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Individualism as Ideology (video exclusive)

How do we get from down there to up there to down here? Like Santa Claus, capitalism may have adopted individualism, but it did not create it!

Individualism as Ideology (video exclusive)

Comments

When you said that kids might be the next step, instantly reminded me of that one maga dude who argued he worked on the fields when he was a kid to contribute and openly said this might be a nice leasure time for kids :')))

Thomas Postma

This is my favorite ideology content you've made so far. When you were talking about belief it sounded very similar to Jung which is an interesting connection I think

Defanged Noumena

A great deep dive. I would love to hear how this fits into systems theory because I think it doesn't really fit. From a system's theory point of view, psychic systems co-evolve with their environment. Therefore, there is no direct causal relation (between e.g. the material and whats happening in the mind / ideas). According to e.g. Luhmann psychic systems are autonomous (not independent), self-referential systems that process meaning internally, using their own operations to interpret and respond to external stimuli. For example, a person might perceive a comment as criticism or encouragement depending on their mental state, past experiences, and self-concept. Social interactions provide a context for the psychic system to interpret meaning and participate in shared realities and language is a medium of structural coupling between the mind and society; it allows the psychic system to connect with and respond to social expectations. Materialists might say that material conditions limit the range of possible ideas and perceptions. Structural coupling similarly acknowledges that psychic systems operate within the constraints set by their coupling with their environment. However, materialist theories seem more deterministic suggesting that material conditions directly shape ideas while social system's theory posits that material conditions can only perturb the system, but the system itself determines how it interprets and responds to those perturbations. Different psychic systems may interpret the same material conditions in divergent ways due to their unique internal configurations. Isn't that more to what we observe when we look into history? That, for example, some workers become revolutionaries while others conservatives? Luhmann suggests that what matters is how those conditions are interpreted within the realm of meaning. In case of capitalism, I think Luhmann would say that there are no individuals in capitalism and it is the structural constraint (imposed by the capitalist system) "responsible" for the apparent lack of variety in how psychic systems behave under capitalism. The structural coupling between psychic systems and capitalism ensures a high degree of conformity, even if psychic systems internally resist or critique it. This, I think, fits to Pills notion that revolution happens when people are hungry because in this case the economic system fails its functions. Revolutions often arise when a dominant social system (e.g., political or economic) fails to maintain its functional differentiation or collapses under the weight of internal contradictions. These crises result in a breakdown of structural couplings between systems, creating space for radical systemic changes. Psychic systems play a role in amplifying systemic crises through their interpretations and actions, but they do not control the system (Looking like accelerationist and that ideas matter for amplification). The psychic systems’ role is crucial in generating noise within the system, disrupting normal operations and communication flows. According to Luhmann, revolutions lead to the collapse of old systems and the emergence of new systems with different logics. This is not controlled by individuals but is an emergent property of systemic self-reorganization. For example, the shift from monarchy to democracy involves a fundamental reconfiguration of the political system’s logic, influenced by perturbations from psychic and social systems. The structural couplings between psychic and social systems are temporarily destabilized during revolutions. This creates opportunities for new couplings to emerge. Again, I would love to hear your thoughts on that ;)? For me, system's theory makes depressingly sense.

Dalia

Each technology puts us in a new room, and it is interesting to think of that alienation as having a productive interior effect, even creating new consciousness. If you think of the body as technology, this trajectory follows through evolution until producing brains that can observe selves like mirrors. But then why not call an entire environment (at least a potential) technology, and it's like technology is always trying to observe itself, become "ready at hand", but doing so creates a surplus of possibility beyond the current model. As the self can only be within technics, humanism can only be interior to a state, the perks of liberalism can only be exclusive. And for me it comes back to cybernetic politics (which would beget cybernetic ideology), only radical democracy can connect masses to a genuine humanism.

Alex B

Loved it. Escpecially describing a process in a way of "what you're postprotestant bain is doing...". Makes a lot of sense.

Jacob Silbernagel

This is dense Pills. Still scratching the surface. Kindly consider delaying next pod.

Mrityunjay Awasthy

Lol did you just read Alienation of Labor? Maybe you've been spending a little too much time with Eric and Diego 😂

Drake Preis


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