Pseudo-rational content with an irrational source is the defining trick of mass culture

Evidence

While some of the details of Adorno’s analysis and the general picture of oppressive conformism he draws are specific to the time being studied, his analysis remains striking. What is above all anomalous and requires explanation is the combination of rationality, in the form of advice which is either pragmatically or psychologically well-grounded, and the irrationality present in the source and structuring of this advice. As already noted, the irrationality is kept remote, and treated as impersonal and thing-like; there is an underlying philosophy of what might be called ‘naturalist super-naturalism’. Astrology, like the culture industry, blurs the distinction between fact and fiction, maintaining a content level of overrealism while giving that content an irrational metaphysical aura in terms of its source. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 37

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names the load-bearing concept the reader must run: overrealism of content + irrational source/aura = ‘naturalist super-naturalism’.
• XREF: connects to: The culture industry is defined by repetition under a false formula of totality