We stagger from one stimulus to another, from one addiction to another, from one dependency to another

[noname223]

I watched my favorite phiosophy TV show and they talked about an article.

Byung-Chul Han: „Wir sind in einer toxischen Wiederholung gefangen“

Das spätmoderne Individuum hält sich für freier denn je, doch ist eigentlich gefangen im Zwang zu Selbstverwirklichung und Informationsaufnahme, meint Byung-Chul Han. Der Philosoph lädt deshalb ein zu Wiederholungen, die Neues entfalten, und Ritualen, die Gemeinschaft stiften.

www.philomag.de

I considered the following passage beautifully. I used google translator.

Do you think we repeat too mechanically today? Repetition in the original sense, as recommencer, requires intense attention. This attention distinguishes it from mechanical repetition. We cannot repeat anything today insofar as we are incapable of that deep attention. This is also why we can no longer pray. In the information society, nothing is repeatable in the original sense because information is a fleeting stimulus. It releases its stimulus quickly and fades away. Information as a stimulus can make us addicted. Addiction is a form of repetition. We stagger from one stimulus to another, from one addiction to another, from one dependency to another. We are thus trapped in a toxic cycle of repetition. You claim that rituals create a community without communication, while today we have communication without community.

Can you elaborate on that?

The French author Michel Butor says in an interview: "For ten or twenty years, almost nothing has been happening in literature. There is a flood of publications, but an intellectual stagnation. The cause is a crisis of communication. The new means of communication are admirable, but they create an enormous amount of noise." The noise of digital communication is very destructive. It makes any repetition impossible. It paralyzes the mind and destroys the soul. Today we are totally interconnected, but we live in a society without relationship, connection, and touch. Silence and stillness can connect us more than boundless communication.


We stagger from one stimulus to another, from one addiction to another, from one dependency to another

For me this is fully true. And it encaptures something inside myself I could not bring into my own words.

Too scared of copyright infringements otherwise I would translate the whole article on put it on here. It is from a German philosophy magazine.

 

[SomeDude]

Sehr interessant :) eigentlich wollte ich nach dem ganzen Artikel fragen, da ich jetzt nicht umbedingt da ein Abo abschließen wollte aber das mim Copyright kann ich gut verstehen.

And yes, I agree with that. Even though I've tried to remove most things from my life that only bring short-term pleasure, I still feel like even the long-term goals that are supposed to bring me true happiness have turned into just completing one task after another — and that it only gives me this short-term dopamine feeling of having achieved something.

How do you break out of this cycle where you constantly only experience temporary satisfaction?
Oh btw, what was that TV show if I may ask?

 

[noname223]

Sehr interessant :) eigentlich wollte ich nach dem ganzen Artikel fragen, da ich jetzt nicht umbedingt da ein Abo abschließen wollte aber das mim Copyright kann ich gut verstehen.

And yes, I agree with that. Even though I've tried to remove most things from my life that only bring short-term pleasure, I still feel like even the long-term goals that are supposed to bring me true happiness have turned into just completing one task after another — and that it only gives me this short-term dopamine feeling of having achieved something.

How do you break out of this cycle where you constantly only experience temporary satisfaction?

There is a browser extension with which you can bypass such paywalls. Lol.

I think for me I am very ambivalent. I have longterm goals which I also pursue but I also have shortterm pleasures. There is often much sadness inside myself and the suffering makes me pursue my idealistic goals. And when the pain once again gets overwhelming I try getting some relief. But this is very simplified.

 

[SomeDude]

I am pursuing my long-term goals everyday as much as I can, however there are only a few things I can do each day to pursue them and then its back to shortterm pleasure.. however I wouldnt call it that, its more like a distraction because I dont know what else I should or can do :/
hmm yeah maybe its some kind of relief, like you've said... everyday just feels so pointless otherwise, if I am not distracting myself with shortterm pleasure...