The Burnout Society
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4.1 • 25 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Our competitive, service-oriented societies are taking a toll on the late-modern individual. Rather than improving life, multitasking, "user-friendly" technology, and the culture of convenience are producing disorders that range from depression to attention deficit disorder to borderline personality disorder. Byung-Chul Han interprets the spreading malaise as an inability to manage negative experiences in an age characterized by excessive positivity and the universal availability of people and goods. Stress and exhaustion are not just personal experiences, but social and historical phenomena as well. Denouncing a world in which every against-the-grain response can lead to further disempowerment, he draws on literature, philosophy, and the social and natural sciences to explore the stakes of sacrificing intermittent intellectual reflection for constant neural connection.
Customer Reviews
A compelling if convoluted read
Perhaps my academic era has long past me, but at the core of Han’s academic paper-as-book is compelling point of view around the contrast between two eras of human modality and how our current existence as subjects to achievement has predisposed us as physiological beings to the mental exhaustion of the menial: burnout.
Through a collection of allusions and references to past studies, Han builds on his thesis with concrete examples and thinking.
Alas, the narrative through line of the work and the density of its content makes it a bit of a slog to read through.
With a bit more of the everyman in mind as the audience, I think this book would’ve been dramatically more successful at both conveying its message and getting its message out to a broader audience.
Then again, perhaps my interest in seeking it out and my inability to parse it without much effort points therein to the singular common bond: I’m burnt out as an achievement subject.
Glad I read it.