On the Governance of Loss

Freud and McGowan speak of the primacy of loss, or its inherent relevance in how we navigate interests and derive satisfaction. Loss, they say, is a method of injecting value. If everything is great, then nothing is. McGowan uses the example of rooting for a sports team, but I’d posit that it’s equally applicable to the modes of interaction we use on social media. I’ve often remarked to people in my social circles that Twitter is a “field of landmines.” Before you stretches acres upon acres of entrancing grassland, but beneath the calf-high blades are snakes waiting to bite. It’s unpredictable, is what I’m getting at, and you have no way of foretelling the value of the content you consume. That, in itself, is a facet of enjoyment. What fun would a feed be if everything you saw made you feel the exact same way? Sometimes, something viscerally upsets you in a most unique fashion. Sometimes, something necessitates a deep, entrancing introspection. These are the periodic interruptions in a stream of otherwise unchanging content. It’s not loss in the traditional sense, but it derives a similar sense of satisfaction.