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Did Adorno think the effects of mass culture were uniform, or universal? In what way are its effects always the same?

The intellectual enjoying a detective novel is meant to "escape his own ego, seeking happiness in his identification with the unarticulated mob"; he is "delivered up to others" "disintegrating" so that he becomes comic and a worthless comic at that (as he "takes the side of those who laugh").

So says The Philosophy of New Music in drawing a parallel to Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka and its "fairground scene" orchestra. Without second guessing the answer, I wondered whether standardised responses to mass culture disintegrate everyone who engages in it, if the above is a standardised response, etc..

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  • what's the difference between 'uniform' and 'universal'?
    – Dennis Kozevnikoff
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 20:19
  • nothing @DennisKozevnikoff here. the comma was meant to show they mean the same
    – user64727
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 21:53
  • if that's the reason for the downvote @DennisKozevnikoff then please do reverse it ell.stackexchange.com/questions/192584/…
    – user64727
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 22:04
  • yes i did give you a downvote because i find your question confusing. i still don't understand it. effects being uniform / universal, and effects being the same? the same as what? what is the example supposed to illustrate?
    – Dennis Kozevnikoff
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 22:09
  • if effects are universal / uniform across all people, then it effects are the same for everyone. i don't understand what the issue is here @DennisKozevnikoff the example is meant to be an example of how people respond to the mass culture. what is there not to get?
    – user64727
    Commented Feb 17, 2023 at 22:10

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