In the Swarm: Digital Prospects

99 Pages·2017·1.84 MB·English

by  Byung-Chul Han

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UNTIMELY MEDITATIONS
1. THE AGONY OF EROS
Byung-Chul Han
2. ON HITLER’S MEIN KAMPF: THE POETICS OF NATIONAL SOCIALISM
Albrecht Koschorke
3. IN THE SWARM: DIGITAL PROSPECTS
Byung-Chul Han
4. THE TERROR OF EVIDENCE
Marcus Steinweg
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LONDON, ENGLAND UI
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© 2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Originally published as Im Schwarm: Ansichten des Digitalen in the series Fröhliche
Wissenschaft by Matthes & Seitz Berlin: © Matthes & Seitz Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft
mbH, Berlin 2013. All rights reserved.
The translation of this work was supported by a grant from the Goethe-Institut,
which is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in PF Din Text Pro by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited. Printed
and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Han, Byung-Chul, author.
Title: In the swarm : digital prospects / Byung-Chul Han ; translated by Erik Butler.
Other titles: Im Schwarm. English
Description: Cambridge, MA : MIT Press, 2017. | Series: Untimely meditations |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031907 | ISBN 9780262533362 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Internet--Social aspects. | Digital media--Social aspects. |
Communication--Social aspects.
Classification: LCC HM851 .H344813 2017 | DDC 302.23/1--dc23 LC record available
at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016031907
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
My tears are flowing; earth, take back your child!
—Faust

CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
NO RESPECT 1
OUTRAGE SOCIETY 7
IN THE SWARM 9
DEMEDIATIZATION 15
CLEVER HANS 21
FLIGHT INTO THE IMAGE 27
FROM THE HAND TO THE FINGER 31
FROM FARMING TO HUNTING 37
FROM SUBJECT TO PROJECT 45
THE NOMOS OF THE EARTH 51
DIGITAL GHOSTS 55
INFORMATION FATIGUE 59
THE CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION 63
FROM CITIZEN TO CONSUMER 67
THE RECORDED LIFE 71
PSYCHOPOLITICS 77
NOTES 81