DeepThoughtPornPunk

[elfs]

Remember the concept of "time porn?" This was the premise of TV shows like Cheers, Seinfeld, and Friends: shows where the 22 or 42 minutes of broadcast implied that these people had plenty of spare time, and could spend a lot of it "just hanging out." In short, these are people who have what we don't: free time. We watch those shows to enjoy vicariously what we can't have, hence the label "time porn."

I propose that the next great wave of literature will involve "deep thought porn." We'll be titillated by the idea that the protagonist (there will be only one or, at most, a few) are the sort of people who can think deep thoughts, who aren't constantly distracted by the buzzing of their mobile phones, the constant hum and whir of their friends lists, the incessant demands of their email clients. We will read those books in which we enjoy vicariously that specific pleasure we no longer can have for ourselves: the ability to think in peace, free from the anxiety of continous partial attention.

Because it will have to communicate its message to a distracted audience, though, it'll obviously be flash fiction.

Comments

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

I passed this on to my young man and he wants to know whether you've read The Edge of Chaos.

[(Anonymous)]

My first reaction was: haha, this is great.

After reading the 1st comment, I'm thinking, maybe I should be looking into this 'Edge of Chaos' thing. Can I get it as a self-bookmarking audiobook broken up into 200-word installments that are emailed to me 1x/day?

[atheorist.livejournal.com]

Like Stephenson's Anathem? Or more like reading Cosma Shalizi's blog?

[jenk]

I remember once on the Cosby Show when Bill turned on the TV in his living room and watched it. Only for a few seconds before he was interrupted, of course - but long enough for me to realize that watching someone watch TV was boring.

TV became a bit less enchanting once I consciously realized that the reason many shows were interesting was because the people did things instead of watching TV.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

That's such a wildly subversive moment that I'm surprised the producers let it pass.

[dossy.livejournal.com]

"Time porn" - I LOVE IT - seriously, that makes SO much sense.

"Depp thought porn" - is that like the Pope's latest book? :-P

[edichka2.livejournal.com]

If you're watching a TV show, isn't that evidence of having some free time?
- E

[rick-bannerman.livejournal.com]

Just what I was about to post - if you have the time to watch a TV show about wasting time, then you have the time available to turn the TV off and waste time on your own. Plus you get to write your own script and compile your own soundtrack.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

I believe Jenk made the same observation. Watching someone watch TV is boring, ergo, we watch TV to watch people doing things that are interesting. Therefore, to be interesting we must do something other than watch TV.