I don't think the article is claiming kite boarders = computer hackers, but instead is saying that the innovators in the kite boarding community hacked together better kites and rigs using a variety of tools and methods
There is a certain amount of absurdism that you need to buy into, but once you do there is so much to the book (it's also quite funny). DFW dives into themes of addiction, mental health, modernism, etc. He clearly struggled with a lot of these ideas in his own life, and he captures it so well in the cast of characters he creates. I personally found the first 250 pages a little tough, but once I got through that it became hard to put it down.
It’s a book that really needs to be read twice, if only to fully appreciate those first 250 pages. They go from not making sense at all to being quite good.
Ezra Klein recently interviewed Anne Helen Petersen (Buzzfeed) and Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) about this topic. I think they hit on a lot of the things I've been feeling and some of the struggles I have trying to think through a fix — we need to shift both structural and personal thinking on this topic.
That was a fantastic podcast and I came here to say the same thing. The thing I found most interesting was when they discussed curating social media as effectively work, making it so some people feel like they need to post that picture of the birthday/garden/pet/hairdo/etc or it didn't happen and the task isn't completed until you post.
It really made me think about how work isn't just cutting into our pleasure and relaxation times, but it is turning things that were initially created to be pleasurable into work.
Maybe that'll give him a slight nudge toward buying the thing he was already going to buy, but how valuable is that nudge? BMW has a lot more to gain by providing that info to someone who isn't already into their cars.
You don't make these decisions in one go. One ad doesn't make someone who isn't into cars go out and buy a BMW. The money is in tipping someone who's been thinking about getting a BMW for a while over the edge.
I wasn't talking about people who aren't into cars at all. I was talking about people who aren't into BMWs in particular. If I'm about to spend a lot of money on a car, I'd think that BMW would want me to know about theirs.
I generally agree with this, but it really depends on the consumer not being lazy. We all have the friend that scours the forums, but 10x more friends that just buy the highest rated item on Amazon.
I was going to say something similar. From the description it sounds like generalized anxiety. Talking with a therapist can help you figure out what you might be subconsciously worrying about.
