SPECTACLE
COUNTERFEIT OF AWE
Awe's fear and surprise, aimed at something built to be looked at. The shiver is real and the vastness is staged, which is why it has to be bigger next time: awe shrinks the viewer and the viewer is glad of it; spectacle leaves the viewer exactly the same size, and hungry.
THE TELL
Did you get smaller? Awe leaves you smaller and glad. Spectacle leaves you wanting the next one.
FORMULA DIFF
- −“this is vast, beyond me”
nothing is beyond you — it is in front of you, sized to the screen, made for you
- +Dopamine
the next one, already wanted before this one ends
- Fear
- Surprise
THE GENUINE ARTICLE
AWE
Fear plus surprise, aimed at something vast that isn't a threat. The ocean at night. The correct translation of “fear of God.”
TRAINED BY — Trained by exposure to the big: night skies, oceans, mathematics, births. Awe shrinks the ego without humiliating it.
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