{"id":1002,"date":"2016-08-23T12:50:44","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T19:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2016-08-23T13:12:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T20:12:01","slug":"why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Aren’t We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It’s All About The Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"carfreedom\"<\/a>Driverless cars are here and they work and by all accounts they make driving safer than when humans are piloting. So why aren’t they already in showrooms?<\/p>\n

Not so fast. It’s not just about whether they can be made and work and are safe. It’s about a cultural shift that will have to take place before they are successfully sold.<\/p>\n

Like anything that’s a significant part of our lives, there’s a culture around driving that isn’t just about whether it works or not. Apple watches work, but they’re hardly a must-have item, even for techies. Before driverless cars become ubiquitous, we’re going to have to change how we think about:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Safety:<\/strong>\u00a0It’s not just whether the cars are safe – tests say they are. But we’ll have to readjust our expectations of safety. Now when we get into an accident it’s either your fault or my fault. Even if accident rates are dramatically lower, who gets the blame when the inevitable injury or death happens? And let’s not even talk about the rethink of liability, insurance and premiums. Our expectations about safety are a cultural thing.<\/li>\n
  2. Independence:<\/strong> Car culture is a celebration of our independence, our ability to go anywhere and choose how and in what manner we get there. With a car doing the driving, that thrill of independence and freedom will be diminished for some. \u00a0Look at car ads and how they equate driving with\u00a0freedom. How will manufacturers make self-driving cars sexy? On the other hand, for people who for whatever reason can’t drive – older or infirmed, for example – might see the driverless car as new independence.<\/li>\n
  3. Transportation and Cities:<\/strong> Our traffic rules are written for cars with drivers. Driverless cars will change the ways cars behave and how they’re used. Uber wants self-driving cars for obvious reasons. If car transportation is on-demand, maybe fewer people will want to own cars. Cities might find the cars compete with public buses and subways and have to rethink public transportation and whether to invest in transit projects. Our need for parking might be drastically reduced. And we might be able to reduce the footprint of roads and parking lots in our cities.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Some of these changes in culture will be incremental and not obvious until they happen. Others – like how we feel<\/em> about cars – will have to happen sooner.<\/p>\n

    So the challenge for Google and other driverless car companies isn’t just to build a vehicle that works, it’s to change the way we think about the culture of cars – safety and independence and transportation. And that’s not just a marketing issue, it’s a significant shift in our culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Driverless cars are here and they work and by all accounts they make driving safer than when humans are piloting. So why aren’t they already in showrooms? Not so fast. It’s not just about whether they can be made and work and are safe. It’s about a cultural shift that will have to take place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-tech","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Driverless cars are here and they work and by all accounts they make driving safer than when humans are piloting. So why aren’t they already in showrooms? Not so fast. It’s not just about whether they can be made and work and are safe. It’s about a cultural shift that will have to take place […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"diacritical\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/douglas.mclennan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"287\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Douglas McLennan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Douglas McLennan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Douglas McLennan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d02ffc528ab013471a8c852bbf6fab9\"},\"headline\":\"Why Aren’t We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It’s All About The Culture\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"arts & tech\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\",\"name\":\"Why Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1\",\"width\":600,\"height\":287},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Aren’t We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It’s All About The Culture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/\",\"name\":\"diacritical\",\"description\":\"Douglas McLennan's blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ArtsJournal\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/unnamed1.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/wordpress\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/unnamed1.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"ArtsJournal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/douglas.mclennan\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7d02ffc528ab013471a8c852bbf6fab9\",\"name\":\"Douglas McLennan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Douglas McLennan\"},\"description\":\"I'm the editor of ArtsJournal.com\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artsjournal.com\\\/diacritical\\\/author\\\/dmclennan\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical","og_description":"Driverless cars are here and they work and by all accounts they make driving safer than when humans are piloting. So why aren’t they already in showrooms? Not so fast. It’s not just about whether they can be made and work and are safe. It’s about a cultural shift that will have to take place […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html","og_site_name":"diacritical","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/douglas.mclennan","article_published_time":"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":287,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Douglas McLennan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Douglas McLennan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html"},"author":{"name":"Douglas McLennan","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#\/schema\/person\/7d02ffc528ab013471a8c852bbf6fab9"},"headline":"Why Aren’t We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It’s All About The Culture","datePublished":"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html"},"wordCount":476,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","articleSection":["arts & tech"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html","url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html","name":"Why Aren't We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It's All About The Culture - diacritical","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","datePublished":"2016-08-23T19:50:44+00:00","dateModified":"2016-08-23T20:12:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","width":600,"height":287},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/why-arent-we-driving-self-driving-cars-yet-its-all-about-the-culture.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Aren’t We Driving Self-Driving Cars Yet? It’s All About The Culture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/","name":"diacritical","description":"Douglas McLennan's blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#organization","name":"ArtsJournal","url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/unnamed1.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/unnamed1.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"ArtsJournal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/douglas.mclennan"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/#\/schema\/person\/7d02ffc528ab013471a8c852bbf6fab9","name":"Douglas McLennan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f81e9ed89c5512eeb27d2dad655570ea9bdaa1d3deb57844c9c6849df5e41776?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Douglas McLennan"},"description":"I'm the editor of ArtsJournal.com","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical"],"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/author\/dmclennan"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/carfreedom.jpg?fit=600%2C287&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-ga","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":577,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2015\/04\/why-is-my-hotel-following-me-ah-its-big-data.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":0},"title":"Why Is My Hotel Following Me? (Ah, It’s Big Data)","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"April 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The hotel I stayed at in San Diego last month has been following me around for weeks. Seriously, it\u2019s getting annoying - a one-night-stand that refuses to recede gracefully into memory. Everywhere I go on the web, it\u2019s there waiting for me, promising me a \u201cgreat location\u00a0in the center of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"hotel-clipart-hotel-sleeping-accomodation-clip-art-black-white-md","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/hotel-clipart-hotel-sleeping-accomodation-clip-art-black-white-md.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1161,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/09\/man-down-weve-lost-andrew-sullivan-the-battle-for-the-real-world-is-coming-for-you.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":1},"title":"Man Down! We’ve Lost Andrew Sullivan: The Battle For The Real World Is Coming For You","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"September 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Is reality just a construct of the online world or is the online world merely an overlay on reality? Every new technological advance that extends our reach also imposes previously unnecessary decisions about how and whether to use it.","rel":"","context":"In "arts & tech"","block_context":{"text":"arts & tech","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Information-Overload.jpg?fit=840%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Information-Overload.jpg?fit=840%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Information-Overload.jpg?fit=840%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Information-Overload.jpg?fit=840%2C425&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":978,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/when-all-the-culture-around-us-starts-to-look-the-same.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":2},"title":"When All The Culture Around Us Starts To Look The Same","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"August 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the biggest comforts of fast food is its familiarity. Generic from location to location, you know not only what the food will be and how it will taste, but that the ritual of the experience will be familiar too. It isn't that fast food people are necessarily unadventurous;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "arts & tech"","block_context":{"text":"arts & tech","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"4462311122_2fdf344e60_b","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/4462311122_2fdf344e60_b-1024x451.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/4462311122_2fdf344e60_b-1024x451.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/4462311122_2fdf344e60_b-1024x451.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/4462311122_2fdf344e60_b-1024x451.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3209,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2026\/01\/aj-chronicles-this-week-in-the-great-culture-shift.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":3},"title":"AJ Chronicles: This Week in the Great Culture Shift","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, ArtsJournal looked at thousands of stories and collected 118 stories across culture. This is one person's attempt to make sense of them.","rel":"","context":"In "AJ Chronicles"","block_context":{"text":"AJ Chronicles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/aj-chronicles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/framework-3328434_1280-2.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/framework-3328434_1280-2.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/framework-3328434_1280-2.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/framework-3328434_1280-2.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2586,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2022\/06\/the-undertow-the-high-flying-oil-industry-fears-demand-destruction-should-the-arts.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":4},"title":"The UnderTow: The High-flying Oil Industry fears “Demand Destruction.” Should the Arts?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"June 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Oil prices are at a record high. And profits are rolling in. But there's an intriguing phenomenon in the oil industry called \"demand destruction.\" It means when prices get too high for too long, consumers invest in alternatives and don't return. The arts have faced their own version of demand\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "culture business models"","block_context":{"text":"culture business models","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/culture-business-models"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/apocalypse-ga65c29138_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/apocalypse-ga65c29138_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/apocalypse-ga65c29138_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/apocalypse-ga65c29138_1280-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":702,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/01\/five-picks-stories-from-this-weeks-artsjournal.html","url_meta":{"origin":1002,"position":5},"title":"FIVE PICKS: Stories From This Week’s ArtsJournal","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to our weekly \"best of\" ArtsJournal. These aren't necessarily the most important of the 156 stories we found this week, but they particularly caught our eye. Your #AllWhiteOscars Controversy Primer The biggest flurry of stories this week was the reaction to last week's Oscars nominations, where for the second\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Weekly AJ Top Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/oscars.jpg?fit=580%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/oscars.jpg?fit=580%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/oscars.jpg?fit=580%2C350&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}