We live in a time where we are saturated with instant gratification. Many of us can have anything we want and need delivered to our doorstep in a matter of hours or days at the most. Coupled with high stress from daily life, work, family, pandemic, and we have a recipe for dropping out. And what better and more convenient way than with near infinite access to technology. As long as you can pay for it of course.
From video games, streaming shows and movies, to online shopping, there is no shortage of ways to be distracted. Technology makes it so much easier too.
The fourth book in my little project is “The Technological Society” by French philosopher Jacque Ellul. Originally published in French in 1954 and later translated to English in 1964, Ellul explains how society is becoming more and more dominated by the idea of efficiency. Specifically, how technique and technology are primarily concerned with making every facet of human life more efficient.
This is of course directly related to Capitalism’s drive for profit. As the saying goes “time is money”. And the more efficient we become, the more time we save, the more profit can be generated. Or so the theory goes. For example, that’s something we see through automation. Machines are much more efficient at creating products, and basically allow companies to sell more.
So what does all this mean to us everyday people, trying to live our daily lives? It’s tougher to find meaningful work. There is much more stress through daily life, and less time to spend together. And yet we still fail to organize together in such a way so as to make meaningful change in the way we interact with each other. But why don’t we?
Just Plug Me In
I want to focus specifically on chapter 5 of Ellul’s book, where he talks about “Human Techniques”. Specifically, the section on “Amusement”. Amusement, according to Ellul, is meant to distract us. It is spontaneous and non-deliberate. There is nothing inherently wrong with amusement.
However, think about when it is that we typically seek to be amused. Long day at work? I’d rather watch a movie, play video games than think about changing the working conditions that make me feel that I’m trapped on a hamster wheel. Dealing with relationship issues with family or significant other? Forget about finding help or therapy, I’ll just smoke weed, drink alcohol, play poker with friends.
Ellul says
What man seeks is evidently an absolute distraction, a total obliviousness of himself and his problems, and the simultaneous fusion of his consciousness with an omnipresent technical diversion” Ellul, P.380
And this quote can be tied to an important question for Ellul. Namely, what does a society that is hyper obsessed with technology and technic look like? Which makes me think, in such a case, is it possible for people to show up for each other? Can we still develop the empathy, and moral values to watch over life, when we become so obsessed with technology?
According to Ellul, no we cannot. Moral values, he tells us, are dissolved to nothing when society becomes more and more dominated by technology and efficiency. And amusement, diversion, distraction, through propaganda film, radio, newspaper etc. keep the focus off of developing moral values, and perpetuate this obsession with technology. Movies in particular, he says, hold the highest place in terms of hierarchy of distraction.
Work Sucks, I Know…
The average workers are losing themselves at work, with constant pressure, nervous fatigue, leading to loss of self to work. Work takes the most of the person’s energy, and people are scavenging for 5 to 15 minutes at the beginning and end of the day to meditate. Oh and let’s not forget about writing down those 5 things you’re grateful for in your gratitude journal.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with doing these things. I’m a fan of journaling, and meditating/breathing/slowing down. However, if these activities are supposed to be good for the soul then why are we spending so little time on them?
The gaslighters and those who don’t understand power dynamics and politics will swarm in with nonsense about “it’s up to you” and “you gotta try harder”. Another way of saying “you’re not doing enough and you need to do more”. This form of nonsense from the Tim Ferris’s of the world, claiming that we all have the same 24 hours in a day, exists due to lack of understanding.
In short, when you can’t explain or understand the nuances of how Capitalism destroys human life (and all other life), you just repeat dumb soundbites like “we all have the same 24 hours in a day”. Tell that to the single mom working 3 jobs with 3 children. Tell that to the dad who is the sole provider to a family of 4 whose mother is going through cancer treatment and can barely afford to live. tell that to the people who have to commute 2 hours to work because rent is insanely high closer to their work.
Tune In, Drop Out
Ok, so long work day, I’m tired, I get home and…my thoughts.
At home, Ellul says, people find themselves as PHANTOMS. “Thought” is terrifying because it means that we have to face our personal Destiny, which is ultimately DEATH.
People have no real control over our lives. Rather, we are at the mercy of technical society. And as much as we want to believe, we are not in control of our destiny. Servitude to a technical society means that no one wants to think about their own death. Indeed, no one can really afford the time, which means there is no “free-choice” And if there is no free choice then death is a great injustice.
I find it incredibly both interesting and sad to talk about this with people, and to think about it myself. It causes frustration and anxiety on many levels to have to think about how little control we have over our lives. Sure, looking at the small picture, I can decide what to have for breakfast, whether to drink coffee or tea, what exercises to do etc. But at the end of the day, the truth for most of us is, we will age, and the world will keep moving quicker. Capitalism, technology, as Ellul’s quote shows, does away with anyone who is unexplainable
In the big picture, we have no control over the systems that make the world, and specifically the economy, go round. The healthcare system, the justice system, education, all of them affect the lives of many from the top to the bottom. And those at the bottom barely have an impact if at all. If only there was an academic source to back up this claim…oh wait! Here’s one by Princeton University:
Amusement, therefore, helps diffuse the anxiety of thinking about death, by providing and artificial sort of paradise. I’ll sit in this serotonin and dopamine infused chair, and let the time go by, and my anxiety with it.
By being amused, we never have to confront our own phantom, but rather seek film phantoms and project ourselves into them. And inso doing we give our lives a kind of superficial meaning.
Superhero Movies To The Rescue!
Superhero movies are amazing at helping create these “false phantoms” that Ellul talks about. For example, we may feel a sense of relieve when we can identify with the heroes’ personalities, struggles and accomplishments. Furthermore, he says, we become so immersed in the achievements of the hero, which gives us this false sense of fulfillment. And this false sense of fulfillment is interpreted and internalized in a real enough way to keep us feeling appeased. In this way, we don’t have to think about our own ends, miseries, and lack of fulfillment because we just feel so good about what the hero has achieved.
Now of course someone might jump and say “What about DAYDREAMING?”. And argue that daydreaming is also a form of escape. And yes, Ellul would say, it absolutely is a form of escape. However, the amusement I get from daydreaming is an escape INTO myself, it is future involved. I am putting myself at a point in time and space. Meaning, I can dream that I am behaving in some heroic way, or that I’m rich and live in a mansion, or that I’m a superstar athlete etc. What is different is that this narrative is all about me, and is not the internalized narrative of a figment.
The escape that we get from films and shows, on the other hand, has no future. Everything changes and takes place, then concludes. And once the movie or show is done, then it’s done. Everything is wrapped up in a neat little package.
Escape From The Self and Escape From Each Other
Ellul says
The modern passion for motion pictures is completely explained by the will to escape…An organization which provides the antidote as it distills the poison.” Ellul, p.378
This will to escape through shows and movies has other consequences on our lives and relationships. People no longer need or want to converse about our selves, our problems, fears, desires, relationships etc. We just talk about the shows/movies, and the lives of the characters.
He continues
Television, because of its power of fascination and its capacity of visual and auditory penetration, is probably the technical instrument which is most destructive of personality and of human relations.” Ellul, p.380
Now this is of course long before Ellul could even dream about the Internet as we know it today. But I would argue that the Internet is on a whole other level of dissociation when it comes to destroying personality and human relations. People build fake avatars all the time. There are laws against cyber bullying now, because of how much harm it causes people. People gets scammed and ‘catfished’ online every day. That said, I’ll save this rabbit hole for a different blog post.
Any Positives??
Ok, so someone might try to argue that not everything about TV shows/movies etc. is bad. That, hey, there’s some good to it, such as them being means of educating the masses. For example, we engage in learning when we watch historically and culturally relevant films/shows.
However, Ellul says that it’s just incidental. The intension of the film, Ellul reminds us, is not to educate, it’s to entertain/amuse us. So the fact that we may have learned a new word or historical fact we didn’t know is irrelevant. However, Ellul says that it’s just incidental. The intension of the film, Ellul reminds us, is not to educate, it’s to entertain/amuse us. “The clouding of consciousness is paramount” Ellul, p.381.
And again, this is not a slam against amusement and entertainment. Remember, Ellul’s intention is to expose what happens when society is HYPER OBSESSED with technological efficiency. Capitalist efficiency takes a hit when people are thinking about their ends, miseries, and lack of fulfilment due to the system in which we live. Amusement and entertainment does wonders for defusing that energy. Get home in the evening, watch shows/movies, go to sleep, wake up and do it again. Never having to really think about the deeper stuff.
Final Thoughts
There was another philosopher in the 60s, Herbert Marcuse, who was also a huge critic of Western Capitalism. He talks about the Life drive (Eros) and Death drive (Thanatos), concepts that Sigmund Freud discusses at length. Marcuse tried to link their significance to human life under Capitalism. He explained that all human beings possess the drive for sensuousness and fulfilment, not just in the sexual sense, but also in a more wholistic and connected way.
Eros plays in opposition to Thanatos and is in a sense empowered by it. We hear this often, that when you truly begin to LIVE when you realize how fragile and limited your life is. And just as Ellul discusses death as the ultimate destiny of every human, Eros attempts to live life to the fullest. Eros tries to manifest itself through human action, relationships, work, hobbies etc.
This ‘Life’ energy is very deep and productive, and when focused it is capable for incredible efficiency. So guess what…Under Capitalism, this drive to live and create and seek fulfillment is harnessed and channeled toward the growth of the system of production. As such, human labour and creativity is directed towards making better TVs, cars, iPhones etc. Not for the sake of developing and protecting organic life, but for growing profit instead.
The Internet is supposed to be a human creation that allows us to become more connected than every before. And indeed it has! In a few hours I can see and talk to more people than my ancestors would have in a lifetime!
But the Internet has also been criticized for contributing to an incredible disconnect in genuine human relations. And one of the main reasons that people use the Internet is for amusement and distraction. Or, to use Ellul’s terms, to create and seek false phantoms.
As such, amusement isn’t there as a way to take a break from existential dread. Rather, its purpose is to burry any and all existential thoughts and feelings. Because the more time we spend being distracted from the fact that our time is so finite, the more time we can dedicate to growing the system of production and financial growth.