Celebrity love

Another celebrity post? Hey, I'm on a roll today, baby. So I might as well do one more on the subject. In a terrific piece for Slate, Jacob Weisberg wonders why, oh why, are people so obsessed with the lives of celebrities? He doesn't get it. "Lacking whatever gene inclines people to tune to Inside Edition, or pick up US Weekly, or care what's up with Brad and Angelina, I have never understood," he writes. Me neither. The answer, as Weisberg proves, is -- complicated. The better theories range from envy and schadenfreude (the delight some take in the misfortune of others) to evolutionary psychology. Citing scientific theories, Weisberg notes, "Our fascination may also go deeper than positive or negative identification and feed some fundamental human craving or embedded mental structure." Meaning we're possibly hard-wired for People magazine? That's a scary thought.