Self-Mastery Is Good, Actually

Making intelligent and illuminating observations about cultural trends is tricky. It involves connecting seemingly disparate dots and transforming them into a coherent picture that isn’t initially apparent. But before that work of synthesis can happen, it’s first necessary to notice the dots in the first place. That’s hard for the same reason it would be hard for a fish to say something intelligent and illuminating about water: It’s everywhere; the fish is suspended within it, and it forms not just the background to its world but also permeates it from top to bottom.