Insight porn

{{Internet}}

{{cquote|Internet is inherently biased in favor of insight porn. Insights get "likes" and "shares", verbal arguments receive fast rewards. The actions in real world usually take a lot of time, and thus don't make a good online conversation.|||Villiam, 2019 comment on ''LessWrong''<ref>Viliam, [https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/S45KWuzFdBTe8eQPX/slack-club comment] on LessWrong, 2019</ref>}}

'''Insight porn''' is not what you find on the business blog of a [[Pornography|porn]] company. It is writings or speech that sound empowering until one tries to put them into practice when one discovers that they are too [[vague]] or just don't work. While [[Art Bell|talk radio]], [[self-help|motivational speaking]], and sermons can all serve this function, in an Internet context it especially refers to speech or writing aimed at clever introverts who respect mainstream knowledge but want something more exciting. Real knowledge and power come from study and practice, and going out into the world to try things takes one away from their keyboard. Reading [[Malcolm Gladwell]] books won't make one a [[psychologist]] or a [[historian]] of [[WW II]], and listening to business podcasts won't make one an entrepreneur, but both are easier than getting a degree or founding a business.

== Differentiation from other terms ==

Introductory university or college classes often use tactics similar to insight porn to motivate students, such as telling stories about debunked psychological experiments. However, a classroom environment provides a way to teach some solid skills alongside the big idea, and to test what students have learned. If one ''just'' reads or listens, one can easily fall victim to the [[Dunning-Kruger]] effect or be tricked by [[sophistry]].

Some [[Conspiracy theories|conspiracy theories]] function as insight porn, but not all insight porn is conspiratorial. The difference between insight porn and conspiracy theories is mostly a matter of style. Insight porn might say that all troubles in [[Iraq]] go back to the [[Sunni]]-[[Shia]] split, whereas a conspiracy theory might say that it's because [[David Icke|the House of Windsor are reptoid aliens]]. Insight porn positions itself as part of mainstream expertise, whereas conspiracy theories position themselves against [[Reality|consensus reality]]. Both offer simple explanations and a feeling of power, and both go terribly wrong when people try to act on them.

Although it is common to call someone who does not know as much as they pretend to be a [[charlatan]], the people who speak or write insight porn mostly seem sincere. They are not charlatans in the sense of someone who borrows one's watch then runs off with it, or runs a game of three-card Monte, but the sense of a [[YouTube]]r who started knitting last month and creates a set of opinionated knitting videos this month.

Insight porn can serve as the mouth of a sales funnel for scams and grifts. For example, a long screed about what men and women are really like could be used to sell the author's lessons for [[Pick-up artist|pick-up artists]]. A strange medical theory could be used to sell [[Alternative medicine|quack medicine]]. What makes it insight porn is that people consume it for pleasure as they might watch a soap opera or listen to true crime podcasts. And someone who actually goes out and propositions dozens of strangers will quickly learn empirically what works and what does not, whereas insight porn is pure language.

== Origin of the term ==
The term seems to come from a September 2012 essay on the [[Antinatalism|antinatalist]] ''View from Hell'' blog.<ref>https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dYjW9LCNbWkoijKwL/link-the-school-of-science-fiction citing https://web.archive.org/web/20130113214955/http://theviewfromhell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/trying-to-see-through-unified-theory-of.html</ref> This essay did not define the term but concluded with a list of examples such as Julian Jaynes, [[evolutionary psychology]], Philip K. Dick, the [[Talmud]], [[folklore]], lateral thinking puzzles, the [[Aquatic ape hypothesis|''The Aquatic Ape'']], ketamine, and [[Freud]]'s ''Interpretation of Dreams''. The term became popular with the [[LessWrong]] subculture especially since 2018.<ref>eg. 2013 blog comment by RolfAndreassen https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5FcK3hCG25eDiAsWL/simple-investing-for-a-complete-beginner-just-developing</ref><ref>https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22insight+porn%22+site%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.lesswrong.com%2F</ref> Businessman and consultant Jacob Greenfield used the term in a 2022 blog post promoting his self-improvement newsletter thus closing the circle (important revelation: to succeed in life, consume my powerful insight porn not their sloppy insight porn).<ref>Jakob Greenfield, "No more 'Insight Porn'" https://jakobgreenfeld.com/insight-porn</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Self-help]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Evaluating arguments]]
[[Category:Language]]
[[Category:LessWrong]]
[[Category:Psychology]]
[[Category:Self help]]

Categories: Evaluating arguments, Language, LessWrong, Psychology, Self help