An Introduction to Baudrillard
In this introduction to Baudrillard, I look at his thought as it developed from a Marxist framework in Symbolic Exchange and death through to his hyperreal postmodern period exemplified in Simulacra and Simulation. I take an in-depth look at a number of his concepts.
First I look at sign-value, which he argued must supplement Marx’s framework of use-value and exchange-value. He then takes this central concept forward arguing that copies of the real - simulacra - became increasingly detached from reality, referencing themselves more than the real and so developing a hyperreality. Postmodernity directs social life through code and simulation.
Finally, I look at the concept of Symbolic Exchange; a basis for revolutionary thought that is meant to emphasize social life, ritual, gift-giving, energy expenditure, and neo-aristocratic values. In doing this, Baudrillard hopes to escape from the ‘law of value’, utilitarian logic, and dialectic history typical in much modern thought.
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Sources (in recommended reading order):
Stanford Encyclopaedia, Baudrillard, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ba...
Douglas Kellner, Jean Baudrillard: From Marxism to Postmodernism and Beyond
Richard J. Lane, Jean Baudrillard (Routledge Critical Thinkers)
Cuck Philosophy, American Psycho, Baudrillard and the Postmodern Condition, • American Psycho, Baudr...
Jean Baudrillard, Symbolic Exchange and Death
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
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Script & sources at: www.thenandnow.co/2023/04/21/an-introduction-to-baudrillard/ ► Sign up for the newsletter to get concise digestible summaries: www.thenandnow.co/the-newsletter/ ► Why Support Then & Now? www.patreon.com/user/about?u=3517018
Ironically, this video represents a hyper real version of the original text.
Duuh :)
Ironically or fitting?
@@Firmus777 ironic and fitting. both. neither.
maybe not just ironically
I'm wondering if it is better to listen without watching.
In my mind, Baudrillard's theories are a call not just for an anti-consumerist stance, but a deeper suspicion for what constitutes a "neutral" commodity. Nicely done
👏👏👏
Why don’t you doubt Baudrillard with the same conviction you doubt corporate messaging? There’s always a cap on the intellect of the people who buy anti-consumerism, unironically.
It's always mindblowing and incredibly humbling to know that there were/ are people out there with this much foresight.
hang around a group of visual artists, those encouraged to have thoughts of their "own", and you can see many cool things. But that today is not so easy as the art world has been injected with so much waste and disingenuine thinkers with motives its become chaotic. But...a genuine group can do wonders
This isn't foresight. This is a man asserting a replacement grand narrative because the objective one makes him feel depressed to know he'd never understand it through it's vast complexity.
@@DungeonMasterpiece yeah why have that when you can of complete, unwavering confidence that your value system is objectively true
@@DungeonMasterpiece you really thinnk its a replacement? Seems more as an observation on the trajectory of contemporary life. Which seems to have come more and more into focus as the decades have past from when this came out.. especially simulation and the hyperreal as online technologies and corporations and communications and work life all are fusing into a singular existence.
It doesnt matter bc inevitably they are never heeded by enough ppl to have an appreciable impact, they exist merely as observers of a future we cannot see or in most cases comprehend. I often wonder if this is what the ancient Greeks were trying to convey, with the story of Cassandra.
This has to be the best intro to Baudrillard I’ve ever seen. And it’s not like Baudrillard is an easy thinker to wrap one’s mind around. Props to you man!
Much appreciated, thanks :)
It still made my brain hurt a bit.
Please explain exactly what is so difficult????
@@CariMachet I am currently reading Simulacra and Simulation and I find that he is using an unnecessarily convoluted language to make his point. The ideas are clear and nowadays they seem simple, but the guy was ahead of his time when he first published this book.
@@ThenNow I unfortunately struggled to process the video. I'm intrigued and i wish i could understand it more. Do you have any other videos that could explain this current video into bite size chunks?
Up until 14:12 I thought I’d finally found a video that introduces structuralism without talking about trees. I was wrong.
Edward Backman same
You mean leaves I guess
Can't they use a chair or a pipe for once?!
It is became more clear that when we studied about structuralism, we aren't only understanding sign, but also a TREE
Ha! Ok, note to self :)
Reminds me of the best kind of Adam Curtis documentary. Fabulous
A token for the algorithm. Here.
I've probably listened to this 10 times over the course of a year or two, and not just for the information, I've also found the music and atmospheric elements compelling. Great intro, and highly relevant.
In the times of covid-19 this line of thought becomes especially prescient. Those who are lucky enough work from home, meeting with the images of their co-workers, most of our work is converting once "real" events into "live streamed" events. We consume images of protestors on the streets, who's movement stems from the killing of many but was triggered from the killing of one. We post youtube comments instead of stating our opinions in person. Many wait for the singularity with bated breath. It has in-fact happened. As Mckenna said, a transcendental object at the end of time pulls us near. Things will only get weirder. Like any trip, don't fight it, lean into it...
This, this may explain to me what this guy's philosophy applies to.
It's even more relevant in the new cold war and it's increasingly Orwellian psychological manipulation and social engineering of the population. It's the era of "post-Truth"
Statistically you're more likely to be shot by a cop if the perpetrator is white, so that's irrelevant and an obviously astroturf movement orchestrated by oligarchs and media and supported by all institutions of power. What a charade 🤦
"Things will only get weirder"...both Baudrillard and Robert Anton Wilson would agree! He spoke of "reality tunnels" and said that as the information age produces more and more information exponentially, the weirder society will get.
This is so well edited, narrated, animated, written, produced. I really appreciated it.
you don't understand how important and valuable this channel is. i deeply thank you for making such informative and incredible content
Honestly, I had to stop the video several times cuz I got chills and a little bit scared! This is a masterpiece in itself, it's a hyperrealistic version of the text , lol. Thank you so much, I'll go and domate for this cuz you made my thesis for me man, so grateful!! ❤❤❤
Thank you for composing this. Without rushing. And embedding the spirit of the Baudrillard in the form of the video. Best,
You're welcome :) Glad you enjoyed
Keepin' it hyperreal
It's ALL Hypereal Good.
Oh, ok, fine. I'll read Simulacra and Simulation.
Good luck! It’s a hell of a read.
DO IT! :)
Take it slow. I had to reread many paragraphs to understand him, but it stretches your mind. It will eventually sink in. I think he was rather prophetic and insightful about these times, even if you only take it as intellectual abstraction and a form of complex metaphor. Also, that is the book that Neo hid his contraband in in The Matrix. In fact, Baudrillard's work inspired some of the ideas in the movie, (a simulation) like the line: "Welcome to the desert of the real!" When they asked Baudrillard what he thought about The Matrix after it came out, (considering the connection) he said: "The Matrix is a movie that The Matrix would make about itself." Brilliant.
Yes, if you have any questions don;t be afraid to ask me II can even give you my facebook You'll notice the hyper real all around you
@@ThenNow Google earth is literally perfect example that he saw comming
“The computer revolution will similarly free him from dull repetitive routine” if only
That was a lie as is most things your told......
At least a little of that repetition includes ctrl+C -> ctrl+V
if you think that we are in the computer revolution than you are very wrong
Well it's sort-of right. People who participate in the ever-growing knowledge economy and the economy of art will know that the automation and connectivity of computers has produced a kind of world where it can at times seem like no day is the same. Of course if you don't have a job in the knowledge economy, then flipping burgers is still a job that is being done (though for how long remains uncertain).
Arguably longhand calculations are more repetitive than what we do now.
VR/AR will take this to a whole new level. This video will be way more relevant a couple of years from now. Great job!
Thanks! :)
Reading this 2 years later. Spot on.
THIS STUFF IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO VR and Social Media starting in 2005...also known as web 2.0. I wish there were people who could decipher and tech it properly. We had to read this stuff in the 1990's in the theory classes in my university program for the digital and Internet age that was starting.
It's day has come!
Excellent! Really enjoyed watching this. A brilliant intro to Baudrilliard's ideas, especially for those new to them. I shall definitely contribute to your patreon page
Voltaire once said that if British accents didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent them
Are British accents... God?!?!?!
Didn't he also make up the story about the apple falling on Isaac Newton's head?
@@turdfergeson8641 lol
Wow the music choices and awesome video collage make the text even more profound. Love this.
This was so brilliant, thank you for this. So very helpful. I already give to your Patreon, and when I needed to understand about Baudrillard, here was your video. Invaluable.
At first, I wasn't certain where you were going with this. I stuck it out, and you did not disappoint. Great vid.
Thank you!
By far the best explanation of what Baudrillard wants to say in his deliberately convoluted discourse. The man's ideas, while revolutionary, are hidden under so much cryptic language (at least in the English translation of Simulacra and Simulation) that one can easily end up thinking they're not worth the effort. And yes, I still don't get it. Hope the third attempt at reading S&S will prove more fruitful.
I 100% agree this video helped me immensely in understanding some parts. Also totally agree on the description of the way he writes. Long sentences that could have used a punctuation or two, the use of commas and parentheses that sometimes forces you to re-read the complete sentence to not get lost. I sometimes also feel he uses some words without explaining it first. Of course he himself knows what he means but for the reader it sometimes might need a bit more context
Learn French
I had to read this in university and I thought I was the dumbest, person in the universe, as I could barely understand anthing.
@@sunkilmoonfan this has put my experience with it so perfectly into words. having to re-read entire pages several times, not because their especially complex in their meaning, but in their structure.
I just started and on the first page I already had to repurpose terms like territory, will be a slog but Im gonna give it my best effort
The quality of research put into this video is freaking astounding.
This is one of the best primers on baudrillard I have ever watched. Good work!
Thanks! :)
Ohh someone likes Adam Curtis.... Nice homage, I love this.
This must be the best informative Video i've seen over the last years. Dude, thank you so much!
Damn your voice is so soothing, keep up the good work!
Thank you! :)
Baudrillard is hyper real. No one of us has met the guy in real life.
one of my professors at uni has interviewed him tho
@@Azafell fake news, take his jacket
What is 'real life'?
Isn't that true for everyone famous? Very few people met Gagarin or Franklin Delano Roosevelt in real life too.
Baudrillard is a thief - the map and the real are concepts from Borges, an Argentine capitalist who said way more interesting things. “On the Exactitude of Science.”
Thank you very much for this video. The way you explain and give examples of the different concepts is very helpful for a person like me who was introduced to different concepts of philosophy through discussions of politics and political theory. The first philosophy book I picked up (a month ago) was simulation and simulacra because it seemed so interesting when I heard people explain certain parts of the book. It was however a very difficult read for someone as myself who went in almost fully blind. I read the book and came out confused about certain topics and a pretty clear understanding of others. Before reading it again Ithought I would se if I could find some videos that would enlightening me on the parts I had a hard time wrapping my head around. This video definitely helped me a great deal and I'll be using some notes I took from this video when I read it again
I have watched very many Baudrillard explanation videos on this website and this is hands down the best one.
Great to hear, thanks!
thanks so much for this, I applaud you - story line, production like music and images, your voice is just brilliant!
I adore this page, goodluck and keep the good content comin!
Thank you! I will :)
I've been interested in Baudrillard for a while now, and it's difficult for me to understand him when I read him. This video is amazingly helpful in scaling down some of the broader points in a way that facilitates digestibility. Thank you!
This video is incredibly well-made. Thank you!
A few points that occurred to me while watching: The claim that a mechanism produces such things as language, ideology, and evaluative frameworks, is itself an assertion of a certain structure of at least phenomenological reality. The problem of living in a system of symbols defined in terms of other symbols is nothing new. It's as ancient as consciousness itself. In a rapidly changing world, the temporary can seam unsubstantial. Diachronic investigation is actually just synchronic investigation spread over time. Synchronic analysis is a subset of the corresponding proper diachronic analysis, not the other way around. Symbols can carry meaning across time even when the synchronic context changes. To only consider the synchronic is a fallacy. The temporal dimension is what allows for the process of abstraction/generalization to occur. Language is layered and interwoven in time. In fact I believe it is the case for all representative structures (this is a superclass of language; it includes other more ancient structures like the phenomenology of colour vision). Another way to think about it, is to imagine synchronic analysis taking place over an expanded spacetime domain (expanded from the original analysis space). I don't like how the word "ritual" is used here. It confounds that which is axiomatic (to be done for its own sake), and that which is to be done without reason. The reason for your action can very well be because of its dogma status. If I "voluntarily" give you a gift on your birthday, it is not of a purely personal volition. The idea of honouring you with a gift is not an original idea on my part. Am I not adhering to some cultural convention? Even if it isn't politically compulsory. If I "ritualistically" engage in consumer culture, is it less or more ritualistic than a dance around a fire? Basically, "ritual" here, is superfluous to both the enacted version of ideology and the suggestion of a fundamentally personal eminence, which materially grounded postmodernism does not allow. Btw I'm not arguing for or against its existence in this paragraph, only that ritual is awkwardly placed, either in this video and/or Baudrillard's ideas. I find myself considering the structure of identity with structure being defined as that which persists. I am reminded of the hindu concept of brahman and the Jungian archetypes of phenomenology.
wow. to say that I am impressed with your comment would be an understatement. thank you for addressing these points and further extending the critical analysis, especially for those of us in the comments section who are new to Baudrillard and his ideas. :)
I'd like to introduce some discussion, because the thought of Baudrillard on one hand seems reasonable, in the other is symptomic of the "postmodern condition". He actually manages to consider the more "unmaterially social" part of human life, as opposed to Marx's intention to analyse the repercussions of the material reproduction of society. I'd say that the insights he offers may be vital for the analysis of contemporary society, since we are actually ever more focused on marketing rather than production, thus aiming to produce needs before fulfilling them; the amount of "useless labour" is ever-growing, and the "bullshit jobs" number is ever-increasing in this post-industrial epoch. So on the one hand the analysis of hyperreality is useful for studying the way in which we ourselves get detached from reality, in order to really get what the "unlimited flow of desires means": they aren't real, they are artificial, simulations, the "new pleasure" is the simulacra of the "old pleasure" that has been eradicated from its reality, thus from the genuine fulfillment of the human being. This leads to an unlimited search, marketable by the post-modern capitalistic machine. On the other, it is symptomatic of the "post-modern condition" of the destruction of the community, of the ever-pervasive commoditization, isolation of the individual and loss of the "Gemeinschaft", community, for the "Gesellschaft", society. The socialisation of the individual in an atomized form creates the need for a common language to disperse, and nihilism, opinionism and the "fake news culture" take the center of the stage, dethronizing the community-centered "grand narratives", be it for the industrial worker community in a factory, or a village, or anything else that has a common interest and values. The destruction of the community brought forward by the massification, marketization and liberalisation of life has made the individual asocial although socialised, thus making the "sign-value" become hyperreal, because of the plurality of "realities" that it tries to subsume under itself: what makes the grounds of Baudrillard's analysis, but also of Bataille's that I've heard echoing in the end of this video. The "expenditure culture" and hyperreality are surely new perspectives that open up new interpretations of the past, too, but I'd like to remember how Marx in the Grundrisse when he talks of the method of Political Economy (I'd say of knowledge in general), specifies how the abstract category of labour, although always present in human history, has only taken form and though in the latest centuries. The new forms of consciousness created by the post-modern world are making us reinterpret the past, interestingly opening up new perspectives, dangerously making us risk the distortion of that period. To conclude, I'd also like to remark that the late Baudrillard's views became a bit too hyperreal in themseves, but this is just a matter of my opinion.
Iman Fani Your fani smells
Dat real now!
Two moves seem to me to characterise Baudrillard’s thought. (1) He questions the principle of the dialectic by arguing that in our time, opposed values such as good and evil become ‘transparent’. Nothing new is created in synthesis; the opposed categories just become so contaminated by one another that they cancel one another out. So if the ‘sign value’ really can be derived from both exchange value and use value, it must be pretty diaphanous, ie about nothing real. But it may survive the mutual cancellation of the principles of exchange and value, and be left as a remainder, as the only thing that seems worthy of our desires. (2) He explores the outcome of hysterical or runaway effects which in later writings he called ‘paroxystic’, a word evoking someone so enraged as to fall into a fit or suffer a fatal stroke. When the production of anything, including signs, is taken to excess, there is a dilution of meaning, or overflowing of the frame within which production has meaning. This might be felt as the disappearance of the signified or as the silence of the majority, or as other kinds of disappearance such as that of the individual psychic space. He is interested in the ideological equivalents of death by ingestion of water, something necessary to life, to the point that the cells of the body can no longer function. As the statement ‘The super-ideology of the sign and the general operationalisation of the signifier … has replaced good old political economy as the theoretical basis of the system’ shows, B accepted that modern life had undergone a ‘linguistic turn’ in the sense that Wittgenstein and others in philosophy did. But this could be taken as a derived effect of (1). The most trenchant and original thought of B can be found in his collections of ‘Cool Memories’. These are condensations in diaristic form of the ironical situations that could be expected to arise in human affairs from excessive acceleration, production and intensification in the case of (2) and mutual cancellation or contamination in the case of (1).
@@williamlee0 Thanks, I have just got Cool Memories and gonna have a read :)
In a world in which we are constantly battered with simplified , sound bitten snippets of narrative I love the careful deconstruction of the elemental forces of complex ideas ....I love this video.
This is such a brilliant video this has greatly helped me to understand better or explore/ read about more about this transcend philosopher Baudrillard. Highly appreciating.
There is so much content on KZhead you have to sort the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes you’re lucky you find that rarest of content, educational , enjoyable and well produced. Your channel is just that. Keep up the great work ! And a brilliant summary of a dense topic.
Knowing nothing is the new peace
Thank you so much. I have been reading nothing but Baudrillard, Derrida and Delueze. Every time I get a chance to see a video essay on one of the is much welcomed.
Might if I ask where you started and what you found most accessible? I already read Simulation and Simulacra and enjoyed it, but I have no idea where to go with Derrida and Deleuze.
@@rawalshadab3812 I started reading them in college as an undergrad in philosophy, if you want some good introductions look up "on deconstruction" by jonathan culler and then read "Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida. After that I would suggest reading" On Grammatology", "Writing and Difference" "voice and phenomenon". With Deleuze I have a harder time with him, but you can read cinema 1 and 2, "Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia" "Difference and repetition" "Bergsonism" and "negotiations".
You're welcome, glad you enjoyed!
The essay 'structure, sign and play' is a good starting place for Derrida. And Todd May's introduction to Deleuze is great. And my videos, of course :)
Dude, thank you for making this video. This helped me so much in my undergrad thesis
This is really brilliant, just started studying Baudrillard and this has been super helpful!
Glad I could help!
This really says a lot about our society
we live in a society
Baudrillard's work is just as relevant and important as it is difficult to digest-- very! So thank you for making this video, and with the tonal presence of his work, not just clinically reviewing.
I’m so grateful for content like this
This video was masterfully created! Bravo!!
dude, awesome work. thank u so much.
This is a brilliant video mate. Keep up the content x
Possibly your best video so far.
Great video. I need to watch it again to go deeper. Baudrillard shared an accurate portrait of what we are living now. A vision so deep and complex about post industrial society. greetings from chile. new subscriber.
🏆best video seen in a while! Thank you for your work.
You know the concept of the simulation seems to parallel Debord’s concept of the spectacle
somewhat I guess
Not quitee I think Debord says spectacle is “capital accumulated until it becomes image”. He’s talking about commodity culture and the “historical moment at which the commodity completes its colonization of social life”. I think Jean B. Takes it further to suggest that even the fabric of reality has become an image ( like the métaphore of the map at the start of Sim&Sim ). B also takes it further saying that the image itself has BECOME life, it is no longer separate to it (As Mark Fisher goes onto write). This is the difference I think between the two thinkers
Absolutely parallels it. Both are birthed from Marxist theory.
Johnbo drillard was following closely in the wake of Debord but the concept of simulation works pretty differently to spectacle. I’m not confident in my ability to explain the difference in a KZhead comment but I think that the longer you think with these two you’ll notice the way these work and the places where they don’t overlap and where they grind gears within the points that do overlap
Kevin Spiegelberg Yes i think it’s important to understand they were both building off the foundations of Marxism but that’s why it’s important not to reduce the concepts just because they’re similar. for example lenin and Walter Benjamin were both marxists but that does not mean they think about history the same. Bodri and d-board’s concepts might work in the same areas but still be different in the way they work
Beautifully made!!
And, Nancy reminded us that we never have had direct access to any reality, 🤗, Latour, that we have not stopped fretting about this lack, which is in fact merely a condition for living in 🥰
This idea has been discussed for centuries, but now as technology becomes increasingly more intertwined with our daily lives, its deeper implications become even more relevant!
Fantastic video as usual.
Amazing discovery mate! Thanks so much
Prescient indeed! Thank you!
Beautifully made. Thank you
Awesome video man, nice job. I wish you would've kept the music that is in the background att 11:11 throughout the entire video, at least on the parts where you don't have any background music. Gives a nice atmosphere
Man, your content is great. It's presented beautifully and at the same time the information is both accurate and made easy to digest. keep this up.
Thanks, much appreciated :)
Love this "introduction to" series.
Fantastic video. It totally describes my life.
Really enjoyed this, reminded me of an Adam Kurtis documentary
One of your best videos, for sure.
I love the old video footage 💫
υπέροχη δουλειά!! a Greek fan here!!
this is a phenomenal video, thank you so much.
I will never successfully escape the example of the tree in videos from Then & Now. Nevertheless, the content is amazing, it is a great introduction to the evermore significant ideas of Baudrillard. 👍
I think there is something beyond “sign value”, perhaps a simple “assigned value”. Musicians call it “G.A.S.”, gear acquisition syndrome. You play a Stratocaster, you always have, you never cared for Les Pauls or hollow bodied guitars; until one day you do. You sort of just get around to appreciating it, then you begin to obsess over every aesthetic detail of the thing. Could be a ‘69 Impala, or WWII fighter plane. Maybe the next gen CPU, or a specific type of pontoon boat. What wasn’t your poison becomes your new obsession. It’s not just the features or utility, or the social cache... it’s the thing itself. You just.. get it now. It’s shape, it’s context, its style.. it’s existence demands that you make it your next possession. It had no value to you, but now you get it, and now you have assigned a value. Perhaps Baudrillard has defined a myriad of reasons why you caught the bug, but now that you’ve got it, the thing is intrinsically desirable, it’s beautiful on its own. You assigned a new value, upon incrementally discovering that value.
Just found out about this guy. And holy shit, my mind feels amazing thinking about his philosophy.
Excellent presentation.
This is fantastic. Great archiving! Thank you for the post.
Thanks! Yeah found some great footage for this one :)
WONDERFUL ANALYSIS. GREAT.
really fantastic overview, TYSM
Thank you! Keep on helping our world back on the right tracks again!
Thanks!
great video essay mate...thanks
this is the one that convinced me to subscribe !
Fantastic video!
Thank you! This is brilliant.
How do you know when you're liberated? And what do we do after? I still feel so stuck in this profit driven & abstract society. And learning about all this postmodern theory (I think, anyway) is very useful, but it also makes me feel lost. Where does one go after realizing this is what society is? Are we expected to live in cognitive dissonance and just continue living & working in this hyper real society? The notion that hyperreality engulfs culture and the narratives we tell ourselves will continue to ruminate in the back of our minds until we, as a society, come together and change something. Is change even possible though? I dont see mass media going anyway ever. But how many people actually care? Ask anyone on the street, or your co-workers, or family members what their opinion is on this subject and they wont care because they work a 9-5 job and just want to spend time mentally discharging with family, friends, video games, drugs porn etc etc after a difficult work week. So yeah... What happens now? Or is that a futile question?
perhaps change can only happen on a more countercultural level? like you, i believe that a wide majority of people are probably pretty content to just live out their "normal" lives in a "normal" society...without contemplating whether there should -- or could -- be something different. a simpler, truer, more liberated form of reality (if, of course, such a form can even exist!). i appreciate your comment because it highlights a lot of what i've been thinking/feeling lately, too -- although i am far from reaching any sort of clear conclusion myself, i personally find a great deal of hope and inspiration in these very subcommunities -- exchanging the time previously spent on "social media" for these philosophical niches, these micro-movements. this comments section itself is a convincing example that at least a fair number of people are on the same wavelength! perhaps we are simply just ruminating; but perhaps, we can create some sort of counterculture. some sort of blueprint for an alternative way of living. (please forgive my über-idealism, i admit that i'm still new to these problems and am probably suffering from too much optimism...) of course, we still need to find some sort of concrete solution -- all i can say for the moment is that i would rather invest my spare time and energy collaborating with those on the same wavelength, hashing out new plans with fellow free-thinkers while (at least temporarily) forgetting about enlightening the rest of society...for, sadly, they may never come around anyway... :/ p.s. i'm so SORRY if i am projecting any of my own opinions/beliefs onto your comment -- originally i just wanted to thank you for your words, then i got a bit carried away with my own thoughts :)
excellent essay dude
life altering information and perspective
Amazing work
Fascinating, thank you
Really well made video, good stuff
Great video. Sims this up pretty well
Wonderful video. Thank you.
this was amazing. thank you
Bit of an aside but the way you explain exchange value and commodity fetishism was extremely clear and concise.
Excellent content. Really top notch.
Thank you!
Wicked analysis man
Well done!
Good video. Strong Adam Curtis vibes.
Excellent video! Would anyone know about the music track that plays around 20 mins into the video?
I'm really struggling with the density and seemingly drug induced nature of Simulacra and Simulation but what I'm getting so far is that whatever fits the existing structure strengthens the symbolic relationships of society and pull it into a social capitalism simulacra that is flat and impossible to distinguish from a digitized simulation because of how empty it has become. Social capitalism is the direction of movement because the capitalist elements allow dollar amounts to create exact and simplified relationality amongst everything while anesthetizing people's pushback against this perfect relationality by giving them a minimal value through basic needs that coerces them to stay in the system rather than risk going negative in value and ceasing to exist. People become objects to these passive but self reinforcing forces. Our collective desire for structure is becoming increasingly enslaving because the technology which is evolving out of this system is allowing the creating of perfect mappings of the whole within a smaller, flatter, digitized structure, which itself is constantly compressing and flattening the existing lexicon of symbols through relationality. He constantly refers back to societies that emerge that have retained their identity separate from the self flattening patterns (such as the native americans who have never heard of Jesus, or amazonian tribes who haven't modernized into the 20th century, or terrorists) that represent the real and which is immediately destroyed by and synthesized into the simulacra. Technology has made destruction and synthesis of what does not fit the existing order easy because algorithms can easily identify how these contrasting orders relate and differ to the current order and thus figure out the most efficient way to add it to the main order without putting stress on the system and then quickly flatten and degrade it through this continual compression and flattening any differences in how they represent these sacrificed anarchists. We've even synthesized Nazism into this structure, with an understanding these were flawed men who are no different that our own genetic code who existed to show us the failure of fascism rather than a separate societal ideal which humanity can define itself as separate and different from. Determinism has eliminated any passion behind notions of good and evil. This is what the humans who built the system want as this efficiency maximizes production of what the system has determined is valuable, the currency of production which can improve not only every person, but every place. The final wave of technology allows the human body itself to be destroyed and synthesized into the system as cybernetics and AI meld technology and humanity. By this time human's value of it's own subject nature has been flattened so much by how the forces around humans drive their behavior that there is no resistance to this human-machine melding as the objects of technology and the social order have more willpower, driven by ruthlessly efficient algorithms, than the actual human subjects flattened to understand the quality of their life as a simple a numeric value. The Matrix seems to give hope through anarchy, nihilistic grewl consumption living, and free choice of thought on what to place value in. As the economic value of Zion is null, the human is forced to start from square one to define value and relationality of the world around it, with survival being the first instinct to be revived from the malaise of the real (desert of the real).
The commercials ads prove the point.
This one reminds me so much of Adam Curtis