As Heidegger would put it—in a way he learned from Augustine—I am absorbed by “everydayness”; I give myself over to those “producers of bustling activity” who are more than happy to take the burden of selfhood off my hands.16 We learn to forget our alienation by letting ourselves be taken over by the distractions and entertainments and chatter of the world. We trade one sort of self-alienation for another that gives the illusion of homey comfort: “You belong here” is the lie told to us by everyone from Disney to Vegas. We try to cover up not knowing who we are by letting everyone else sell us
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