Create Dangerously

This compendium covers some of Camus’ writings and speeches in Sweden after winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. It’s brilliant, and mostly covers the role of the artist (or creative, or intellectual) in the modern era.

Camus is best here when he diagnoses the modern media age’s inclination towards speed (I’d guess Camus would use a word like “virality” were it to be available to him) and sensationalism as a highly negative influence on the creation of worthwhile expression.

He hopes for a new type of public intelligence; one that is backed by courage rather than duplicity and targeted misinformation, as the path forward.