M U L L A duel of ideas

The public as enemy of the soul

Søren Kierkegaard  vs  Cal Newport

Kierkegaard wrote that the public is an abstraction — a faceless audience that no one is and everyone performs for. Newport observes that 'the public' has become quantified: followers, likes, replies. The performance has become measurable; the soul, in his framing, has become harder to find.

Whose phantom audience were you writing for, even when you weren't writing?

Whose side are you on?

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