Symptoms of Schizo Society II, Professor Ian Buchanan, University of Wollongong скачать в хорошем качестве

Symptoms of Schizo Society II, Professor Ian Buchanan, University of Wollongong

Second Distinguished Lecture on Social Theory “Symptoms of Schizo Society” Professor Ian Buchanan, Director, Institute of Social Transformation, University of Wollongong I propose that the changes to society initiated by the digital revolution can be understood in terms of schizophrenia. I argue that there are four symptoms that suggest this diagnosis: 1. De-centering of the ‘I’: we can no longer totalise/control the competing subjectivities/voices in our heads. Wants have become needs (shopping) and needs have become optional (climate change). 2. Inability to distinguish between the merely apparent and the actual – or rather, the virtual is ‘actual’ in our heads. Triumph of the surface and superficial – the apparent is all there is, hence the success of Ikea, Disneyland and shopping malls. Manifests as fascination with indigenous ‘deep’ knowledge (territorialised desire). 3. Loss of metacommunication (Bateson). Unable to stop voices/demands and we are helpless against them. This manifests as loss of impulse control and an intense fascination with mindfulness and spirituality. Hyperstimulation produces a desire/need for anaesthetic, ie drugs, to reduce stimulation, or manage it. 4. Self-destruction seems both rational and attractive: manifests as overeating, drug abuse, sedentariness, war, climate change. 1. De-centering of the ‘I’: we can no longer totalise/control the competing subjectivities/voices in our heads. Wants have become needs (shopping) and needs have become optional (climate change). 2. Inability to distinguish between the merely apparent and the actual – or rather, the virtual is ‘actual’ in our heads. Triumph of the surface and superficial – the apparent is all there is, hence the success of Ikea, Disneyland and shopping malls. Manifests as fascination with indigenous ‘deep’ knowledge (territorialised desire). 3. Loss of metacommunication (Bateson). Unable to stop voices/demands and we are helpless against them. This manifests as loss of impulse control and an intense fascination with mindfulness and spirituality. Hyperstimulation produces a desire/need for anaesthetic, ie drugs, to reduce stimulation, or manage it. 4. Self-destruction seems both rational and attractive: manifests as overeating, drug abuse, sedentariness, war, climate change.