After the Last Man - Revision history

Unknown user: /* Quotes */

2025-05-06T03:34:03Z

Quotes

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 Technology is like water for fish:
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 As an externalized metaphor for human functions, technology shapes our self-consciousness by providing a self-made image of ourselves that mirrors our values and the life processes that inform them
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 On the shift back to mythic thinking and reactionary forms:
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 As citizens become estranged from the apparatuses of technocratic decision-making and as technology itself becomes increasingly efficient and invisible in its ongoing operations those systems of human artifacts upon which public order and private satisfactions depend start to seem more and more magical in their operations. And with the new superstition that has technology operating on automatic comes a heightened sense of fatalism, which is itself a cultural product of a hyperrationalized world shading into mythic modes and orders.
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 ...consciously engage with the fundamental conditions of possibility that set the shape of our world and in so doing both enframe and instigate the sources of disorder in our psyches and our global politics.
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Unknown user: /* Quotes */

2025-05-06T02:54:04Z

Quotes

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 As citizens become estranged from the apparatuses of technocratic decision-making and as technology itself becomes increasingly efficient and invisible in its ongoing operations those systems of human artifacts upon which public order and private satisfactions depend start to seem more and more magical in their operations. And with the new superstition that has technology operating on automatic comes a heightened sense of fatalism, which is itself a cultural product of a hyperrationalized world shading into mythic modes and orders.
 }}

Unknown user: /* Quotes */

2025-05-06T02:48:24Z

Quotes

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 As an externalized metaphor for human functions, technology shapes our self-consciousness by providing a self-made image of ourselves that mirrors our values and the life processes that inform them
 }}

Unknown user: /* Quotes */

2025-05-06T02:45:30Z

Quotes

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:45, 6 May 2025
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	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

			Technology is like water for fish:

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			Technology conditions our modes of thinking and our possibilities for action, and at the most basic level frames our way of being in the world, and so it is hard to express a reflective understanding of technology as such beyond empty expressions of either self-satisfaction or anxiety...
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			The technological system alters values and goals:

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			The processes of development and the introduction of new systems of technical means erode the metaphysical grounds of judgments pertaining to the ends of action simply by transforming the consideration of what is good and bad for human beings to do into possible choices within an array of technically feasible options.
			}}

			{{Quote\|
			As an externalized metaphor for human functions, technology shapes our self-consciousness by providing a self-made image of ourselves that mirrors our values and the life processes that inform them
			}}

	=Related=		=Related=

Unknown user: /* Nietzsche */

2025-05-05T13:05:08Z

Nietzsche

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	Koivukoski connects Nietzsche's radical critique of values to the functioning of the technological system. He explores Nietzsche's insight that values are not transcendent truths but man-made. Koivukoski argues that technology accelerates this realization and its consequences. '''By making almost any end technically feasible, technology transforms values into options or consumer choices, neutralizing their commanding power, eroding the traditional metaphysical grounds (logos) upon which judgments of good and bad were based.''' Similarly, Nietzsche asked on what basis we might choose or create meaning in a world where technology seemingly makes all values relative or achievable.		Koivukoski connects Nietzsche's radical critique of values to the functioning of the technological system. He explores Nietzsche's insight that values are not transcendent truths but man-made. Koivukoski argues that technology accelerates this realization and its consequences. '''By making almost any end technically feasible, technology transforms values into options or consumer choices, neutralizing their commanding power, eroding the traditional metaphysical grounds (logos) upon which judgments of good and bad were based.''' Similarly, Nietzsche asked on what basis we might choose or create meaning in a world where technology seemingly makes all values relative or achievable.

			The technological system itself, in its drive to order, control, reshape nature, and manage human life for efficiency, can be seen as a vast expression of a will to power—imposing human-derived forms (logos) onto reality. Nietzsche's critique, as used by Koivukoski, reveals the potential nihilism lurking within this project: if all values are simply expressions of will or human creations, and technology facilitates their easy production and consumption, the result can be the passive nihilism of the Last Man, who has "invented happiness" but lacks the will to strive for anything beyond immediate comfort.

			Conversely, the reactive, sometimes violent, reassertion of absolute values (a form of mythos) seen in fundamentalism or radical opposition can also be interpreted as a desperate, distorted manifestation of the will to power against this perceived meaninglessness. Koivukoski also touches upon Nietzsche's amor fati (love of fate), connecting it to the acceptance of a process-oriented reality without fixed ends, characteristic of life within the dynamic, ever-changing technological system.

			Ultimately, Koivukoski uses Nietzsche to diagnose the spiritual and existential condition fostered by the technological system's hyperrationality (logos). Nietzsche's exposure of the human origins of values and his critique of the naive faith in progress serve to highlight the potential emptiness at the heart of modernity. The figure of the Last Man represents the potential dead end of a purely functional, comfortable existence devoid of the striving and creative tension (mythos, will) that Nietzsche saw as essential to a meaningful human life.

			Koivukoski suggests that the technological system pushes us towards this condition, making Nietzsche's questions about value creation and overcoming intensely relevant in an age grappling with the limits of its own rationalized power.

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

Unknown user: /* Interplay between Logos and Mythos */

2025-05-05T13:02:48Z

Interplay between Logos and Mythos

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:02, 5 May 2025
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	==Interplay between Logos and Mythos==		==Interplay between Logos and Mythos==




	===Heidegger===		===Heidegger===
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	He also subtly employs Heidegger's notion of truth as aletheia (unforgetting/unconcealment) when discussing historical consciousness and memory as potential sites of resistance against the system's flattening of time and experience.		He also subtly employs Heidegger's notion of truth as aletheia (unforgetting/unconcealment) when discussing historical consciousness and memory as potential sites of resistance against the system's flattening of time and experience.

			===Nietzsche===

			Koivukoski engages with Nietzsche when diagnosing the human condition within the advanced technological system, around the breakdown of modern rationalism (logos) and the implications for values and meaning (mythos).

			Koivukoski frequently invokes Nietzsche, especially the figure of the "Last Man," as emblematic of the potential outcome of a technologically saturated society — a state of passive consumption, shallow happiness, and an absence of striving or deep purpose. Koivukoski sees the technological system, with its focus on efficiency and the provision of endless options, as potentially leading to this Nietzschean endpoint where meaningful distinctions and the drive for self-overcoming are eroded.

			Koivukoski connects Nietzsche's radical critique of values to the functioning of the technological system. He explores Nietzsche's insight that values are not transcendent truths but man-made. Koivukoski argues that technology accelerates this realization and its consequences. '''By making almost any end technically feasible, technology transforms values into options or consumer choices, neutralizing their commanding power, eroding the traditional metaphysical grounds (logos) upon which judgments of good and bad were based.''' Similarly, Nietzsche asked on what basis we might choose or create meaning in a world where technology seemingly makes all values relative or achievable.

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

Unknown user: /* Technology altering our perception of self, space, and time */

2025-05-05T12:56:58Z

Technology altering our perception of self, space, and time

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:56, 5 May 2025
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	* Disembodiment and Virtuality: Digital interfaces allow us to interact with environments and people without physical co-presence. We inhabit virtual spaces (online worlds, social media platforms, remote work environments) that can feel compellingly real ("hyperreal"). '''This can lead to a sense of disembodiment, where the primary locus of interaction shifts from physical space to mediated, virtual space, potentially making the physical world feel secondary or like a backdrop.''' Koivukoski also mentions the "imperial perspective" enabled by viewing Earth from space, radically altering the sense of horizon and embeddedness.		* Disembodiment and Virtuality: Digital interfaces allow us to interact with environments and people without physical co-presence. We inhabit virtual spaces (online worlds, social media platforms, remote work environments) that can feel compellingly real ("hyperreal"). '''This can lead to a sense of disembodiment, where the primary locus of interaction shifts from physical space to mediated, virtual space, potentially making the physical world feel secondary or like a backdrop.''' Koivukoski also mentions the "imperial perspective" enabled by viewing Earth from space, radically altering the sense of horizon and embeddedness.

			==Interplay between Logos and Mythos==




			===Heidegger===

			Koivukoski's engagement with Martin Heidegger is significant, particularly when analyzing the interplay between logos (rational discourse, reason) and mythos (narrative, mythic understanding) in the context of modern technology.

			Koivukoski uses Heideggerian concepts to frame his critique of how technology shapes reality and human experience, seeing the modern technological system as pushing logos towards a hyperrational, instrumental form that paradoxically creates conditions for a resurgence of mythos. He draws on Heidegger's understanding of logos in its ancient Greek sense, particularly as a mode of gathering, ordering, and revealing being, contrasting it with the suppressed, unifying field of mythos.

			Koivukoski sees the historical dominance of logos over mythos, a process intensified by technology, as reaching a critical point where the very system built on this rationality becomes opaque and overwhelming, prompting non-rational responses.

			Koivukoski's analysis resonates strongly with themes from Heidegger's [[The Question Concerning Technology]]. Koivukoski's description of technology as an "encompassing environment" that "enframes" our possibilities and orders the world reflects Heidegger's core idea. For Heidegger, the essence of modern technology is this Enframing, a way of revealing that challenges both nature and humanity, ordering everything as quantifiable, calculable, "standing in reserve" (Bestand) ready for use. Koivukoski likewise describes how the technological system treats the world as resources and integrates human beings as functional components. This hyperrational ordering, focused solely on efficiency and control, is the dominant logos of the technological age.

			Koivukoski directly invokes Heidegger's idea, quoting Hölderlin, that "where danger is, grows / The saving power also". For Koivukoski, the very crises and fragilities of the technological system, which reveal its limits and our dependence, might constitute this potential "saving power." Recognizing the danger inherent in the system's totalizing logos might open a space for reflection and perhaps a more conscious engagement with both rational understanding and the non-rational dimensions of experience (mythos), moving beyond the instrumental logic of the system.

			He also subtly employs Heidegger's notion of truth as aletheia (unforgetting/unconcealment) when discussing historical consciousness and memory as potential sites of resistance against the system's flattening of time and experience.

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

Unknown user: /* Altered Perception of Self */

2025-05-05T12:49:55Z

Altered Perception of Self

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:49, 5 May 2025
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	* The Externalized/Monitored Self: Technology allows us to externalize functions (memory onto drives, communication onto networks) and also facilitates unprecedented levels of monitoring (viewer ratings, keystrokes, location tracking, consumer behavior). This can lead to a sense of self that experiences itself as an object within the system – a collection of data points to be analyzed, managed, or optimized. It can foster a self-consciousness predicated on how one appears within the system or how one is measured by it, '''blurring the line between authentic selfhood and performed identity.'''		* The Externalized/Monitored Self: Technology allows us to externalize functions (memory onto drives, communication onto networks) and also facilitates unprecedented levels of monitoring (viewer ratings, keystrokes, location tracking, consumer behavior). This can lead to a sense of self that experiences itself as an object within the system – a collection of data points to be analyzed, managed, or optimized. It can foster a self-consciousness predicated on how one appears within the system or how one is measured by it, '''blurring the line between authentic selfhood and performed identity.'''

			===Altered Perception of Time===

			* Compression and Immediacy: Digital technologies operate at electronic speed, collapsing the time it takes for communication and information retrieval. This fosters an expectation of immediacy and diminishes the experience of duration or waiting. Koivukoski contrasts this with the "discursive time" of the machine age. '''This compression can lead to impatience and a perception that slower, non-mediated processes are inefficient or frustrating, altering the fundamental rhythm of experience.'''

			* Episodic/Cyclical Time (Posthistorical): Koivukoski argues against the modern notion of linear, progressive history. '''Within the technological system, time can feel more episodic, marked by recurring crises, updates, spectacles, or cycles of consumption and obsolescence.''' The "end of history" doesn't mean nothing happens, but that events might not be perceived as cumulative steps towards a goal, but rather as iterations or fluctuations within an ongoing, potentially cyclical, present, mimicking a form of mythic time.

			* Presentism and Decontextualized Past: The sheer volume and accessibility of information can paradoxically flatten our sense of historical depth. The past becomes a searchable database or a collection of easily reproducible signs and symbols ("the whore called 'Once upon a time'"), '''detached from deep context or lived experience'''. This encourages a focus on the immediate, ever-changing present ("nows that needs no justification"), '''making it harder to feel a strong connection to historical continuity or long-term consequences.'''

			===Altered Perception of Space===

			* Collapse of Distance/Global Simultaneity: Technologies like the internet, satellite communications, and high-speed travel effectively shrink the globe, making distance less of a barrier to interaction or experience. Events happening physically far away can be experienced in real-time via media ("global event"), '''creating a sense of simultaneity and interconnectedness that challenges traditional notions of locality and geographic separation.'''

			* Networked/Nodal Space: Our experience of space becomes less like navigating a continuous Cartesian grid and more like moving through a network of nodes (websites, servers, communication hubs, specific physical locations integrated into the network like coffee shops in a library). '''Physical location can become secondary to one's position and access within the network.''' Any point connected to the network can potentially become a functional "center," decentering traditional geographic hierarchies.

			* Disembodiment and Virtuality: Digital interfaces allow us to interact with environments and people without physical co-presence. We inhabit virtual spaces (online worlds, social media platforms, remote work environments) that can feel compellingly real ("hyperreal"). '''This can lead to a sense of disembodiment, where the primary locus of interaction shifts from physical space to mediated, virtual space, potentially making the physical world feel secondary or like a backdrop.''' Koivukoski also mentions the "imperial perspective" enabled by viewing Earth from space, radically altering the sense of horizon and embeddedness.

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

Unknown user: /* Notes */

2025-05-05T12:43:41Z

Notes

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:43, 5 May 2025
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	* Shaping the Reader's Perception: The story would focus on the characters' perceptions being altered by technology, but the story should also make the reader feel what that alteration of perception is like. The story should emphasize subtle, pervasive, and reality-shaping power over dramatic, clear-cut good vs bad conflicts.		* Shaping the Reader's Perception: The story would focus on the characters' perceptions being altered by technology, but the story should also make the reader feel what that alteration of perception is like. The story should emphasize subtle, pervasive, and reality-shaping power over dramatic, clear-cut good vs bad conflicts.

			==Technology altering our perception of self, space, and time==

			Again, let's dig deeper into a statement from our summary above: "He explores how living within this system alters our sense of self, time, and space, leading to phenomena like multitasking, the compression of distance, and a changing perception of reality itself, often mediated through digital interfaces and spectacles."

			Let's talk about some examples of how living within the technological system might alter our perception.

			===Altered Perception of Self===

			* The Multitasking/Process-Oriented Self: The technological environment encourages and rewards multitasking—handling multiple information streams and tasks simultaneously (e.g., juggling emails, browser tabs, messaging apps, phone calls). Koivukoski suggests this fosters a sense of self that is defined more by its capacity to function efficiently within these processes and shift attention rapidly, rather than by deep, singular focus or sustained reflection. '''The self becomes akin to a central processing unit managing workflows, potentially leading to a more fragmented or surface-level experience of identity.'''

			* The Networked/Relational Self:''' In a system where "a piece of information is really defined only by what it's related to", Koivukoski implies human identity can similarly become understood primarily through its connections, profiles, and interactions within digital networks. The self is constituted by its links and data points within the system (social media connections, online purchase history, data profiles used by algorithms). '''This can diminish the feeling of a stable, intrinsic, autonomous self, replacing it with a more fluid, externally defined, and potentially "phantasmagoric" identity constructed through and reflected by the system.'''

			* The Externalized/Monitored Self: Technology allows us to externalize functions (memory onto drives, communication onto networks) and also facilitates unprecedented levels of monitoring (viewer ratings, keystrokes, location tracking, consumer behavior). This can lead to a sense of self that experiences itself as an object within the system – a collection of data points to be analyzed, managed, or optimized. It can foster a self-consciousness predicated on how one appears within the system or how one is measured by it, '''blurring the line between authentic selfhood and performed identity.'''

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=

Unknown user: /* Aside - A Koivukoski-Inspired Short Story */

2025-05-05T12:37:43Z

Aside - A Koivukoski-Inspired Short Story

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:37, 5 May 2025
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	* Systemic Integration: The story would depict a complex network, deeply embedded in characters' daily lives, work, relationships, and even self-interactions and thoughts. It would mediate between the characters and the world around them, would be constantly connected, would provide information, and would automate tasks in the background.		* Systemic Integration: The story would depict a complex network, deeply embedded in characters' daily lives, work, relationships, and even self-interactions and thoughts. It would mediate between the characters and the world around them, would be constantly connected, would provide information, and would automate tasks in the background.

	* Subtle Shifts in Perception and Reality: The story would dramatize the alteration of time and space - compressing or fragmenting time, distorting or stretching space.		* Subtle Shifts in Perception and Reality: The story would dramatize the alteration of time and space,, compressing or fragmenting time, distorting or stretching space. It might be difficult for characters to distinguish between artificial and real experiences (authenticity), or struggle with the effects of hyperreality (which seems more real than reality itself, and might come to be preferred over the real). Their memories and identities would be shaped by digital archives and profiles.

			* Blurring of Logos and Mythos: The characters might come to treat the technological system in quasi-mythic ways: anthropomorphization, superstitious behavior, formation of rituals and communities. Attempts at purely rational control of the system fail or falter, giving way to intuitive or narrative-based coping mechanisms.

			* Fragility and Interdependence: Rather than hinging on a dramatic technological failure, it would focus on the complexity of the system and the resulting fragility. For example, a small localized glitch cascading through the network, disrupting everyday life. The story would highlight the interconnectedness of everything in the system.

			* Existential Condition, Not Plot Device: The story would feature technology not as a plot device, but as the fundamental condition of existence. Characters would wrestle with a sense of self within the system. They might feel managed or predicted, the loss of freedom, the loss of distinction or individuality, or the loss of will. They would struggle to find it within the system, or perhaps they would struggle to find it in the absence of the system or in the case of a system collapse.

			* Shaping the Reader's Perception: The story would focus on the characters' perceptions being altered by technology, but the story should also make the reader feel what that alteration of perception is like. The story should emphasize subtle, pervasive, and reality-shaping power over dramatic, clear-cut good vs bad conflicts.

	=Quotes=		=Quotes=