A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “cultural criticism”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott reviews a history of the Frankfurt School, explaining their response to Marxism's failures through negative dialectics, cultural criticism, and the belief that society needed conceptual transformation before communist revolution could succeed, while examining their actual influence on modern leftism.
Through the lens of instant mashed potatoes, the author explores how modern society creates inferior imitations of real things, and what we lose by accepting these substitutes.
A review of L.R. Hiatt's book on Aboriginal anthropology that examines the complexity of their traditional social structures and practices, while exploring broader questions about cultural evolution and the impact of colonialism.
Scott analyzes how technology can make previously profound experiences feel cheap and commonplace, using examples from medieval art to AI-generated images, while suggesting that maintaining wonder is still possible through individual effort.
Scott shares 55 interesting links covering topics from AI poetry to religious movements, including updates on various projects, unusual historical events, and current developments in technology, politics, and society.
Scott reviews Tom Wolfe's 'From Bauhaus To Our House', which explains how modernist architecture took over American buildings despite being widely disliked, through a combination of European influence, academic capture, and institutional pressures.
Scott Alexander defends the practice of looking to idealized traditions for inspiration, arguing it's a common and useful human approach to creativity and innovation.
Scott Alexander explores the 'Tartaria' conspiracy theory to discuss broader shifts in aesthetic preferences, examining potential explanations and their implications for society.
Scott Alexander uses survey data to challenge claims that polyamory leads to a few men monopolizing women, showing these criticisms don't match reality in practice.
A Links post presenting various interesting news and studies from different fields, with brief commentary on each item.
A curated collection of interesting links covering academic debates, cultural issues, economics, and scientific discoveries from around the web.
The post provides a comprehensive overview of Reactionary philosophy and its critiques of modern progressive society, attempting to present these controversial ideas fairly for the sake of debate.