Conversation with Peter Stromberg

Peter Stromberg is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa, a Ph.D. graduate in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford, contributor at Psychology Today on the blog “Sex, Drugs and Boredom” where he writes about entertainment and how it affects us, and the author of the book “Caught In Play: How Entertainment Works on You.”

I read Caught In Play over a year ago and loved it. I even referenced some of its material on my essay (in Spanish) published on Ábaco, a journal of social sciences in Spain. Back then, I asked Peter to join me for a video conversation the day my new website was ready. Well, that day has come. Peter was very nice and agreed to have a candid talk about his book and thoughts on entertainment.

I’m honored to share this talk with you. It’s been, by far, one of the most interesting and stimulating conversations I’ve ever had. You’ll see me a bit nervous for the first 10-15 minutes of the call, because I was trying (maybe too hard) to match Peter’s eloquence and intellect, so I apologize for that.

I urge you to watch/listen to this conversation. I promise you’ll end up with new RELEVANT perspectives on entertainment. Some of the topics we discuss on the call:

• Why write a book on entertainment, and the angle Peter chose to approach the topic: entertainment as an alteration of consciousness.
• Similarities between drugs, hypnotism and entertainment: the choice to surrender ourselves.
• Entertainment is about being a part of something bigger than ourselves, because of the emotional experience that it brings.
• Peter doesn’t say entertainment is bad. Entertainment is here to stay. Peter just wants to call people’s attention to entertainment, so we can bring our own perspectives and make our own decisions as to how to engage it.
• How entertainment is related to consumer society, why, and what this means to us.
• Entertainment’s similarities to religion, and what Peter calls its “shadow values.”
• The problem with associating play with children: it directs our attention away from the values that are essential to how we live today.
• Entertainment as the end goal for many people’s lives, and why analyzing this escapism mentality is important.
• Play is a good thing. The real question is “where is the line between healthy fun and escapism?” No need to work all the time.
• The industry of entertainment as a preventive method for introspection. Entertainment doesn’t want you to look at yourself, but it’s the people that do who enjoy both their work and play the most. The line of what’s play and what’s work is blurry for the people that look inside them.
• Entertainment and consumption need for flexible values in society, and why advertising is disorienting to a lot of people.
• Introspection is what keeps entertainment in perspective, to enhance our lives, not dominate it.
• Technology and advice as forms of entertainment. Why the mentality of “if only I had X, or did Y” leads to confusion, and makes us great consumers.
• Our need for constant stimulation. Boredom as withdrawal.
• Boredom as a new concept in history.
• Why our ideas of uniqueness, authenticity, and all the “Follow your passion” type of content, come as a side-effect of mass migration.
• Why this idea of self-realization is so central to our lives in a consumption society.
• The role of fame in an entertainment society.

More about Peter:

• The book: Caught In Play: How Entertainment Works on You
• The website: Caught In Play
• Peter’s Psychology Today blog: Sex, Drugs and Boredom
• Peter’s profile on The University of Tulsa’s website

NOTE: I’ll be sharing my review of “Caught In Play”, plus my favorite excerpts on the next newsletter’s issue. I put a lot of work on every issue (sent every Saturday morning), so I strongly suggest you sign up for it. Find out more about what to expect on each issue here.