The plush cell phone: the vision of Byung-Chul Han, the philosopher who promulgates technological detachment

The recent facebook crash was not caused by Byung Chul Han, although this digital disconnect was the perfect advancement of Non-things. Bankruptcies of the world today, the world’s most widely read living philosopher’s new book. The two events (the blackout and the editorial launch) happened with striking synchronicity.

Shortly after the failure that left the world without Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with little difference in hours since that day many of us reverted to old texting and phone calls, and we even hijacked the look at screens; the brand new text by the south korean essayist underlines the negative influence of smartphones in contemporary society. The Seoul-born philosophy professor at the Berlin University of the Arts notes that Cellphones destroy empathy by turning others into objects. And the user himself.

Non-things It is a comprehensive collection of critiques of technological development and the little things that invade the lives of millions of people, extending the philosopher’s line of thought on capitalism and the consumer society. Dependence, vigilance, reversed roles and submission resonate throughout the pages of the book.

The smartphone like a teddy bear

The mobile phone is “a very efficient informant who constantly watches over his user, he controls and programs us”warns the South Korean philosopher by reversing the role play between people and their devices. “It is not us who use the smartphone, but the smartphone that uses us.” The reflection looks like a poetic twist that our Julio Cortázar wrote decades ago, long before the appearance of the first iPhone and all smartphones. The author of Hopscotch He said in a short text that when someone offers you a watch in truth “it is you who are gifted, you are offered for the anniversary of the watch”.

Let us return to Byung-Chul Han, who likens the cell phone to a “Portable confessional” where “the As is the digital amen “, which defines Google and Facebook as “the new feudal lords” and users as “exploited, watched and controlled” beings who, to top it off, are unaware of their subjugation. The essayist too talk about smartphone like a teddy bear, not because of its cuteness but because of the addiction it generates.

Like a child who clings to his toy to feel safe and far from fears, cell phones foster an intimate and close relationship, according to the South Korean. “The child panics when he loses his beloved object; when you lose your smartphone panic is totalHe writes, referring to a situation the world somehow experienced during the October 4 blackout.

Byung-Chul Han raises the bar: “The smartphone is not a digital teddy bear, it is rather a narcissistic and autistic object in which we do not feel the other, but first ourselves (…) Suddenly, it also destroys empathy; with the smartphone we retreat into a narcissistic sphere sheltered from the imponderables of the other. (…) He makes the other available by transforming him into an object; turn it into an it ”.

Three fragments of Non-things. Bankruptcies of the world today

“Things don’t spy on us. That’s why we trust them. The smartphone, on the other hand, is not just a computer, but a very effective informant who constantly monitors its user.. Those who know what is going on inside their algorithms rightly feel persecuted. He controls us and programs us. It is not us who use the smartphone, but the smartphone that uses us. The real actor is the smartphone. We are at the mercy of this digital informant, behind whom various actors direct us and distract us ”.

“Platforms like Facebook or Google are the new feudal lords. We tirelessly cultivate their land and produce valuable data, which they then profit from. We feel free, but we are completely exploited, watched and controlled. In a system that exploits freedom, no resistance is created. Domination is consumed as soon as it accords with freedom ”.

“Given our almost symbiotic relationship with the smartphone, it is now assumed that it represents a transitional object.. Transitional object, the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott calls those things which allow the young child to pass safely to reality. It is only through transitional objects that the child creates a space of play, an “intermediate space” in which “he relaxes as if he were in a safe and non-confrontational resting place”. Transitional objects build a bridge towards reality, towards the other, which escapes his childhood fantasy of omnipotence. From a young age, young children grab objects such as the ends of a blanket or pillow to put them in their mouths or to stroke them. Later they take a whole object like a doll or stuffed animal. Transitional objects perform an important vital function. They give the child a feeling of security. They take away the fear of being alone. They create trust and security. Thanks to transitional objects, the child slowly develops in the world around him. These are the first things in the world that stabilize early childhood life ”.

These fragments were anticipated by the daily The country from Spain, before the launch of Non-things. Bankruptcies of the world today, which was published by Taurus.

About Byung-Chul Han

Born in Seoul in 1959, Byung-Chul Han studied metallurgy in his hometown and around 1980 he went to study philosophy in Germany, one of the most prolific countries in this discipline. He obtained his doctorate in 1994 with a thesis on the work of Martin Heidegger. He currently writes his texts in German and English and is a professor at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he also directs a study program.

Among his works stands out Fatigue society, where he looks at disorders such as depression, exhaustion (Burnout) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. His biography indicates that he usually refuses to give radio and television interviews, and that information about his private life (including his date of birth) is kept confidential.