Where did the seeming surplus of emotionality that we see on the Internet come from, and what might it become?
This particular line resonates with what happens in Crypto-land, I think. For a couple of reasons: Crypto-land itself is largely constituted of online interactions. Secondly, crypto-land is nothing if not overflowing with a “surplus of emotionality”. Perhaps this is why we see an overlap of communities interested in Trumpian politics and ideas, and cryptocurrencies. They might be interested or attracted to the same thing: how these subjects make them feel.
🔗 Brian Massumi has much to say about politics and affect. His idea is that the pre-emptive policies of post-9/11 counter-terrorism creates an atmosphere of “low-lying fear”—an affect of terror.