In this introductory video, Professor Ellie Anderson presents some of the ideas that contemporary Berlin-based philosopher Byung-Chul Han develops in The Burnout Society. Han asserts that Foucault’s notion of a ‘disciplinary society’ has been replaced with an ‘achievement-society’ characterized by hyperattention, depression, and divisive tiredness.
This video was created based on Professor Anderson’s Continental Thought course at Pomona College and Pitzer College.
All of our Continental Thought lectures are meant as introductions to key claims in the texts, not as endorsements or stand-alone explainers. You can find the book here: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=25725
For more from Dr. Anderson, check out Overthink podcast available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen (including previous episodes here on YouTube!)
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I would prefer not to
I wish it would burn out.
despite a very accelerated society, i love that in only 10 minutes i was able to learn tons of stuff.
This has put to words a lot of what I been thinking
Great work! Thank you so much Dr Anderson!
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.”
great stuff. algorithm, bless me with more constructive continental philosophy digests.
Please do something on Yuk Hui. Love the format. Best from Vancouver!
burning your life away on this sort of nonsense ?
She definitely has Kierkegaard
Damn I wished I had a friend like in real life so that I can learn new awesome things every now and then. I love you.
Would you kindly make a video episode about algahzali works in eastern Islamic philosophy !?
Leistung Gesellschaft!
I never seen a book which encourages contemplative immersion other than the Quran I must say
Please, please, please, please, do a serie about Socrates <3. Would love to hear that from you.
I haz "I tiredness"
Arriving now at the channel. great analyses, thanks.
This man has sat with the yogis. There is nothing to do. There is nothing to become. There is only here/now. And here is an interesting irony: now is filled with joy and peace and wonder. Buy the way the mundane still gets done.
This is interesting and might pick up this book. But it also makes me wonder if it says anything about needing to do this to survive? Like this seems more a symptom and response to changing economic realities, even before Covid. Ppl aren't having less kids on average cause we started hating families, but because the money and time work and school takes can't allow for that, as an example.
More like relatable society, haha am I right?!?
(It’s strange how comforting the unity of discomfort can be!)
Can you please make a video on how to analyze literature or how a philosopher analyzes a film?
Have a dunk.
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.
All this and yet the 4 letter word no one allows themselves to utter is "Marx."
We DO have an external master that disciplines us: The market. Economists even call it "market discipline"
For Byung-Chul Han the answer is to write another bullshit book.
Byung-Chul Han using 'games' as an example of hyperactivity and passivity is a bit lazy though. Lots of games are or can be very immersive and contemplative, make you think, dream, learn skills, interact…. I do agree that on a general level gaming can be seen as shallow. Other than that thank you for these talks and ideas, just recently came upon this channel. I love my work but i alos love doing nothing, producing nothing and it does indeed seem as if it is a disappearing luxury, nearly an act of rebellion and civil disobedience.
10/10 channel
Disapperance of ritual is great as well!
This sounds a lot like some of the ideas Cal Newport discusses.
WHAT ABOUT THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION? Not exactly "achievement," but the self in opposition to society.
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.
Yes, all that stuff on the Internet is seductive. Can drive you crazy. You don't want to miss anything. So much entertainment. So match to watch on the Internet. Hysterical attachment. But there is always BUDDHISM: separation.
And there's almost a song about it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnGts_xePuE
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.
You must be Yi or else, but on top of that the more Ren the better.
is it actually more efficient to say "you can do this" in a society…. than rather realizing ones limits and recognizing on a objective standpoint, morality takes up much of our actual attention. Or "judging things"" Studying?? right??
this also helped me realize the meaning of a dream so thx.
Really interesting video, but the "s" sounds are hurting my ear when I listen on headphones. Perhaps in future videos this could be tweaked?
Foucault means something different by "disciplinary society", right? He uses the term to refer to modern society regarding social control.
The answer is Jesus Christ the only begotten son.
This is a lot of beating around the bush when the real answer to depression is correcting our faulty thought processes that we are too afraid to confront. When you are doing no wrong you will not feel bad. A thought can be wrong. Even if you don't act on a bad thought, entertaining it will still depress you as if you did act on it. "Contemplative immersion" is a state of flow. You can only enter a state of flow when you are free from anxiety. When you correct your thinking, you will not only fix depression but also anxiety. This allows you to enter that state of flow much easier. It requires a deep criticism of ourselves to admit all of the things we are doing wrong. Most people are not brave enough.
Who is we?
Cool video! Achieving all the time is tiring, it is the opposite of freedom, it is being bound to a constant production mindset that ultimately burns you out. The Vita Contemplativa is one aspect of the good life. We must observe but also, out of necessity , we must act in order to survive in this complicated social structure that we navigate. We must "achieve" to get money to pay for our needs. Though an episode of burnout could be enlightening and point us in the direction of freedom.
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.