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Control Group's avatar

Having lived in and amongst the hipster elite in the likes of Seattle, Portland, SF, and Austin (I know, what is wrong with me?), I can say that this Bismarck's thesis is believed adamantly by all on the left and is hilariously ironic in ways they do not intend. As a bit of a free radical with morphing beliefs, it was always painful to sit in a room and listen to a certain type of people (always culturally/politically, self-described liberal) talk about how good their farts smell...I mean "explain" their "art" to me. The idea that transgression and shock and some obscure references make art has always been the apotheosis of this dimwitted, narcissistic view. Great essay.

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Maya Sinha's avatar

Many artists whose work endures beyond temporary popularity are social misfits, and perhaps you've hit upon why. The classic "artist" personality is a high-openness, low-conscientiousness, low- agreeableness loner (see The Mind of the Artist by William Todd Schultz), so they don't fit in with nice, normal people with good values and common sense (here, loosely correlated with the "Right"). Many are degenerates in their personal lives.

OTOH, they have great bullshit detectors, so social trends and the latest idea of "progress" doesn't impress them. They see right through it to enduring truths. This makes them slightly suspect to the Intelligensia (here, loosely correlated with the "Left"), whom they tend to mock. Many are (effectively) religious in their inner lives.

So, they are complicated no-team cranks who focus on their work. Best people!

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