What does any of this have to do with Burning Man?
14
So interesting reading all of your thoughts. Would love for you all to come to one of these and see how you feel. Sending you love <3
7
Isn't there an overpriced app for this yet?
7
Put the dateline as sometime in the 1970's and insert redwood hot-tubs in Marin for 'songversation in Sili Valley". It's amazing how far we haven't come.
12
Do you know what I did during my mid-life crisis? I felt a karmic compulsion to pick up litter. Every day for six months, I went for a walk in the neighbourhood with a trash bag on my hip and picked up litter. I also spent time getting to know the guys at the local hobo camp and started helping a few of them to get services, ir maybe just a shower and a shot at a few hours work.
Dancing and singing is lovely but, come on.
25
Ugh. Does anyone else find this sycophantic article about tech entrepreneurs who have discovered that there's a life outside the office only with the help of a professional party girl disturbing?
I don't want to know these people. I don't want to party with them. I don't want to buy their products. I don't want to see them half naked and gyrating. I don't think they're doing anything to Make the World a Better Place. I certainly don't think they're spiritual; they're the worst materialists on the planet.
45
This is exactly how you end up in a cult, so Ms. Magic, I beg of you:
please take ALL of the tech-bros. We neither need nor want them to keep making Twitters and Facebooks, so they're all yours.
29
Nice work if you can get it . . .
3
I sure miss Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.
9
Sadder than the fact that these human shells think an elite evening of curated mindfulness is actually connecting to society is the fact that a journalist would understand so little about Burning Man — where in its earlier incarnation you committed significant time in advance to creative input and community building, and for which an entire new infrastructure had to be created — that the analogy would seem to be not a comical misunderstanding of the pay-for-enlightenment set but actually apt.
10
Isn't this what we did freshman year of college?
14
Don't forget that some of these titans managed to get past 30 years old and still think Ayn Rand is worth reading.
20
This article reminds me of the last days of the Roman Empire. People who have somehow lost their soul trying desperately to find it in others. I hope this stays on the west coast where it belongs.
27
Burning Man, but in a swanky apartment... that's not ironic at all.
21
The worst week of the year in Reno is the week before Burning Man. The best week of the year in San Francisco is the week of Burning Man.
23
Any comparison of these people having a house party to Burning Man is absolutely ridiculous.
11
Oh come on, let them have their songversations!
We're all just humans trying to make sense of the world. They're taking a goofy approach, but are they hurting anyone? Even rich people who go to ridiculous parties deserve empathy.
6
No.....Actually they don't...
21
Burning Man crashed and burned years ago. Today it's a just a "were you there?" ritual for hucksters and wannabes.
15
I am surprised they use their real names. Kinda like a bad tattoo in your 20's. By the the time you hit your late 40s and 50s seems not a good idea to show anyone. They might regret this NYT expose.
15
Sorry. That isn't Burning Man.
5
"The only thing new in this world is the history we haven't read yet." [Truman]
Technology may have changed, but people and the relationships we have with ourselves and others haven't.
The wisdom of scriptures thousands of years old remains a guide to the outcomes of choices we make.
In the realm of relationships, it's all happened before.
Sages try to share what they learned in writings, but connecting past words with contemporary meaning is difficult.
[What have you experienced and how clearly can you write?]
A few decades ago, I sought to escape the failure of a toxic relationship and tried a Bible-based retreat.
I met a prodigal son who had wasted himself with drugs until he came to himself and returned to a father who had been forced to sell his company, yet continued to work in the company he once owned so his son would have a place he could return to, which he did.
I met a woman who had nurtured a man back to mental health only to see him return to the toxic relationship that nearly destroyed him. She sought to restore her trust in people.
Another woman sought to find herself and the dignity she lost under the influence of the loose values of an affluent community.
All came with contrition and learned we were not alone;
there are people who care;
and the world isn't as exploitive as it may seem.
The weekend ended with singing -- and the realization that we were singing psalms just as they had been sung thousands of years earlier with drums and guitar.
Home.
8
It's like trying to buy street cred. Unfortunately, artificial guilt free environments are exactly that.
Perhaps next year they can all attend a, "Good help is so hard to find!" party?
8
I miss the Sixties! That was real!
7
The hippie scene is an ideal abstraction that the consciousness needs, but I find it’s 85% of the time just fluff and near-psychotic ramblings of weirdism’s tenets and practitioners. That last 15% though, is exactly what we all need to improve and elevate, well, everything. Gypsies are forever, forever weaving their travels and knowing pearls into our niches, despite the mainstreams’ disapproval or shunning (except in Cali). If they are stumbing into the homes of our tech leaders during the the last gasps of failing capitalism (a finite world can’t sustain infinite growth), then its for a reason - they are the guides guiding the mainstream guides, the shaman to the rulers of old (and now new). Elon watches the weird hippie and in this momentary abstraction of higher ideals... he gets some insights. Insights he will parlay into our lives in a few dacades.
God bless the hippies. They always were onto something.
8
Was not the cupidity and gullibility of the idle rich sufficiently well documented in "Down and Out in Beverley Hills"? Where's Nick Nolte when you need him?
14
The problem isn't that the participants chose to interact with this kind of thing. The problem is they allowed the NYT to document it. Seeking a selfless, interconnectedness while simultaneously selling it out is hilarious. But only hilarious. The moral outrage of some of the commenters is ridiculous. The New Protestant movement is still in full effect.
12
One does not simply recreate Burning Man inside one's living room.
16
"The salons usually start with a theme — say, the emptiness of consumer culture."
I can't think of a better topic for tech CEOs, and CEOs generally - it really should be the ONLY topic they consider.
21
How to do good: Support people who don't have access to food, clothing, or shelter; go to drug parties
Which of these things is not like the other?
48
Playtime masquerading as opening the doors of awareness to make it feel like something more. It's the same thing that every body seeks when they are tired of work and want to feel relief for and some sense of mental refreshment. It works for those who get together for a bike ride or to socialize over drinks after work or go off to a yoga or karate class. Burning Man seems to symbolize some kind of boundless place where there are no constraints no obligations to anyone where one can do anything and never be responsible for any consequences because one is in a place which absolutely nobody values seriously. It's like being a kid on summer vacation with no adults around.
7
Is it still okay to do Plug N Play at Burning Man? 'Cause all my board members want to go and camp out for the week , but they want other ppl to do most of the heavy lifting for them while they attend the parties...
4
And these are the people that we're entrusting with our time, our sensitive financial information, and our economic future? Valueless empty vessels, who need a charaltan to get them in touch with their inner-child? I'd like them to get in touch with their inner-adult and start working on solutions to social problems instead of building dopamine-manipulating tech that does a lot to gut our very social fabric. I wish this article were the joke that it appears to be.
68
These logic-bound techies need this shaking up to find new approaches and reminders of higher values (and humanism). I get what you’re saying, but I think this is good, a jolt in their psyche in the right direction. In the surface it appears ridiculous (even to me), but it serves something desperately needed in the brains of these powerful people. A mild kind of LSD, if you will, without the risk.
2
Vacuous individuals like these have been participating in all kinds of made-to-order cosmic pseudo-events for decades now. So far I'm not seeing any evidence of "desperately needed" changes in the "brains of these powerful people." To the contrary, I just see fake enlightenment and easily had guilt reduction as one more of their fashionable recreational indulgences.
Suggestions for the tech-world Masters Of The Universe: perhaps go volunteer in a soup kitchen? Habitat for Humanity? No-strings-attached monetary gifts to some real (not charter or for-profit) institutions of learning? Widescale, simultaneous micro-loans to hardworking but still assetless individuals?
I have a recurring dream where all of these infantile narcissists join each other on the first recreational joyride to Mars, but then the entire flotilla of ships is lost in space, tragically, forever. I wake up right after Musk and Thiel are the the first survivors to soberly propose cannibalism as the only obviously correct Randian thing to do.
"The salons usually start with a theme — say, the emptiness of consumer culture."
The irony. These party-goers are decorated with the latest in consumer culture.
35
deep deep irony - "adding extra zeros in their bank accounts" because they leverage and exploit the consumer culture, so they can afford to have private hippie lessons to relax from earning so much money.
10
Instead of a play date with their inner child, why aren’t these uber paychecked tech heads getting out into their community to put some of their much lauded zeal, drive, money and smarts towards solving the enormous housing problem and income disparity issue that surrounds them and which they are to a large degree responsible for. Enough with the articles about quirky and self indulgent Silicon Valley behavior and photo essays on the social media in crowd at Burning Man-report on the huge social impact this industry is having on its community.
35
It's been said that there are more vacant homes than homeless people.
If supply and demand prevailed, would home prices be drastically lower?
Do federal insurance programs compensate banks for derelict homes rather than underwater homes to artificially buoy up remaining real estate?
1
Court of Versailles
28
That is exsactly what this is. I've been a burner for a long time and am proud to call the playa home but this.. this is not what being a burner is about.
6
“The salons usually start with a theme — say, the emptiness of consumer culture”.
Absolutely laughable, considering that the enormous wealth and privilege these titans of technology enjoy are completely dependent upon consumer culture. Hypocrisy much?
46
"The salons usually start with a theme — say, the emptiness of consumer culture."
Of which these invitation-only A-list entrepreneurs have a huge part in promoting! More pretentious 'Goop'-style drivel. My "inner child" can't stop laughing.
25
I'm with you, sister, but my "inner child can't stop" throwing up after reading this.
6
I think this is wonderful.......but nothing new. We did similar in the 60s except for the drugs which were in abundance then. I am all for anything that gives people the chance to be authentic and human with themselves and eachother.......,
5
Well, at least they aren't out screaming hateful things in people's faces. Could be worse.
12
Whatever the 'tech elites' and the NYT may say, this has nothing to do with Burning Man. BM was made by a bunch of oddball SF artists and weirdos; and the bigger and more 'techie' it gets, the less it actually exists. It's so big now that it barely exists at all - thanks to people like these.
17
Nervous? I'd be nervous too. Ms. Magic this is your fifteen minutes of fame. Make the most it.
To all you gyrating techies, Lincoln Center could use some of your excessive cash for their sagging infrastructure, dance and music programs.
How 'bout donating after your souls have been uplifted?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/01/arts/lincoln-center-troubles.html
19
Let's stop for a second -- roll your eyes back down, and clear the acid from your throat -- and see that this is another situation where people are feeling increasingly disconnected from themselves and each other and find solace and meaning in these seemingly ridiculous groups. It's goofy and embarrassing to lots to read about, but also a sign of an expanding loneliness and insecurity that's seeping through our contemporary culture.
16
Would you have preferred they spend four hours with 80,000 other people screaming at a football game they have nothing to do with?
People are allowed to do what they enjoy.
4
Todd--I don't think you read Jeff's comment in its entirety before you replied. He's not criticizing these rich techies for their gatherings; he's lamenting the alienation that makes the gatherings necessary.
This happens to me all the time when I post on a message board: Someone who clearly hasn't read or understood my entire comment posts a cutting (they think, anyway) retort.
We can't have a discussion without listening to each other.
2
Next time someone asks why I stopped going to Burning Man, I’ll have a handy primer.
11
So this is what you do when you have more money than you know what to do with? Hmmmm.
8
KInda makes Trump look like a normal guy.
5
Timothy Leary and David Mancuso’s Revenge
2
Ew. Must be nice to be a superficial overgrown club kid, but a life about increasing your "value" is a life about decreasing your "integrity."
7
why is it that the first historical reference that comes to my mind in respect of this ... folly? ... is Marie Antoinette's Hameau de la Rein?
4
Hmm. Burlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties?
How exotic.
3
"Enterprising woman sells spiritual validation to people with more money than time"
There's actually some interesting congruence with this crap and evangelical madness.
Whatever helps them sleep at night I guess. *shrug*
8
Sometimes, an agglomeration economy just isn’t enough.
5
fear not. i doubt they're sharing it with, opening it to or even exposing it publicly to we groundlings of the hoi polloi, citizen
5
So guests are "invited to contribute"? Hmm. It would be helpful if the article provided some actual figures for what Ms Magic makes, and how these "gifts" get reported to the IRS.
14
If New Yorkers and Californians need a reason to understand why the rest of the country can't stand us, this right here is the answer. Billionaires playing the victim that nobody likes them and they're "lonely at the top" so lets act like a bunch of weirdo's to show we have emotions. I seriously thought this article was from The Onion. Thank for the laugh NYT.
110
I know a billionaire who likes to play victim all day every day from behind his bulletproof phone screen.
7
At least Burning Man has the decency to locate itself in the desert where it won't bother anyone, save for the scorpions and snakes who know how to defend themselves if things get too annoying.
30
How sad people have to do this to feel connected...
15
I find this article hard to believe and sensational. I mean, it sounds like maybe there were a couple goofy parties, and not one location is named except for Chelsea in NYC. I think tying these "soul salons" exclusively to Silicon Valley billionaires a bit of a stretch - long on anecdotes and short on facts.
14
Sounds like a cult leader preying on tech workers. Can happen to anybody.
20
I’m sorry but I can’t see a connection to Burning Man. Unlike Burning Man, these Salons are programmed, and have a facilitator. Where are the Burning Man principles of radical self-reliance, communal effort, civic responsibility or radical inclusion, for instance? Burning Man offers low income tickets and I doubt that is the case for “Soul Salons.” The Salons sound right for their stated purpose and surely serve a need for the attendees but please avoid the comparison to Burning Man.
From Playa name “Kronos” )*( . See you in the dust.
7
Agreed. It's also not really New Age.
3
Don't forget the leave no trace policy.
So agree.
It is hard to come by a feeling of connection if the next day you and your acquaintances are going to be trying to eat each other.
14
I could get behind this IF the music was actually good and innovative. So much for being taste makers...
The writer may have done some homework and noted that Burning Man itself sprung from the Tech world in S.F. in the late 80's and early 90's.
One of the first references I read on it was a Wired magazine article in 92' or so. It related how Burning man started where the Tech and Art worlds crossed in performance art themed loft parties backed by House and Electronic music in San Francisco industrial spaces. It spread out to the desert from there.
6
Not true.
3
@rita- "Burning Man" itself as we know it wasn't happening in these lofts but many of the original attendees, d.j.'s, dancers, artists, fighting fire-breathing robot builders etc. were certainly involved in the San Fran/Oakland loft culture of the day. Many of them were from the late 80's tech-world of silicon valley at the time enabling some to have the cash and smarts to build such robots, sound systems and art.
I knew some these people and nearly went to the early burns but never made it out.
Glad the wealthy can nurture their souls while Rome burns. Hedonistic, vain-glorious infants with money and power: just what I wanted to read about in the paper today.
48
Anyone should do anything to make themselves feel better, more connected etc. However, thinking that this is “Burning Man” is like listening to a cassette recording of Wagner and thinking you have experienced a Ring Series. Do your thing, have fun but one should not compare and feel you’ve “been more or less there or equivalent” (either from participant or reporter driven viewpoint). If you want to have a burning man experience go to burning man. We don’t bite....except if asked nicely.
9
This is yet another reason I will never live in California.
2
:) I have lived in LA and SF and they are reasons I would never live in Atlanta. Two more are the bugs and the humidity!:))
6
Looks like another excuse to take ecstasy-or what ever else there using in NYC today.
5
I just read of an arrest today of "Trump Ecstasy" in Indiana. Someone had repackaged the drug into orange pills that look like Trump.
1
I'm nearly certain that this self-absorbed group of wealthy individuals have orchestrated, through their influence with the NYT, this whole ridiculous spectacle. No, it doesn't make you any more deep in my eyes; it just makes them roll heavily.
23
Somewhere out there in the Great Ether, Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, Stark Naked and Jerry Garcia are rolling on the cosmic floor barely able to contain themselves.
27
When I read stuff like this I think, "Well, this country has had a great run."
48
I hope they put the mirror down long enough to vote
57
I am not sure I want them to vote. Besides, there aren't enough of them to matter vote-wise.
9
If "tech elites" are looking to fill a spiritual void, why don't they work on a solution to entrenched homelessness in San Francisco, tutor kids in the public schools or volunteer in a nursing home rather than floating through the night in a pseudobohemian Silicon Valley disco?
104
Nothing like trying to find meaning where there is none....Eh?
15
So, they had a party? Big deal.
29
There are people dying every day for want of a band-aid. And then there are people like these... Whatever.
67
Soul? Silicon Valley? Does not compute.
19
Credulous, sycophantic, name dropping articles about the frivolous antics of the pseudo elite like this do more to undercut the Time's credibility on serious issues than a month of broadsides from the trolls at Breitbart and Fox.
46
I think you are being a bit harsh. The tone of this article strikes me as droll ridicule, and God knows the subject deserves to be laughed at.
6
No offense, but these people are clowns that should be separated from their money and made to live in the real world.
20
Naturally, the crowds at these things are virtually 100% white.
33
A spiritual Xanax for the rich. How does it feel like one wonders? “ It’s like drugs, without taking anything.”
7
As Lawn Guy Land's favorite son once said: "Ain't ya heard about the New Sound, honey? All ya need are looks or a whole lotta money."
10
They just look silly. And makes me glad I am staying home planning my trip ..
6
Hippies never die; they are just reincarnated with more expensive home furnishings and less self awareness.
28
1960’s northern CA. What’s old is new again.
5
Is this really a thing? In Silicon Valley, there's the every-Sunday Ecstatic Dance in Palo Alto, but nothing like this regularly. I'm not sure this is a trend or steady event. But it's a fun story.
"The salons usually start with a theme — say, the emptiness of consumer culture."
...and then, post-salon, the enlightened tech elite return to their mission of harvesting our data, selling us the latest gadget we don't actually need, and getting us addicted to an infinitely expanding number of apps...
147
Didion's "Where the Kissing Never Stops" (1966) for today's tech elite.
10
Omigod. It looks more like a be-in in Golden Gate Park , or a disco party at Studio 54, only the promoter booked someone else other than the Grateful Dead or Donna Summers for the entertainment.
11
There have been many a gathering by religious groups and others down through the ages, that have set up a system where; ''guests are invited to contribute in accordance with the value they feel they received” .
It certainly doesn't hurt when you start off by having your ''clientele'' or guests being billionaires.
Don't get me wrong, I wish Ms. Magic et al, all the happiness and fulfillment chasing in the world. I think that the answer is obvious though, and that is no matter what extreme (and obscene) wealth you may have accumulated, the meaning of life is not likely going to be found in the decimal points of your bank account.
Nor are they going to be found in front of a stage.
36
What is with the “tech elites” and the NYT? Last year the newspaper reported on tech workers eating carrots at the Esalen Institute. The photo showed a bunch of these workers walking aimlessly while trying to resist checking their smart phones. Now, we’re treated to more goofy photos showing people appearing ridiculous.
In my day, I met my co-workers for happy hour and bad appetizers until we all got families or jobs working from home. I hope the NYT follows this story with an in-depth report about how some people, after work, play fetch with their dog, watch their kids play soccer, and cook dinner.
131
Between the body guards, publicists, and other armies of "protectors" on the bench, t's too difficult to get to real celebrities making idiots of themselves (a la the days of Studio 54 and Be-Ins), so this is the next best thing the NYTs and other media get to documenting the rich ridiculous.
1
That would not be sensational enough.
It’s like the ‘70’s for rich people...
76
This actually makes me happy not to be young.
94
Totally!
4
I cannot agree with you more.
2
The "tech elite" have officially jumped the shark...
48