Attention-driven culture collapsed honor into infamy, rewarding sociopaths

Evidence

Not everyone embraced these ideologies, but they guided many of the century’s most influential figures. Even in a so-called populist era, a small cadre of celebrities continues to define what is possible, desirable, and righteous. Yet the blank space also opened the door for so many charlatans and reprobates. With creators no longer required to pursue artistic excellence, culture became a lowest-common-denominator battle for attention. Where there is no value other than money, honor is meaningless; and where there is no honor, there cannot be shame. And without shame, infamy and esteem become indistinguishable. This state of affairs rewarded sociopaths who were willing to weaponize their own disinhibition and amorality to dominate the public discourse. The most controversial people swung the era’s narratives so far toward themselves that the twenty-first century’s artistic masterpieces often feel like outliers rather than exemplars of our times. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 31

Categorization

• XREF: This mechanism (honor collapse into infamy under pure market valuation) parallels the earlier notes on reputation systems in the diamond trade and Milgrom’s law merchant — reputation only disciplines behavior when a value above money exists.