In the simpler parts of reality, your physical position makes a huge difference. A motor is turning clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which end you see. Same for the earth, except that we’ve standardized the top view.
Richard Rushfield and Ted Gioia are two writers with similar backgrounds, both writing in the same place about the same set of facts. Both mostly agree on the details of the facts. One is still inside the motor, the other is outside.
Both have a background as critic and journalist in entertainment, both are now writing about entertainment in Substack. Two articles today form a neat comparison.
Rushfield considers himself to be inside the motor, and wants the motor to start running again. He’s unhappy that the motor is losing power and looks for signs that it might be returning to life.
Gioia got outside the motor quite a while ago, and doesn’t care if the motor stalls. He focuses constantly on the new entertainment industry outside the motor, which is flourishing and growing and creative.
Gioia often discusses the cultural trend I’ve been calling the Foy Rebellion, and bases his vision on the same period in France and Europe. After rationalism turned into guillotines, people rebelled against rationalism. Because Gioia specializes in art and music history, he’s mainly dealing with the regrowth of human and emotional focus in arts, labeled as Romanticism. Because I specialize in tech history, I’m dealing with the regrowth of human focus in tech, which doesn’t have a conventional name.
Polistra's Mill 