Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society

[@WisdomWorkshop]

"depression is symptomatic of the excess positivity that we find in acheivement society." excellent

[@stephenphillips6245]

Toxic positivity is a huge thing in western society.

[@microvvaveoven]

What does it suppose to even mean?

[@fredcraven1699]

​@@microvvaveovenpeople act fake positive the company they work for, they don't want to get fired, then they go home and feel depressed from acting fake

[@microvvaveoven]

@@fredcraven1699 Yeah, makes sense. Thanks for an explanation

[@stephenphillips6245]

Fake authenticity is a real troubled thing when it prevents true connection with others leading to an outta sync-ness which, may, eventually, manifest itself as real dis-ease. I'm getting into a little bit of the premise, "When the body says no" by Gabor Mate. But when I did my psychology degree I studied holistic psychology around the mind body connection, so Mate doesn't own the subject.

[@mr.coolmug3181]

It sounds like the story of my life. I think the only time I've ever been truly happy is walking to and from work. That's the time when I don't have to be "on": no pointless work, no phone, no computer. I don't know about anyone else but I look at the Western world, and it reminds me of a casino. It never closes, there's lots of lights and colours, and in the end you lose your money.

[@casioak1683]

LOL. I found my job meaningless not because of computer.. but because of no computer. Imagine having to work, but the company doesn't provide us with computer and office desk.

[@seancourtney9021]

"The World as Casino."😁

[@unrulycrow6299]

Same, I love walking around and wander, we have the word for that in French: flâner. This verb describes the act of a purposeful aimless wandering, done for its own sake. It brings a lot of freedom, allows the walker to stay in their head while still enjoying the world around them - at their own pace. The walker dictates the pace how how they experience their own life, by the simple act of walking around, for the pleasure of walking around.

[@thusspokezarathustra]

Spot On. The best moments of my life is the moments I 'steal' and merge myself in nature - a ordinary walk on the beach seems to sooth the mind and push away the burdens of pointless focus on task after task. If one thinks how finite our lives are and how little of those moments we create for ourselves - its pretty frightening. So I can 100% agree, as I used to cycle to work and those trips were amazing.

[@NeverTakeNoCut-offs]

Same as it ever was.. you think life in the Middle Ages was rewarding and fulfilling ??

[@mathusalen1]

For being from 2010, this book seems to map great to our current "hustle culture"

[@JJ-vp3bd]

"hustle culture" stops you from being your true self. You never have control over yourself.

[@ruben7801]

The early growth of that hustle culture was already there as hegemonic neoliberalised culture - the “you can do anything” stuff was massive in the early 2000s at least in the UK and in the long run served to make people feel solely responsible for making their own lives worthwhile. Han very astutely explored this in 2010 and the issue has developed further since

[@clemfarley7257]

Then stop hustling. I know people with 100 IQs from Bayonne who knew these basic facts of life in 1980 and they never made it out of high school. They also weren’t burned-out narcissists who needed the imprimatur of a continental philosopher to stop doing stupid things. Join a boxing gym and spar regularly. Getting punched in the face grounds you and cures a lot of ills.

[@flor.7797]

explains why he doesn’t understand video games 😅

[@agapon2023]

@@flor.7797 could you elaborate on this?

[@mervetekgurler]

Han's book has been really influential in my thinking over the past academic year, especially about my own burnout as a PhD candidate in history. Overcoming the passivity inherent in Han's conceptualization of hyperactivity is about finding the power within to say no to adding on more and more to one's plate. "If one had only the power to do (something) and no power not to do, it would lead to fatal hyperactivity." (pg. 24)

[@alex-ff1mp]

is good that you mentioned the inherent passivity in Han's concept - similar with the standard east concept of not doing anything new. Confucianism - "simply a way of life" produce stagnation, passivity, happy emptiness and humanity collapse. This pressure of maximize is hard, and painfully but as Nietzsche mentioned is the only way to be that's worth being.

[@MsObsessedwith]

as a fellow phd candidate in history, your comment made me so happy stay strong, colleague

[@tili_]

​@@alex-ff1mplet's see if "pressure to maximize" leads to humanity's collapse. probably will only lead to earth & nature's collapse. some people will thrive

[@axin9183]

Another PhD candidate in history here, stay strong people. Appreciate your comments too

[@appidydafoo]

2:41 - "Once it is able to present itself as freedom, domination becomes complete" - Byung-Chul Han - The Disappearance of Rituals

[@brianphillips8305]

When mentioning Foucoult's "Disciplinary Society" it is important to remember that his entire philosophical project was to present a historical genealogy of the Western World. In no way are Byun-Chul Han's reflections on the current "Achievement Society" exclusive of a disciplinary society and these two ways of interpreting societies are definitely not dichotomies. In other words, we can simultaneously live in a burnout society and a disciplinary society.

[@rics1883]

Well put.

[@ChartreuseDan]

Ye the obvious red flag to the possibility of dichotomy is when one thinks to themselves "there's loads of stuff I'm not legally allowed to do" 😅

[@frankdewaalirisclazing6501]

To me it seems that in the Achievement society the Discipline has been internalised.

[@rajith.d.fernando]

Korekt!

[@twix2615]

Not only this, but Foucault's later work on Biopolitics and Governmentality are pretty in line with the Achievement Society, the "entrepreneurs of ourselves" part I think Foucault literally says exactly when talking about homo economicus and neoliberalism in a lecture from "Birth of Biopolitics". And Foucault sees bioplitics' "making live and letting die" as a new form of power that exists alongside older disciplinary forms of power.

[@atsushiikeda6730]

Read most of the book after seeing this uploaded. The "lack of 'between-time'" tidbit resonated. I was in a car earlier and saw someone crossing the street wave goodbye to their friends and then immediately start looking at their phone. Which pretty much everyone does. But also makes me think that we interrupt the "interruption" or in-between time because otherwise those hyphens would be little strings of grief. Lowercase 'g,' but probably a strange grief or pseudo-grief made more alarming--if we were to sit in it or contemplate it--if, say, our phones suddenly died. Each moment of attention compulsively robbed stacks up to, I think, something like a death by a thousand swipes. P.S.: Thank you for doing what you do. It is all helpful and exciting!

[@mrmcku]

The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset writes of three times. There is "own time" where we do the things we like and want to do, there is "alien time" where we procure the means to be able to do the things we do in our "own time," and there is "in-between time" which bridges the two previous ones. He further says that mental health depends on the proper balance between those three types of time.

[@mrmcku]

@@AlexIgSmith42 If you are commuting or travelling, mostly unstructured thought if you are busy driving or, if you use public transportation, it might be reading or any other activity you might take up to pass the time. When the "in-between time" does not imply changing locations, all activities are possible.

[@busdrinker3734]

I really love how you've put this into words here, the "little strings of grief." Might have to write that down. Thank you.

[@atsushiikeda6730]

@@busdrinker3734 glad to be of service. Thank uou

[@masterxk]

Just 3 minutes in and I remember how we modify a lot of animals and plants to fit our expectations and goals of production and productivity. I thinks there's no untouched nature left to preserve. We have just found microplastic in every single ecosystem.

[@luisd5098]

Damn I've never heard of this book. I agree that society is so obsessed with high productivity. Not everyone is built for that life.

[@zuzanazuscinova5209]

Nobody is. Which is why the affluent people often resort to a life of leisure.

[@MadMaxBS]

I very much relate to the point on achievement society where we put the pressure on ourselves to be productive and maximize our capabilities. I'm an amateur musical artist and I also work full time, so it can be very hard to balance time to work on my personal projects and time to rest after a long work day. Since the pandemic, I'd put this extra pressure on myself to spend as much time as I could doing things that would ultimately contribute to my art - if I wasn't actively making music, then at least I should be practicing my instruments, or I should be writing to work on my lyric writing. As I began to feel even more critical of my struggle to meet these standards, I started telling myself that even my leisure time could still count towards my work - I'm not just watching a good movie, I'm absorbing the emotions, the story, the dialog, the colors and sounds, I'm experiencing this art and in turn being influenced toward my own art. I'm not just reading this book, I'm taking in the language, the ideas, the images in my head. Everything I did had to be justified in my head as "I'm doing this for my work". I eventually felt like I was unable to truly chill out because I had this micro manager in my head telling me my time could be better spent doing something else, that I was wasting my time. I finally began to re-evaluate how I spend my free time when I actually got COVID and was so fatigued I could barely get out of my bed, let alone work on anything. I had to spend 3 weeks basically focusing on taking every moment as easy as possible in my weak state and forget all about how productive I was. It was a very hard time for me emotionally but I do think it kind of reset my mind and reminded me how simple and nice it is to just sit back and take it as it comes. As my man Thom Yorke once said in "The Tourist" by Radiohead: "Hey man, slow down!"

[@MadMaxBS]

sorry for the massive wall of text lol

[@gracie99999]

sorry for being repetitive but Indians ive known personally seem to get energized by work and wonder what mechanism may be in operation here. i find that my mindset [kinda popular term used these days so why not] connected to something else can be what was tiring,energizing. not the topical mindset but deeper within. connected like so to root or part thereof can have much more positive implications towards productivity without self beating or defining or things like this conversation about the hows and whys.. if you meditate, concentrate or whatever, you must have experienced some of it, by the buffer you create, that was occupied previously by draining factors. another simple thing is if your in areas working and you reach points of true tiredness whether mentally or physically, this is when you start work in sense and see how far you can take it using the above mentioned techniques like focus and concentration to bring you ‘back’. for me the simple act of connecting like so actively meditative has a marked different feel and to some degree I’m present more due to it which again feeds into it all and complete the circle. so the focus is me within not so much out there tho I maybe dealing wit out there. not sure if that makes any sense cause their experience things are clarified for me not word

[@PepperyPete10]

I like the idea of blurring the idea of play and work.

[@jeffwklein]

Dude I’m glad you posted this. Really resonated with me, pretty much yeah exactly this same thing happened / is happening to me and it’s great to have the words to describe it and feel less alone.

Oh man, I feel you! I'm glad I'm not the only one

[@hamedmoradi5291]

Thanks for introducing this book and articulating its main points. It resonates with me. As individuals, we need pause, contemplation, awe, wonder, and so forth to strengthen our sense of self and be at home with ourselves.

[@djiohiosdasd1448]

This is so topical, I can't believe the book came out back in 2010! I'm rolling out a performance planning framework at my corporate job, and this video really helped me articulate my issues with it in ways I couldn't have before. We ask that frontline staff in my organization - who already have clearly defined job descriptions and are burnt out - set additional personal performance goals. This takes the auto-exploitation idea and makes it a formal process, and inflicts bonus harm in the form of staff being accountable for achieving their own burnout or face repercussions for not reaching their goals. Will definitely have to check out the book in full.

[@youliantroyanov2941]

You could always resist the corporate madness, no?

[@Julio-ek1lw]

I find the author views interesting but lacking a comprehensive overarching explanation of the achievements society. The book can help us to improve our attitudes and actions but only at the individual level but not at a larger one.

[@freepat101]

@@Julio-ek1lwI agree, and honestly some of the most fulfilling times in my life are periods where I’m grinding away at a meaningful goal. These corporate jobs are very difficult mentally and spiritually. I believe you have work and you have worry; the more I work, the less I worry.

[@yellowblanka6058]

​@@aa6757Typical of the capital-obsessed, corporate hell we live in - squeeze all the juice you possibly can from the orange before tossing it away.

[@customjuices]

those performance plans are exactly what I was thinking about as I was watching this. even deadlier are when you get a performance improvement plan.

[@NorthenTasawwuf]

Thank you! As a quick off-the-cuff comment that this inspired me to, an observation I have done these past few years seems to suggest that now the classical "worker" has become almost that of a self-employed individual business whereas the big tech "educated" employees have taken over the idea of the conveyer belt worker, which means that the idea of class issues has become schewed and would also be the reason why the actual middle class believes itself to be the proletariat (while I actually am, I question this self-view) and then that the so called class issue has moved to become something rather in the minds of the people rather than actually reflecting the material and monetary standards; an offshoot from this is how the now individual classic worker can have more access to further developing themselves on the side of their professions even while working, while the technical specialists actually cannot afford that 'distraction' while working due to the complexity of their work. This is a fascinating development and I think it's important to understand this properly in this now modern context, otherwise the concepts in the discussion do not at all reflect and correspond to how life is.

[@SarGra13]

Byung-Chul Han has me wrapped completely in his worldview. I'm really happy to hear him mentioned on this channel! Very relevant for our current period as a global society.

[@MoussaBroclair]

Are you so alone and desperate ?

[@jimMavroidis]

Cannot thank you enough for this insightful and eloquent talk. I have experienced this obsessive achievement mindset to an extreme degree, but till now have found no one who understands or relates to this.

[@anthonyolivera9484]

Here, in latinoamerica, the book becomes really popular a fer years ago in the universities. Great summaries.

[@iamleoooo]

Finally. Someone who talks about Byung Chul Han

[@jaimey.9149]

There's a professor, from Argentina I believe he is, who has done quite a bit of work on Han and posted here in KZbin several presentations. Very didactic IMO. In Spanish though, but if you can follow it there you have it (self generated subtitles, in Spanish also, very helpful.)

[@jaimey.9149]

My apologies, his name is Claudio Álvarez Teran.

[@dubarnik]

Has Dr. Anderson ever given us a tour of her bookshelf? I really want to know what the titles are behind her!

[@MetempsychosisLive]

Yes please :D Where can I sign the petition.

[@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy]

maybe would be good for our Instagram or TikTok! You can find us on both at @overthink_pod :)

[@bourdieufan7433]

this would be incredibly dope

[@tommyo.3535]

I've spotted the essential Kierkegaard and the collected fiction of Borges, but those are probably two of the more popular books on there

[@gregorypeterboyce746]

We never know what technological advances will do. Ww1 advances in weapons . The digital technology of generation x and z. Digital minimalism is a worth while read

[@meesalikeu]

dr ellie one of the best work practices i used was before going home just to stop for a moment, reflect on the day and identify the one best thing you got done and moved forward and then the one main goal you hope to accomplish tomorrow. you can write these down too in a work calendar or log. it really gives a satisfying closure to the work day and a sense of accomplishment. - love these lectures. 👍🏽

[@Hxllysis]

Very interesting topic, I’m glad you covered it. It comes to mind what’s happening with all the Chinese youth being burned out & refusing to work, study or pay bills because they seem to think it’s all worthless in the long run… I wonder if you’ve heard about this. Anyways, great video, hope to keep seeing you around! Much love ^^

[@gracie99999]

the Indians generally get energized by work and we take cat naps

[@ironmantis25]

Yea, nobody is talking about india. I'm noticing a pattern here, indians interjecting about india when the topic of china comes up. Also, everyone naps and not every workplace allows it.

[@agapon2023]

@@gracie99999 why do you parrot this nonsense all around the comment section? If you guys are so energized by work why your homeland is so poor and undeveloped?

[@TheKarlslok]

Chinese youth? Do you thinking of the "Lying flat" and "Let it rot" movements? Couse they sure are great! Gives a little hope about the future...

[@TheRichardalberto]

haven't read the book but a friend of mine told me about Byan-Chul Han's work a few years back. Prof. Anderson's explanation felt like a description of what I sometimes feel my life has become. I have thought about studying philosophy for some while now, though I'm 37yo and could sound ridiculous to go back to study. But I really think philosophy should be taught in schools to help people develop some general degree of critical thinking, it could for sure help with overcoming burnouts. Anyways, thank you for this explanation, I really really appreciated it.

[@bastianflimm825]

I've seen a few of your videos now and I really like the dosage, this is a 10 minute dive into a topic, that I might want to continue and get into for myself, the material is not overwhelming, it is not superficial either, keep it up :-)

[@bruce-le-smith]

agreed, these are superb!

[@chanky1000]

Ironically, the content of this video talks about exactly the demerits of consuming short-form activations of the mind, and instead encourages utility gained from deep meditations on a subject

[@davidwoodward8344]

my suggestion for a overthink podcast topic is the idea or experience of dissociation. since i have been through the pandemic i have been moving through a dissociated, dreamlike state, and i do feel this is related to the experience of burnout, and overwhelm, that i am, and assuming others as well are, experiencing.

[@cordyline177]

I can’t help but feel that taking time away to tackle burnout is a growing luxury

[@TheVoltaire1]

Fantastic video. I've spent half of my life in the East, then moved to the West. I felt like you were speaking straight to me and my experiences. The book you described nailed it.

[@wordnative]

I haven’t said, “perhaps a poem” so many times in my head in years. Thank you Professor.

[@luisemiliobustos2716]

Hi! Emilio here, psychologist, from Chile, thank you for your clean and clear way to explain Han's book! 😘

[@robertoa.m.3984]

A joy to listen to your excellent dissertations and wonderful 👍 to watch your beautiful, expressive countenance!!.....we love 💕 you Ellie!!

[@annacatarina4310]

What a great video. I have come to the same conclusion after having had a burnout and trying to recover from that depression ever since. I am now living on the country side and have been focusing on simple life, with daily hour-long conversations with my partner about diverse topics, which has given me back a lot of creativity and self-trust. I am afraid for our people, of a mass-burnout and not knowing how to deal with it.

[@marccas10]

Depression is the consistent expectation of life to be better than it really is.

[@mephisto212]

Close, better to say its the consistent expectation of life to be better than the way you find it. Then there's two ways to come at the problem. See reality differently and expect different things.

[@genesisPiano]

I propose sitting and listening to symphonies as a curb on the tendencies mentioned in this video. Not while watching yt. Just listening. Doesn't solve all the problems, but presents a decent counter to some of them.

[@NGEternal]

Or meditation. I would say this is the most direct counter.

[@ritaamor283]

I agree with your suggestion, actually is the conclusion of what is said in this video: only trough contemplation can we regain our humanity, Art and Nature are what can fulfill the void.

[@rohanabraham4903]

I also think that the idea of "in-between times" is now being incorporated into the cycle of work-life-work but it implicitly espouses the machinistic model of the human being because rest helps the machine to work better. So paradoxically rest fuels work instead of it being a "break" from work.

[@tartankiltington]

Burnout Society was the first Byung Chul-Han book I read a few of years ago, this is a really good summary and exposure of the subject on a quite digestible format. Also, his way of referring to the calmed and slow contemplation of things just as they are, is very similar to the way Zen Buddhism address life to experience it just-as-it-is

[@MrBones105]

I’m pretty sure Chul-Han is a Zen Buddhist!

[@shawnmuench]

Maybe I'm off, but I've always thought of Zen as a culmination of Heidegger. ie. what is living before concepts or technological knowing. Suchness = being. or something.

[@Eurostep500]

Thanks Dr. Anderson for your wonderful insight. Always enjoy your videos. Keep it up!

[@AhmadHammadPoet]

Thank you for your short videos. I learn a lot from these videos on Philosophy

[@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy]

Thank you! I hope you'll also check out our podcast if you haven't already (this channel is an offshoot of our conversational audio podcast, where we do philosophical deep dives on topics such as Alienation, Gaslighting, Synesthesia, and more! www.overthinkpodcast.com (or Apple, Spotify, etc.)

[@philliplee1500]

Great episode! I would love to hear Han / yourself relate some of these ideas to sociological phenomena like FOMO (fear of missing out) and the rise of imposter syndromes.

[@David_10157]

I just found your channel while searching for videos on Byung-Chul Han. Thank you for putting these videos out. It looks like you have quite the catalogue of videos to get through.

[@OverthinkPodcastPhilosophy]

Thanks, we hope you'll check out the podcast, too! You can find it on Apple, Spotify, etc. :)

[@jonber9411]

Focus is what is getting scattered and disturbed. Perception can't be. Perception is what it is. Someone might focus within perception, but focus is an act of Will. One could argue that focus is in this society so shortlived and disturbed, that it is involotary. This book needs to be read by high schoolers in sweden. Contemporary philosphy is underrated

[@SnakeAndTurtleQigong]

“Knowing sufficiency.” Sending gratitude from a Daoist monastery! 💙☯️🙏

[@sargantfrosty]

thanks, this idea captures why i feel so uncomfortable when i see content creators (or people in general) emphasizing a compulsive positivity - a positivity which somehow feels toxic to me. i'm interested in this book now and Byung-Chul Han's ideas.

[@gracie99999]

lolz people in general hahaah

[@dannnsss8034]

The author is South Korean, a society that is based on success. In fact if you look at the country's history (as well as Korea's), you'd understand why this is so important. Basically the country is a tiny island surrounded by hostiles, so must stay relevant in the world through big achievements, or risk being overtaken by neighbours (as it has happened many times in the past).

[@yellowsheeps]

How do you define success? South Korea...low birth rates, over the top consumerism and men wearing makeup...you call this success? The problem with the current World is Western Imperialism which is basically Neo-liberalism and Neo-liberal finance Capitalism. Liberalism is a trojan horse. Do anything you want, me me me as the main focus and loss of traditional culture (which existed in "Korea" until Western Imperialists divided the country and people) results in gender confusion and all sorts of other obvious problems (visit Seoul and you will see). Pre-war Korea needed change but that was "economic" only. A tweak here and there would have maintained a coherent society along with the benefits of modernization. North and South Korea are one peoples, culture and society. This division is one of the great tragedies of the 20th Century along with a host of others resulting from Anglo American Imperialism. Remember the Anglo adage..."divide and conquer".

[@Zaotar1]

Yeah, Korea was really traditional and unified under imperial Japan-until those wicked imperial westerners imposed division on them and erased their ‘tradition.’ Apparently all the Soviet occupation and Chinese troops in North Korea were also part of the great Korean ‘tradition.’ Tradition was exterminated in the north just as it was in China. Liberal capitalism wasn’t to blame … ‘progressive’ communism was.

[@yellowsheeps]

@@Zaotar1 Korea (Joseon Dynasty) was unified in the 14th Century until 1897. The Asia region like Europe has had it's fair share of regional wars but real division of Korea (by an "external" non-Asian force) didn't happen until the Korean War (1950). If you don't understand the history of Western Imperialism and Colonialism (1500's onwards), you will always be blind to reality. Last Century, the peoples of the World might have bought the Western ideals of "freedom" and "democracy" BUT we are in the 21st Century. The rest of the World knows Western "freedom" and "democracy" is double speak for Western Imperialism (control of financial system for the benefit of the West, unfair extraction of resources and labor, inadequate infrastructure and development making country forever dependent. In other words, no self sufficiency means NO freedom.

[@zerologic7912]

I've had basically these exact same thoughts developing in my mind for a while, and I don't think anybody could've explained them in 10 minutes better than you did. Definitely gonna be reading this one.

[@RobCummings]

Thanks for this intro to Byung-Chul Han ideas about contemporary society. It sounds like Mr. Han has nailed the changes to human attention and judgement in the Internet Age, but he misses a key motivation underpinning the "achievement society." In most of the developed world, high achievement is based on economic insecurity. If you are lucky enough to attain financial, social, and physical security, you can get off the hamster-wheel of progress and enjoy creative slackitude, until you die of sheer boredom.

[@5hydroxyT]

I think Byung-chul Han’s work really helps us understand mental and psychosomatic illness in a deeper way, especially chronic fatigue syndrome...i think of the aptly titled book by Herman Melville “I would prefer not to.”

[@jaimey.9149]

Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

[@gregorypeterboyce746]

❤❤❤❤

[@BCBell-fj2ht]

Jack London's "The Apostate."

[@dreamof_me]

You know Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has since been found to have causes beyond psychosomatic illness and it’s a lot more relevant now since other viruses such as SARS COV 2 can cause a similar condition, long covid

[@photographybya7602]

Ginny is correct. Chronic fatigue syndrome is a severely disabling medical condition.

[@chrischaves5116]

Gracias Professor Ellie for making complicated philosophical ideas more understandable.

[@geraldine-211]

It was a joy to find this video. Thank you!

[@targaghjj]

Oooh, exciting! Can't wait to look this guy up!

[@alebarsalv]

This is super interesting! There's been a lot of focus on achievement as a fundamental good in (analytic) philosophy of well-being (as well as on perfectionist theories). A lot of colleagues both "get" the arguments for this while still finding that there's something suspicious about "intuitions" about the prudential value of achievement. Will go to the library and get a copy (* the only copy, which turns out I can't borrow, so guessing I'm spending the day there :P). Thank you so much for introducing it!

[@douglasmoore6917]

"Contemplative immersion"...this is exactly what you so effectively and nourishingly host in your videos. I was surprised and moved to see this video on The Burnout Society. It was one of those books I chose through idle browsing in a bookstore, and found it very potent and valuable, but came away with a sombre impression of the book. Your overview provides an illuminating and optimistic coda to my reading, landing on Han's idea of collective tiredness, "we-tiredness" that follows constructive collaborative exertion.

[@VaQm11]

This was amazing! Han describes something I've been thinking about and noticing a lot in my life the past years.

[@jaymapp428]

"CONTEMPLATIVE IMMERSION" ... is a very quick experience for those with ADHD, but is essential for those who want to know what EXPERIENCE actually is. Thank you for this lecture. I almost listened to the entire thing.

[@LARPANET_3087]

This is neat! It seems, in part, that Byung-Chul Han is further developing some of the ideas Mark Fisher started building before his untimely passing. It's neat to see some of these concepts get more fleshed out.

[@bryandraughn9830]

I was criticizing some of my younger friends for interrupting and talking over one another and they explained to me that they were able to understand 2 or 3 conversations all happening simultaneously. So I was just old. They really can understand each other while all talking at once! It's very irritating but kinda impressive too.

[@chrisblush8204]

I could listen to this woman talk forever.

[@paulosousa3146]

Although I'm not a fan of recent continental philosophy, it was interesting to hear your lecture. Congrats and thank you for your good work.

[@odradekfilms]

Wendy Brown also writes very compellingly about the “self as firm/brand” stuff. I haven’t read Han yet but I will now; I want to try to write a paper on the strains of thinking about “neoliberal rationality”

[@bruce-le-smith]

at 2:43 I've heard similar commentary about european protestant society developing an internal judge, as opposed to the external judges of earlier catholic society. A much more pervasive form of observation, no need for a panopticon when everybody self monitors from within. Interesting to hear similar ideas from another thinker in another context, thank you! in a post-protestant digital society it's also interesting to think about our personal brand on the social medias as (a kind of shared faith) and a progression of that internal self monitoring and censorship, represented by thoughts like: 'is my posting schedule frequent enough? am i distributing conent on enough channels?' 'will this be demonitized? will this be age restricted? will my account be deleted? will i lose sponsorships? will i lose subscribers? should i tone this down premptively so i can pay rent? Makes one wonder when the hustle ends?

[@Devibaba]

Thanks for sharing. Oddly ... or maybe not ... this is my second encounter of this philosopher today. Best wishes.

[@Wedneswere]

I cannot express enough how thankful I am for stumbling upon your video here!!!!! Looking forward to watching more of your videos.

[@connordavis4766]

I find it really interesting that this analysis is made and then video games, perhaps the one remaining thing that people are willing to deeply consider and improve at in their free time, become the target.

[@mortensimonsen]

Thank you! This was a good listen to my morning coffee 😀 There's something with this that resonnates with my thinking, so I have to read it - in due time ⏳

[@Anarchivist343]

I highly recommend Malcom Harris' book Kids These Days. He describes how for some of us, who are privileged or able to handle the exhaustion, we live in an achievement society, but working class people, people of color, and otherwise and multi marginalized people still live in a carceral society. If you can't keep up and don't have enough privileged to protect you, like Black and Brown public school students, you still end up in prison. On a personal note, I really relate to this. I have ADHD, but I would love to not take meds because the side effects are truly awful. Unfortunately I can't manage to work full time and handle my life without them.

[@davidlee6720]

you always get to the gist without losing anything important, sorry about your particular workload, but we the non-professionals need your brevity and clarity - which makes you as much as a writer and broadcaster as a philosopher -which is rare.

[@Learn4Live]

I am doing my second reading of The Burnout Society. Its a great work to undersand this hardcore hustle culture we are living in nowadays. Your great explanation about this book, makes me appreciate it even more.

[@zachbartell843]

Thank you, Professor. I wonder, additionally, why critiques of modern hustle culture so often seem to feel 'insane' (as though, borrowing the term from Lacan, the "Big Other" were judging us for what we say, & They judged us insane). I wonder if high-velocity action potential in the eager capacity to do work, is at the root of what it means to be a 'sane' & 'rational' 'individual' who may serve w/o the need for assistance. Thank you for keeping alive this critique & have a good day this time.

[@andrewlutes2048]

When I hear “Excess of Positivity” I think of how uninterested in, or afraid of, criticism people can be when criticism is actually a major key to progressing the development of something.

[@philosophy_schilling]

Wonderful summary! The Burn-out Society is my next Byung-Chul Han book on the list. And I wonder what you think about in addition to this being a contrast to Foucault's disciplinary society, this society as a culmination of what Foucault feels is the truest and most effective power of all. . . the internalization of a practice or belief that ultimately allows those who benefit from the drive to self-optimization, etc. to achieve the submission of others without coercion or force? In short: Does he still in some sense agree with Foucault?

[@geojames]

Soo, a genealogy of Instagram to come? It feels like these freedoms come from all sorts of places these days. Is there a key source of this compulsion to do it all?

[@keeskoko]

I completely agree! Isn't the utmost form of being interpellated into a docile body being obedient at one's own volition?

[@ReynaSingh]

What’s missing in this analysis of society is that people don’t do work without expecting some kind of reward. People are enticed by money, status etc. and they work in ways that they think will help them achieve it. You can absolutely say no in our society but that typically wont get you very far because most people have materialistic goals in life.

[@conormonaghan2234]

Materialistic maybe,, but they are snookered by the invisible forces of control that moved the ball.

[@gracie99999]

kinda like the religionists who’s waiting for heaven and doing good..but that’s transactionary to me like”God i shall love you if only this and that happens” and low level activity [by low not meaning lesser]

[@remotefaith]

The reward is not starving and having a roof over your head for a lot of people

[@0biwan77]

This guy is clearly right on. Thank you so much.😊

[@intheblink]

This was fascinating and resonated with me strongly. I guess it just leaves questions around how to combat these feelings and the naturally resulting depression that this type of society creates.

[@hannahw3761]

Sort of out of the blue here, but I really enjoy the work of The Nap Ministry, which (from their website) centers rest “as a tool of community healing” and “names sleep deprivation as a racial and social justice issue”. To me, it feels as if combatting achievement culture can be found in seeking out that contemplative rest. Then the question becomes, why is it so hard to find time for rest? How do we agitate for change in our corner of society to allow for that rest, for everyone?

[@RichardKoenigsberg]

You don't have to maximize everything. It's up to you. Mellow out. You don't have to do what your society asks you to do. Yes, it's your own pressure to maximize. No one is forcing you. You're getting off on it.

[@blucantrell2]

Managers do still force you

[@MadofaA]

The frequent jump-cuts in this video is a real nice touch to get us back into that hyperattention mode. Oh, the irony...

[@autumnaticfly2965]

Excellent video. While the ideas are pretty heavy here and I'm not the best judge of philosophical arguments, I'm quite not sure if I agree with video games being a type of hyperactivity and a regression from contemplative immersion. It is true that a lot of the time it can be quite hyperactive, but really, a lot of the time playing a video game is no more hyperactive than reading a really good book/story. With the advancements of technology, video games have become more than just button mashing frenzies where you shoot enemies and move through a level. Aside from puzzles and problem solving skills one can aquire from playing video games, there are major examples and titles that encourage deep thinking. Like any other form of fiction it is entertainment on the surface but it can be much more in the hands of someone who wishes it to be. Thanks for the summary, I'm going to have to read this whole book at some point.

[@thatchapthere]

I had the same thought, there are plenty of video games that come pretty close to contemplative immersion.

[@midragga]

I know. I went to Germany one time and I got lost for 4 hours with a dead cell phone. My lord those 4 hours of wandering around frankfurt with no internet distractions. It was so memorable.

[@UniMatrix_1]

I had this experience the other night. The electricy went out in my military housing block, within an hour everyone went from staring at their screens in their rooms to socializing outdoors. Hearing the laughter of everyone who normally wouldn't speak to each other as the sunset gave way to the moon was beautiful

[@eto2352]

How did this come up on my feed? All I could hear is an academic word salad that somehow was interesting and then burned through a bunch of Overthink videos. Damn, I may have actually learned something new. Thank you Prof Anderson!

[@moremirinplease]

despite a very accelerated society, i love that in only 10 minutes i was able to learn tons of stuff.

[@gracie99999]

time feels like it could be manipulated..we all get that lets say your in a car wreck which i have and how time seems to stand still or in slow mo..and at other times depending drags. well could we consciously engage in this and what the implication and mechanism operating? the constriction and expansion-of it in a sense time wise

[@mrmcku]

I would say "it renders us reactive" instead of "it renders us passive" but I get his point in that "it renders us passive" in the domain of contemplating what our next action should be. So, the argument addresses the translation of the locus of our decisions from the inner contemplation to the external stimuli. We become purely reactive, with a large fraction if not an almost totality of our actions dictated by our reactions to the environment we are submerged in. In other words, we are turned into automata...

[@fede2]

Eloquently, I was only half paying attention to this while I was doing something else. Touché, Mr. Han.

[@tedankhamenbonnah4848]

I'm glad I stumbled upon this. Great podcast, following. Having worked in Japan as prof and now teacher in Canada, I see the signs of this everywhere. Burnout as modus operandi.

[@Liisa3139]

First time watching a video of yours. In addition to the way you presented the subject matter of this post I must say I really enjoyed how clear your articulation is. Also, your pace; you don't rush. There was time to breathe and to let things sink in. Congratulations and thank you!

[@vitoria.no.c]

2:53 - I also think this links to another book called “Algorithmic desire” where Matthew Felsfeder argues that social media today has created the rig the environment for users to exploit themselves - make content. Great video!

[@celadewallace474]

I've used the phrase "vigilance fatigue" to help describe the downsides of hyper-attention

[@kevinslaney486]

This can be summed up in the first line of the Damapada. 'What a person thinks, so they become'

[@katgillespie9523]

Ironically I was meant to read this book for my grad school course an ran out of mental / physical energy to do so (I have a chronic illness that saps my energy and greatly impedes my ability to achieve. Which is a real hit to self worth in our capitalist society!) anyways, thank you for this really helpful summary.

[@ionaneill8061]

This philosophy really reminds me of the Human Condition by Hannah Arendt - the loss of the vita contemplativa and gradual descent into an unthinking and passive life that she so feared.

[@michaelw9680]

I don't think fascination with the experience of life is something that can be taught, unfortunately. Thank you for your videos 💚

[@gracie99999]

true, if you have it, it might unteach it so

[@Throwingness]

Just saw for the first time and have to watch again to absorb and nod to. Built on top of Heidegger's 'Question Concerning Technology' I presume.

[@jwebstersmithii7459]

Yeah. Get centered by not chasing anything outside of us. And if we do set chase, we must be non-attached about any result or fruit of the chase. Nice vid.

[@siddhantjaitpal3901]

Thank you for this breakdown ! Han’s work doesn’t seem to get covered much

[@DNBon.an808]

As an artist who recently discovered they have High Functioning Anxiety, I value and relate to everything in this video. Thx so much for making these

[@edubs9828]

Thanks for the awesome video. Subscribed to hear more of what you have to say. I'm going to have to rewatch this video a few times because there was a lot to think reflect on.

[@bengt_axle]

Prof Anderson, I’ve noticed that your outfits are always colour coordinated with books on your shelf or items on the background. It seems deliberate. What are the philosophical underpinnings of style (“mode” or “tendance” in French)? Why do we find attractive things that are repeated (reified) in society or want to emulate them? And how does one become the fashion maker (not just of clothes, but shared beliefs and even novel ideas)? Why do we want to see ourselves an outfit of the times or just fit in? These are some suggestions for a video on trend-making, following and influence. Hope you’ll consider it, inspite of your recent Influencers podcast.

[@dangtuandung2423]

I think I should read more about contemporary philosophers. Thank you very much ❤️

[@NateGreensides]

The irony of watching this at a higher speed between other things.

[@ZYTUSA]

Great introduction! I want to read the book and understand further these ideas.

[@marshalmcdonald7476]

Nice presentation and analysis. Thanks for your effort. I found his "Palliative Society' very insightful.

[@NIL0S]

I've had burnout, twice. Each time it has been disastrous to my life. I have to be super careful and hold myself back not to have a third one, to the point that, sometimes, I have to disappoint others, beyond myself. This has led me to withdraw a lot. I probably have some form of what I call 'a chronic functional depression'. I sort of resonate with this video. Society needs to chill with the expectations of productivity. The line doesn't, and can't, always go up. It isn't healthy or sustainable.

[@dayzartv]

I'm reading his book about zen. The philosophy of zen buddhism. I think it is great introductory of zen.

[@waldwassermann]

"Being, not Doing, is the first aim of the mystic". - Evelyn Underhill

[@sgs261]

Great accessible intro, thanks. Will read this book.