Byung-Chul Han, born in Seoul, is Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK). One of the most widely read philosophers in Europe, he is the author of more than twenty books, including In the Swarm: Digital Prospects and The Agony of Eros, both part of the MIT Press Untimely Meditations series.
The shitstorm represents an authentic phenomenon of digital communication. -- from In the Swarm
Digital communication and social media have taken over our lives. In this contrarian reflection on digitized life, Byung-Chul Han counters the cheerleaders for Twitter revolutions and Facebook activism by arguing that digital communication is in fact responsible for the disintegration of community and public space and is slowly eroding any possibility for real political action and meaningful political discourse. In the predigital, analog era, by the time an angry letter to the editor had been composed, mailed, and received, the immediate agitation had passed. Today, digital communication enables instantaneous, impulsive reaction, meant to express and stir up outrage on the spot. "The shitstorm," writes Han, "represents an authentic phenomenon of digital communication."
Meanwhile, the public, the senders and receivers of these communications have become a digital swarm -- not a mass, or a crowd, or Negri and Hardt's antiquated notion of a "multitude," but a set of isolated individuals incapable of forming a "we," incapable of calling dominant power relations into question, incapable of formulating a future because of an obsession with the present. The digital swarm is a fragmented entity that can focus on individual persons only in order to make them an object of scandal.
Han, one of the most widely read philosophers in Europe today, describes a society in which information has overrun thought, in which the same algorithms are employed by Facebook, the stock market, and the intelligence services. Democracy is under threat because digital communication has made freedom and control indistinguishable. Big Brother has been succeeded by Big Data.
發表於2024-09-07
In the Swarm 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載
圖書標籤: 韓柄哲 群體 哲學 政治 德國 digital-age
書中稱,數字通信逐漸使政治成為不可能。 他認為,健康的政治辯論基於尊重,這就要求參與辯論者在精神上保持一定的距離:“公民社會需要以尊重的態度遠離他人隱私。”但數字連接會縮短這種距離。對新聞發錶經過深思熟慮的公開評論,或是未瞭解全部事實就衝動地發布個人言論,這兩者大相徑庭,但社交媒體模糊瞭兩者的差異;它鼓勵並放大瞭最極端的情感錶達。 當新聞和每個人內心深處之間有瞭一條雙嚮的直接通道時,其結果(可能事後纔會明瞭)並不是更容易達成共識或解決問題,而是每一個有公眾分歧的話題都會迅速演變成心理劇。 社會公共領域要想良好運轉,也依賴於大眾能夠共享事實,然後以此作為解決人們意見和分歧的穩定基礎。但是,現在信息大量過剩,且信息本身也是根據用戶數據篩選過的,在這樣的基礎上,事實共享很快就不存在瞭。
評分書中稱,數字通信逐漸使政治成為不可能。 他認為,健康的政治辯論基於尊重,這就要求參與辯論者在精神上保持一定的距離:“公民社會需要以尊重的態度遠離他人隱私。”但數字連接會縮短這種距離。對新聞發錶經過深思熟慮的公開評論,或是未瞭解全部事實就衝動地發布個人言論,這兩者大相徑庭,但社交媒體模糊瞭兩者的差異;它鼓勵並放大瞭最極端的情感錶達。 當新聞和每個人內心深處之間有瞭一條雙嚮的直接通道時,其結果(可能事後纔會明瞭)並不是更容易達成共識或解決問題,而是每一個有公眾分歧的話題都會迅速演變成心理劇。 社會公共領域要想良好運轉,也依賴於大眾能夠共享事實,然後以此作為解決人們意見和分歧的穩定基礎。但是,現在信息大量過剩,且信息本身也是根據用戶數據篩選過的,在這樣的基礎上,事實共享很快就不存在瞭。
評分The illusory freedom in the digital age only leads to autoexploitation.
評分書中稱,數字通信逐漸使政治成為不可能。 他認為,健康的政治辯論基於尊重,這就要求參與辯論者在精神上保持一定的距離:“公民社會需要以尊重的態度遠離他人隱私。”但數字連接會縮短這種距離。對新聞發錶經過深思熟慮的公開評論,或是未瞭解全部事實就衝動地發布個人言論,這兩者大相徑庭,但社交媒體模糊瞭兩者的差異;它鼓勵並放大瞭最極端的情感錶達。 當新聞和每個人內心深處之間有瞭一條雙嚮的直接通道時,其結果(可能事後纔會明瞭)並不是更容易達成共識或解決問題,而是每一個有公眾分歧的話題都會迅速演變成心理劇。 社會公共領域要想良好運轉,也依賴於大眾能夠共享事實,然後以此作為解決人們意見和分歧的穩定基礎。但是,現在信息大量過剩,且信息本身也是根據用戶數據篩選過的,在這樣的基礎上,事實共享很快就不存在瞭。
評分Unusually readable book from a german philosopher. (1) The swarm vs. the mass (a la Le Bon) distinction is refreshing. The sward congregates through a mediated anonymous platform but not the mass. The swarm is fleeting and cannot be a force in class struggle. (2) If digitization is communication, tactility and physicality are lost. No Clever Hans.
In the Swarm 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載