Found this over here after stopping by for donuts over here, and got to thinking how much this take on academic calvinism reminds me of the blog world. There would not be, as once upon a time there was not, a weblog elect class if not for the misplaced idolitry of weblog believers.
Do you too see an a-list parallel in the following?
Calvinist beliefs in predestination led believers to distinguish between the elect and the preterite - those who were destined to go to heaven, and those who were destined to go to hell. Because it was impossible to be sure whether they were going to ascend to paradise or to burn, Calvinists sought evidence that they were favoured by God through accumulating goods without consuming them. If you did well in worldly affairs, you could take this as a sign of God’s favour.
Translation Key
Elect = Self-identified (or at least non-protesting) A-Listers
Preterite = The rest
Heaven = More than 1,500 hits per day
Hell = Fewer than 50 hits per day
Goods = Links, search engine results, mentions in mainstream articles about blogging
Without consuming them = without linking to "the rest."
God = Technorati, google, dave winer
Wordly Affairs = Book contract or academic fellowship
The Calvinist illusion is that luck has nothing to do with it - markets reward virtue. Success in selling your wares is the only necessary proof of one’s innate superiority.
