jnd5000

I think it's more than theatre. We know theatre is fiction, and we think of it as fiction as we consume it. Kayfabe is weirder, more nuanced. As we watch wrestling, we simultaneously hold two visions in our heads that are logically opposed: the spectacle is real and the spectacle is fake. We know the fakery makes it more compelling. But if we admit that it's fake, it loses its power.

This willing suspension of disbelief -- or resistance to disenchantment, if you will -- is so central to professional wrestling there's actually a slang term the professional wrestling community uses to describe it: kayfabe. It's a pretty fantastic concept that describes a lot of social psychology beyond pro wrestling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe

There's a great novel, _Red Plenty_, by Francis Spufford, that touches on Soviet computing in the 50s and 60s as part of a broader exploration of Soviet economic planning. I wish more people would read it. It's a weird hybrid of reportage and fiction -- and almost seems science fictional in its world building. Here's a link to the Guardian's review: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/aug/08/red-plenty-fran...