2024-08-17 22:19:12
Technological Society… There will be no universal concentration camp, for no atrocities will be committed. It will not appear mad, for everything will be in perfect order, and the stain of human passion will vanish in the chrome shine. We will have nothing to lose and nothing to win. Our deepest instincts and our most secret passions will be analyzed, published, and exploited. We will have everything our hearts desire. And the supreme luxury of a society of technical necessity will be the reward given to useless resistance and the smile of resignation.(Page 427)
This poignant passage was not written in the 1990s, nor in the 2010s, nor in recent years. It appeared in a paper by French sociologist and philosopher Jacques Ellul. Technological Societyoriginally published in 1954 and translated into English in 1964 with a preface by Robert Merton. Ellul is concerned with the tyranny of technology over humanity and the emergence of efficiency across the board, and in this classic he brilliantly expounds on these substantive issues. Seventy years ago, and even decades later, many people would have considered Ellul’s views too radical and exaggerated. Rereading these significant and insightful observations in the modern era provokes different reflections and reactions. We are certainly only at the beginning of this era, so are we still far from understanding the essence of Ellul’s warnings?
For more in-depth thinking on this important topic, delve into these insightful books by Ellul Technological Society Laying the foundation:
— Bill, David. 2019. The social power of algorithms. Routledge.
— Fisher, Elan. 2022. Algorithms and Subjectivity: The Subversion of Critical Knowledge. Routledge
— Fisher, Max. 2022. Chaos Machine: How Social Media Is Reshaping Our Minds and Our World. Little, Brown and Company.
—Black, Ori. 2021. Sociological theory of the digital society: the principles that bind us together. John Wiley & Sons.
—Zuboff, Shoshana. 2018. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism. Introduction Books
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