This is the title of a piece by Isaac Abel on The Atlantic web site. In the competition for clicks, The Atlantic seems to have done quite
well by providing a steady stream of such provocative material. The article
itself offers a mix of disarming self-revelation and quasi-scientific cliché
(the latter reminiscent of Philip Zimbardo’s much discussed TED talk and
accompanying ebook on the descent of young men). Abel’s chief concern, though,
seems to be the shame internet porn addiction still seems to carry – a somewhat
refreshing worry in our anything-goes day and age.
What I found more provocative than Abel’s musings was
the image with which Google’s ad-auctioning algorithm had paired his text – an
ad for (what else?), Playboy. Oh, the
genius of technologically turbocharged capitalism – taking advantage of each
business microopportunity; and offering eager consumers virtual and material
drugs in both senses – as vehicles of potentially addictive self-medication, and
as “real” cure. Apparently, sometimes shamelessness can really pay.
This syndrome doesn’t need to be related to sex or
other sensual gratifications (though it often is – I am reminded of an
observation from the pilot episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” about the
unfailing effectiveness of “dick jokes” – a piece of advice immediately taken
up in the first episode of the show). I was just looking at an article on the
NYT web site festooned with the ominous title, “In Ireland, Dire Echoes of a
Bailout Gone Awry.” The banner above it read, quite predictably: “Make money as
a trader” (in Bulgarian). As a New Yorker
cartoon once depicted it, practitioners of this occupation may help destroy
the planet, but also create a lot of shareholder value in the process.
