We speak often in the New Model sphere about scanning and sensing rather than reading—communication through vibes. Peli Grietzer is a comparative literature PhD (Harvard) who has spent over a decade developing a rigorous theory of what a “vibe" actually is, how the ineffable feelings we increasingly use to navigate our world in fact exist as empirical objects in mathematical space. On this episode, Peli joins NM to talk about his work for a more general audience.

For more: @peligrietzer (x)

Substack: Second Balcony

3 KEY POINTS

What is the difference between a “vibe” and an “aesthetic”? Whereas an aesthetic is recognizable (ex, Frutiger Aero) a vibe is generative. Unlike an aesthetic, a vibe has an internal space (like a world) and can tell you the meaningful relationships among all the things within it. It offers a “way of seeing” that you can apply back to reality.

Vibes, being ineffable, elude explanation; they exceed full articulation in human language. Yet explanation is being replaced by management in our current media era. Algorithmic and ML-enabled media don’t dissect and analyze vibes, they shepherd, instrumentalize, and replicate them. “The ineffable is being containerized.”

What is the relationship between humans detecting “same energy” and a model’s processing of a vibe-concept in high-dimensional space? While AI systems are extraordinarily competent vibe operators — they can read, extend, combine, and generate within vibes with great fluency — they may be constitutionally incapable of more. Specifically, they may be incapable of recognizing when a vibe has run its course and it’s time to break with it; incapable of the dialectical move that separated actual art from slop.

BONUS:

XG “Woke Up” official video & live

XG “4 Seasons” official video

XG “Gala” official video & dance practice

NM 92 | Scholar Peli Grietzer updates his 2017 “Theory of Vibe” (2026)