeaning, bizarre or dangerous (the "Jackass Syndrome").
I think the mass media and the Internet have served to shift people's perception of scope. Where someone may have once sought local fame, the goal is now to stand out on the larger field of global communications. But that perception shift also carries with it an awareness of just how many people there are to compete with - 100+ million signed up on MySpace, 1000s of YouTube videos posted each day. So the hunger to be noticed is simultaneously challenged by the odds against *being* noticed.
(Of course, there is the parallel discussion of "Why be famous at all?" But that is material for another posting. Let us at this time simply accept as given that many - most - people do want "fame", based upon their demonstrated attempts to achieve it.)
Faced with the challenge of standing out (which can be quite a bit of work, sometimes actually requiring talent or skill) many people seem to be seeking "cumulative fame" - their 15 minutes, a few seconds at a time. Cumulative fame may also be considered as synonymous with "reputation". Which brings us to Stross' interesting idea, from his book "Accelerando", of reputation as currency.
I admit that I had given little thought to what would become of finance in a singularitan world. Stross gives quite a bit of time in the book to a variety of adaptations which might emerge. And the idea of reputation as currency - the "interest rating" of notable people actually a commodity, even traded on exhanges - seems a distinct possibility, as extrapolated from current trends.
After all, isn't that what each of us is doing here - seeking attention, and through it, building reputation? Sure, we want to present ideas and some of us even sincerely want to be exposed to the ideas of others. But boil it down and anyone who is posting, whether it be on a personal page or in a forum, is promoting something. And what they are promoting may be a cause or concept, but most often honestly and simply is themselves. And promoting oneself is striving to build reputation.
At present, there is no payoff for a strong reputation. Oh, if you get lots of hits you may be able to work a deal with advertisers to use your site. And a very few people who have raised themselves out of the ground clutter may get onto the radar of publications who recruit them for "real" distribution. But these examples are few and far between. For most people, "product positioning" (the product being themselves) is simply an exercise in ego massage. What do the "friend whores" on MySpace gain from high numbers, other than an ego boost? Can your "friends" be redeemed for valuable prizes? (Unless of course you are promoting something other than yourself, like your band, where high contact numbers mean a potential customer base.)
But there is actually one existing payoff for reputation. It is an old concept, one which is sometimes missed in the hurly-burly of popular intercourse. It is called respect. And, judging from the number of people seeking fame, and what they will do to achieve it, it seems there are many people who do not feel they get enough respect. (Ironically, many people seem willing to do very disrespectful things to others, and themselves, to gain the respect they feel they are lacking.)
It is going to be very interesting, to see how the need for fame drives the next few years. I would like to think that we can develop new arenas for people to exercise that need, rather than have people rely on negative acts to get attention.
And by the way, while I was writing this, the time has decreased to 6 minutes.
There's a phrase of my own, which those around me have heard (perhaps too often):
"Warhol said that in the future everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. Well, it is the future, there are more people competing for that fame - and the time is down to 7 minutes."
One crucial discussion at this point is to distinguish fame from infamy. The line between the two is increasingly being blurred by the mass media - famous or infamous, they don't care so long as it fills airtime. But infamous is another way of saying notorious, and is notoriety really how people want to be remembered? The message increasingly seems to be yes - whatever it takes, positive or negative, to stand out above the teeming masses of the pack, do it no matter how demeaning, bizarre or dangerous (the "Jackass Syndrome").
I think the mass media and the Internet have served to shift people's perception of scope. Where someone may have once sought local fame, the goal is now to stand out on the larger field of global communications. But that perception shift also carries with it an awareness of just how many people there are to compete with - 100+ million signed up on MySpace, 1000s of YouTube videos posted each day. So the hunger to be noticed is simultaneously challenged by the odds against *being* noticed.
(Of course, there is the parallel discussion of "Why be famous at all?" But that is material for another posting. Let us at this time simply accept as given that many - most - people do want "fame", based upon their demonstrated attempts to achieve it.)
Faced with the challenge of standing out (which can be quite a bit of work, sometimes actually requiring talent or skill) many people seem to be seeking "cumulative fame" - their 15 minutes, a few seconds at a time. Cumulative fame may also be considered as synonymous with "reputation". Which brings us to Stross' interesting idea, from his book "Accelerando", of reputation as currency.
I admit that I had given little thought to what would become of finance in a singularitan world. Stross gives quite a bit of time in the book to a variety of adaptations which might emerge. And the idea of reputation as currency - the "interest rating" of notable people actually a commodity, even traded on exhanges - seems a distinct possibility, as extrapolated from current trends.
After all, isn't that what each of us is doing here - seeking attention, and through it, building reputation? Sure, we want to present ideas and some of us even sincerely want to be exposed to the ideas of others. But boil it down and anyone who is posting, whether it be on a personal page or in a forum, is promoting something. And what they are promoting may be a cause or concept, but most often honestly and simply is themselves. And promoting oneself is striving to build reputation.
At present, there is no payoff for a strong reputation. Oh, if you get lots of hits you may be able to work a deal with advertisers to use your site. And a very few people who have raised themselves out of the ground clutter may get onto the radar of publications who recruit them for "real" distribution. But these examples are few and far between. For most people, "product positioning" (the product being themselves) is simply an exercise in ego massage. What do the "friend whores" on MySpace gain from high numbers, other than an ego boost? Can your "friends" be redeemed for valuable prizes? (Unless of course you are promoting something other than yourself, like your band, where high contact numbers mean a potential customer base.)
But there is actually one existing payoff for reputation. It is an old concept, one which is sometimes missed in the hurly-burly of popular intercourse. It is called respect. And, judging from the number of people seeking fame, and what they will do to achieve it, it seems there are many people who do not feel they get enough respect. (Ironically, many people seem willing to do very disrespectful things to others, and themselves, to gain the respect they feel they are lacking.)
It is going to be very interesting, to see how the need for fame drives the next few years. I would like to think that we can develop new arenas for people to exercise that need, rather than have people rely on negative acts to get attention.
And by the way, while I was writing this, the time has decreased to 6 minutes.
posted by InsightStraight @ 9:30 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home