added by baja and · updated 4d ago
The Burnout Society
The absence of relation to the Other causes a crisis of gratification. As recognition, gratification presupposes the instance of the Other (or the “Third Party”). It is impossible to reward oneself or to acknowledge oneself. For Kant, God represents the instance of gratification: He rewards and acknowledges moral accomplishment. Because the structu
... See morefrom The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Tara McMullin added 8d ago
In Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche formulates three tasks for which pedagogues are necessary. One needs to learn to see, to think, and to speak and write. The goal of education, according to Nietzsche, is “noble culture.” Learning to see means “getting your eyes used to calm, to patience, to letting things come to you”—that is, making yourself cap
... See morefrom The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
baja added 4mo ago
Psychoanalysis presupposes the negativity of repression and negation. The unconscious and repression, Freud stresses, are “correlative” to the greatest extent. In contrast, the process of repression or negation plays no role in contemporary psychic maladies such as depression, burnout, and ADHD. Instead, they indicate an excess of positivity, that
... See morefrom The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Tara McMullin added 8d ago
There are two forms of potency. Positive potency is the power to do something. Negative potency, in contrast, is the power not to do—to adopt Nietzsche’s phrasing, the power to say no.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
baja added 4mo ago
What proves problematic is not individual competition per se, but rather its self-referentiality, which escalates into absolute competition. That is, the achievement-subject competes with itself; it succumbs to the destructive compulsion to outdo itself over and over, to jump over its own shadow. This self-constraint, which poses as freedom, has de
... See morefrom The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Tara McMullin added 8d ago
The new human type, standing exposed to excessive positivity without any defense, lacks all sovereignty. The depressive human being is an animal laborans that exploits itself—and it does so voluntarily, without external constraints. It is predator and prey at once.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
baja added 4mo ago
A purely hectic rush produces nothing new. It reproduces and accelerates what is already available.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
baja added 4mo ago
The “gift of listening” is based on the ability to grant deep, contemplative attention—which remains inaccessible to the hyperactive ego.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
baja added 4mo ago
The violence of positivity does not deprive, it saturates; it does not exclude, it exhausts. That is why it proves inaccessible to unmediated perception.
from The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
Tara McMullin added 8d ago