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very few celebs are as cool as they seem bc their coolness is a team effort – and even when it's not, what we often see is them at their absolute best moments. am recalling a quote from a writer saying "idk why people expect me to be as smart in interviews as I am in my books"

(paraphrasing) "like, my books are the ultimate refinement of my thoughts, i've written them, edited them, reviewed them, experimented with them. i've already given to the world the best thing I was able to make. catch me on the street and i'm babbling incoherently in comparison"

it's really quite funny how the common theme in a lot of my thoughts and works seems to converge on something like "people are like, you know, people". could write a book that's like chapter 1: celebs are people chapter 2: women are people chapter 3: the outgroup are people

4: incels are people 5: nazis are people 6: rapists are people 7: npcs are people 8: sex workers are people 9: poor people are people 10: criminals are people 11: narcissists are people 12: refugees are people epilogue: institutions, governments and corporations are not people

oh it was cheryl strayed. "I already gave them the best thing I have to give them" https://t.co/sAs1Dy914r https://t.co/6b66x3QWj3


Also see Neal Stephenson's "Why I Am A Bad Correspondent" > I am trying to be a good novelist, and hoping that people will forgive me for being a bad correspondent. https://t.co/5gWGrcG5LK https://t.co/l1LxNUufR5


people often forget that other people are people https://t.co/fQY1a63Wdp

re: team efforts https://t.co/h75KhMads4

This by the way is why incredibly talented storytellers, performers, artists, authors etc seem to be so much stratospherically better than beginners, amateurs & enthusiasts. They have entire support teams not only helping them but *leveling them up*. Sparring with the mega-mind https://t.co/DHXDAns95g


@visakanv Just wanted to chip in that apart from "celebs", all other chapters are on socially low-power people. For better inclusion/perspective/fun, might add e.g. presidents, kings, judges, CEOs, police. Also, Montaign quote due: https://t.co/U81yPlgRYd

@visakanv https://t.co/2l4dx3jVMz

Huh, interesting. Seems to me these are different kinds of smartness, and in a sense it's possible to be *more* smart in interviews than in books, by skills like: - deeply tracking if the person you're talking to understands - generating new metaphors appropriate to the situation https://t.co/LCS9dOr2dr