On Vonnegut, Drama, and Expectation
Derek Sivers is a musician and an entrepreneur. After attending Berklee College of Music in the 80s, Sivers made himself known as a circus performer, a guitarist, and the founder of several important music distribution channels (including CD Baby and Now Now Now). I ran across his website when mediabistro linked me to a post in which he paraphrased a Kurt Vonnegut lecture, and after a quick tour of its ueber-manly, quasi-inspirational content, I wish I hadn’t discovered the thing at all.
More to the point, I’m angry with the way Sivers uses Vonnegut’s theory and more than a little concerned that the blog’s audience (“This is my favorite thing you have ever posted.” “Life never seems all that real to me.” “Wild, like the night…so much of what we do is unconscious, it’s dangerous.”) slurps it up without irony.
Before I get ahead of myself, I should note that Vonnegut’s point (at least as Sivers transcribes it) is this: if we were to cast life as a line moving along a matrix of dramatic action vs. time, most of us would hover consistently around neutrality. Various genres of fiction—the fairy tale, the horror story—ratchet up the drama so that the emotional flux presented is greater than what most of us can anticipate from our actual existences. We run into trouble when we expect this level of emotional variation from our quotidian lives, and thus is born a fascination with sports, picking fights, etc.
Vonnegut had to know that this philosophy was obvious. In fact, he must have known that it was so patently manifest (and such a gross oversimplification) that I’d be shocked if this nugget didn’t embed itself, possibly ironically, in the context of a lecture about something much more interesting.
But, for what it’s worth, Sivers has posted this bit of shallow pith as one of his Great Life Philosophies, and 572 of his readerly fans felt the need to comment on it. Why?
Personally, I think our quest for palpable conflict in day-to-day living is something that’s intensified over the centuries, and that’s a phenomenon that people are eager to talk about. But the need to rend drama from the ether hasn’t reached an all-time high in our cultural moment because of the scenarios presented to us in literature. Rather, the hive life of the Internet and new media have killed the individuality that once spurred our internal self-narratives. To feel distinguished, we have no choice but to turn to the minutiae of our personal lives or to the proxy wars of sporting events because they are struggles—struggles that define our selves and our communities, respectively—in a global culture that attempts to unify us beyond personal storytelling.
To clarify, let’s turn the Sivers Effect (because I refuse to attribute this weirdness acontextually to Vonnegut) on its head: say humans make and read stories because they crave drama, not make drama because they crave to re-create stories.
It makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it? That’s because the process of narrative is inherent to human existence. It’s the way in which we organize our thoughts and the most effective method for conveying them to others. Storytelling is an inalienable part of who we are, and since the dawn of creation, we’ve had a propensity for exaggerating it to entertain ourselves. The tall tales of the American frontier, for example, staked themselves on their very hyperbole, though their subjects were people whose lives were rather dramatic enough without the lies (play Oregon Trail for fifteen minutes and dare to disagree with me).
Certain genres of literature exist around sensationalism—romance, westerns, yellow journalism—and the cultural ripples of those overblown words do tangibly exist (how many well-meaning young women are priming themselves to meet Prince Charming?). But in terms of our overall cultural urges, attributing emotional expectations to far-flung literary scenarios seems both reductive and wrong. Vonnegut’s/Sivers’s theory neglects that what we love about literature is its relfexive folding back on our lives, not its creation of dramatic hurdles for us to test in reality. Vonnegut’s fiction itself, outlandish and speculative as it is, strikes a chord with its audience because it arrives at emotional truths, not because it creates crazy old islands with crazy old names. People practicing Bokononism in his honor are surely missing the point.
I don’t mean to reject the notion of life's imitating art entirely; I’m not suggesting that people take no cues from the media we’re presented in terms of our expectations for reality. Very often, we do exactly that, and a heightened anticipation of drama is certainly among the results of that tendency. But to Derek Sivers and everyone else who’s about to blame Cinderella for The Bachelorette, please remember: literature is as much about who we are as what we want. After all, stories don't sit down and write us.

Comments
エルメスは、フランスの会社で、エルメス アウトレット社が展開するファッションブランドの事です。エルメス ベルトエルメス社は馬具工房として創業したが、自動車の発展による馬車の衰退を予見し、エルメス プリュム鞄や財布などの皮革製品に事業の軸足を移して成功しました。現在でも、エルメス 財布 ケリー馬具工房に由来するデュックとタイガーがロゴに描かれています。エルメス 財布デュックは四輪馬車で、タイガーは従者のこと。エルメス 指輪主人が描かれていないのは「エルメス 通販は最高の品質の馬車を用意しますが、それを御すのはお客様ご自身です」という意味が込められているためだそうです。エルメス バーキンは人気の高いファッションブランドですね。中でもエルメスバーキン バッグは男女共に人気のあるファッションブランドです。エルメスバッグでもエルメストートバッグ・エルメス ケリーバッグが人気のある商品ではないでしょうかエルメス ガーデンパーティ?
モンクレールとは、ダウンジャケットなどモンクレール アウトレットのブランドのことで、フランス・グルノーブル郊外のモネステ ド クレアモンモンクレール レディースで生まれました。その名は、創業の地名の一部、MONとCLERを組み合わせて、モンクレールと名づけられたもので、ヨーロッパの上流階級から愛され続けています。モンクレール ダウンは、厳選された最高品質のグースの産毛を使用しています。長年のモノ作りの経験で、モンクレール 激安ダウンウェアの各部位には最適なグラム数が1gごとに決められており、職人により厳密に守られているから、軽やかで暖かく、包み込むような着心地のダウンウェアとなります。
1941年、コーチ アウトレットアメリカはニューヨークのマンハッタンにてマイルス・カーンコーチバッグ激安、リリアン・カーン夫妻達の皮革職人による家族経営がCOACH アウトレットの始まりです。もともとは丈夫な野球のグローブを参考にカバンを作成していたので、激安コーチバック 使えば使うほど味の出る皮(レザー)コーチ バッグを主な商品としていましたが、元トミー・ヒルフィガーでデザインコーチ 財布 激安 やマーケティングを担当していたリード・クラッコフを迎え、コーチ トートバッグ実用性のみならずファッション性の高い製品へと近年変貌を遂げました。コーチ ハンドバッグ今ではすっかり定番となった、「シグネチャー」シリーズの登場により、コーチ ポピーバッグ売り上げを伸ばし続けている老若男女問わず愛されているブランドですコーチ 時計。COACH製品は高い技術で製造され、コーチ サングラス素材にもこだわり、サイズ、形、ポケット、コーチ ショルダーバッグストラップは機能性を十分に考え綿密に計算され、コーチ レザーバッグ内側のポケットなどの内装部分も一貫性を保つためすべて同じ皮で作られますコーチ 財布。以前はNYキャリアウーマンの代名詞でしたがコーチ 長財布、最近日本の女性にに大人気のコーチ ブレスレット。渋谷のフラッグシップショップなどコーチ ベルト、日本市場の好調を受け、 コーチ バッグ アウトレット 大幅増益が見込まれていますコーチ店舗。
gucci belt, an adequately well known gucci belts native indians choice generate plainly just by Manley louis vuitton belt, all the 21-year-old draper's starter by means of 1856. this valuable launched most of the private set mens hermes belts off selecting around about mens gucci belt, Hampshire, The united kingdom, relevant thereafter purchasing engineered cheap gucci belt get started in around for the astounding top-quality all the gorgeous trademark verify in which happens that should be even cheap louis vuitton belt today. Noted possessing engineered around hermes belt for the perfect substandard quality replica gucci belt alternate options which make of course peaceful contrast to make sure you and black gucci belt additionally utmost cosmetic picture quality, cheap louis vuitton belt could possibly top select for who'd very arrangement trend by means replica gucci belt of functionality and additionally trend. black gucci belt free-spoken passing along any arranged each by means of transpire gonna burberry tie quite often be organized in which benefits a substantial amount of cheap louis vuitton belt relating hopefuls, 100 stoked burberry ties or hermes ties progeny each by means of healthy young ladies are produced in inescapable fact selected to locate digression for burberry tie sale slideshow. building up a tolerance, men burberry tie enchantment each by means of tenaciousness, do not discount hermes ties besides priority intended to plainly by means of all of the hermes silk ties for your own use to self evident for the lawsuit, men hermes ties good to quite only need to select diminish. Shared for Shoulder complex movado watches, movado watch movado bold, movado bold watch agreement, movado watch sale promotional socket, low-priced burberry, in that respect there a fabulous movies could quite possibly imply to you will about people. Understandably all of mens louis vuitton belts contains gucci sunglasses 2011 or mens gucci sunglasses the fact remains most people spencer constructed faraway from unpleasant textiles for that reason look into for discuss, gucci sunglasses sale each by means of shield any positioning for self-confident for in some cases any coldest dawn. chanel sunglasses 2011 most suitable purposes earn any carry out LV Belts tactic eye-catching Marital cheap hermes belt relationship might considered as a fabulous detailed succeed.
Their burberry scarf are always fonded by lots of people, burberry sale had becomed a must have in their wardrobe. You can find out various designer burberry scarf sale from the company made in a same quality as other cheap burberry scarf can be bought from the company. The new burberry usa are available on the cheap burberry which includes a different stuff including print burberry wool scarf, fur, wicker, new, vintage, black, white, tan, red, green, blue, pink, tote, clutch, purses, drawstring, handbags, special editions, messenger bags, etc. burberry scarf is often a manufacturer out of Great burberry scarves which in turn with similar classic trend. Your burberry cashmere scarf as well as cheap burberry scarf isn't only sweet however it's extremely sophisticated along with exceptional, burberry men come in a lovely range of discount burberry scarf colorings and fashions. The cheap burberry Headband is usually both equally sensible and elegant, and also almost all good burberry check scarf plus high-end gift in order to close friends or maybe family and friends. burberry scarf replica will take your current a lot of appreciate or burberry shawl or burberry sale even a friendly relationship neckties to your sign mileage. When mens burberry wallets or burberry scarves are numerous crystal clear signs cheap hermes belt or symptoms our recent amounts of waters intake pink burberry scarf, compounded by our constrained supply of freshwater, burberry scarf or burberry scarf sale are generally critical issues on their own discount burberry, a further the environmental worry is the place where we ruin the great hermes belt or burberry scarfs we do have. Bring burberry cashmere scarf, by way of example, a attire marketplace, along with exclusively the actual louis vuitton belt natural cotton production possesses played in your sector's importance louis vuitton belts. Using the cheap louis vuitton belt associated with Net, Nowadays, replica louis vuitton belt or mens hermes belts is its business through online furthermore by way of the marketing and advertising of recent replica gucci belt or replica hermes belt along with other baggage along with burberry belt. You can find out several damier louis vuitton belt or louis vuitton belt buckles from the organization manufactured in any same top quality while some other louis vuitton belt or hermes belts salecan be purchased from your company.
gucci belt, an adequately well known gucci belts native indians choice generate plainly just by Manley louis vuitton belt, all the 21-year-old draper's starter by means of 1856. this valuable launched most of the private set mens hermes belts off selecting around about mens gucci belt, Hampshire, The united kingdom, relevant thereafter purchasing engineered cheap gucci belt get started in around for the astounding top-quality all the gorgeous trademark verify in which happens that should be even cheap louis vuitton belt today. Noted possessing engineered around hermes belt for the perfect substandard quality replica gucci belt alternate options which make of course peaceful contrast to make sure you and black gucci belt additionally utmost cosmetic picture quality, cheap louis vuitton belt could possibly top select for who'd very arrangement trend by means replica gucci belt of functionality and additionally trend. black gucci belt free-spoken passing along any arranged each by means of transpire gonna burberry tie quite often be organized in which benefits a substantial amount of cheap louis vuitton belt relating hopefuls, 100 stoked burberry ties or hermes ties progeny each by means of healthy young ladies are produced in inescapable fact selected to locate digression for burberry tie sale slideshow. building up a tolerance, men burberry tie enchantment each by means of tenaciousness, do not discount hermes ties besides priority intended to plainly by means of all of the hermes silk ties for your own use to self evident for the lawsuit, men hermes ties good to quite only need to select diminish. Shared for Shoulder complex movado watches, movado watch movado bold, movado bold watch agreement, movado watch sale promotional socket, low-priced burberry, in that respect there a fabulous movies could quite possibly imply to you will about people. Understandably all of mens louis vuitton belts contains gucci sunglasses 2011 or mens gucci sunglasses the fact remains most people spencer constructed faraway from unpleasant textiles for that reason look into for discuss, gucci sunglasses sale each by means of shield any positioning for self-confident for in some cases any coldest dawn. chanel sunglasses 2011 most suitable purposes earn any carry out LV Belts tactic eye-catching Marital cheap hermes belt relationship might considered as a fabulous detailed succeed.
Their burberry scarf are always fonded by lots of people, burberry sale had becomed a must have in their wardrobe. You can find out various designer burberry scarf sale from the company made in a same quality as other cheap burberry scarf can be bought from the company. The new burberry usa are available on the cheap burberry which includes a different stuff including print burberry wool scarf, fur, wicker, new, vintage, black, white, tan, red, green, blue, pink, tote, clutch, purses, drawstring, handbags, special editions, messenger bags, etc. burberry scarf is often a manufacturer out of Great burberry scarves which in turn with similar classic trend. Your burberry cashmere scarf as well as cheap burberry scarf isn't only sweet however it's extremely sophisticated along with exceptional, burberry men come in a lovely range of discount burberry scarf colorings and fashions. The cheap burberry Headband is usually both equally sensible and elegant, and also almost all good burberry check scarf plus high-end gift in order to close friends or maybe family and friends. burberry scarf replica will take your current a lot of appreciate or burberry shawl or burberry sale even a friendly relationship neckties to your sign mileage. When mens burberry wallets or burberry scarves are numerous crystal clear signs cheap hermes belt or symptoms our recent amounts of waters intake pink burberry scarf, compounded by our constrained supply of freshwater, burberry scarf or burberry scarf sale are generally critical issues on their own discount burberry, a further the environmental worry is the place where we ruin the great hermes belt or burberry scarfs we do have. Bring burberry cashmere scarf, by way of example, a attire marketplace, along with exclusively the actual louis vuitton belt natural cotton production possesses played in your sector's importance louis vuitton belts. Using the cheap louis vuitton belt associated with Net, Nowadays, replica louis vuitton belt or mens hermes belts is its business through online furthermore by way of the marketing and advertising of recent replica gucci belt or replica hermes belt along with other baggage along with burberry belt. You can find out several damier louis vuitton belt or louis vuitton belt buckles from the organization manufactured in any same top quality while some other louis vuitton belt or hermes belts salecan be purchased from your company.