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# Algorithms Cannot Compete With the Spectacle of Humans
- URL: https://www.jamesreeves.co/january-3-2023/
- Published: 2023-01-03T18:01:29.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-15T03:48:41.000Z
- Description: Repetition amplifies humor and pleasure.
- Author: James A. Reeves
- Tags: Notebook

Maybe it was a bum pork dumpling or a vicious stomach bug, but I’ll leave the mystery alone and simply savor my return to consciousness after thirty-six hours of being reduced to a sweaty, heaving mess. Not a very auspicious start to the new year, although it made me grateful for the things I take for granted, such as speech, digestion, and regulated body temperature.

In the grip of my delirium, I half-watched [a lousy Netflix series](https://www.netflix.com/title/80992058?ref=jamesreeves.co) that can be viewed in any order, which seems like a trial balloon for [AI-generated entertainment](https://www.vulture.com/2022/12/ai-art-midjourney-chatgpt-phenaki-movies-hollywood.html?ref=jamesreeves.co). But algorithms cannot compete with the messy spectacle of humans. This afternoon I tuned in to watch some jackass repeatedly lose the vote for House Speaker, three times as of this writing. It was a testament to the glorious stupidity of American politics and, relatedly, an extraordinarily entertaining reminder that repetition amplifies humor and pleasure. Sort of like Donald Barthelme’s very short story, *[The Schoo](https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxmaWN0aW9ud2l0aGdyZWd5d3cyMDE1fGd4OmJjNGQ1ZWE1NWI0MDBlMw&ref=jamesreeves.co)l*, which I recently revisited via George Saunders’s [Story Club](https://georgesaunders.substack.com/).