In the Swarm by Byung-Chul Han

Thoughts on Byung-Chul Han's book, In the Swarm: Digital Prospects, MIT Press, 2017. #Philosophy #ByungChulHan #bookreview
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[@O.G.Rose.Michelle.and.Daniel]

Another great reflection, and I particularly like the suggestion that one's class and occupation might color their view of social media and the like. I think there is indeed the risk of the Swarm due to interconnection today, but there is also the possibility of people now who are particularity interdisciplinary and able to educated themselves for the sake of education itself, which before the internet could prove far more difficult unless you happened to be born in an upper class. Who would have ever guessed that an age would arise where I could listen to a lecture on Aristotle, then a review on Han, followed by an encounter with a new genre of music I didn't know about? Sure, there's the risk of this all being mere consumption, but there is also the possibility of a new kind of character and mode of wonder and appreciation. Is this idealistic? Perhaps, but the idealistic isn't always a dream.

[@javiphilosophy]

Ironically a lot of Byung chul han's idealistic aims, such as distance , silence, and etc, the internet makes a mockery out of them by turning them into hashtag internet challenges. Other than that , I can't help but hear underlying Buddhist sentiments such as no self , silence and isolation. In no way does his solutions feel creative in this aspect. The way you describe him, gives me the hunch that he is completely outside, he wants to oppose it directly rather than subverting it from the inside.

[@KenjiSummers]

what would you want him to do from the “inside”?

[@Lastrevio]

In The Swarm is not Han's worst book. "Hyperculture" and "The Palliative Society" are his worst. The former is just boring and repetitive. The latter has a lot of bad, exaggerated takes I disagree with.