Two things brought me here: The first is the Netflix documentary on the Unabomber. Ellul was a major philosophical influence. And then recently reading another book on the pressures of modern society, the opening chapter starts with a large quote by Ellul. I am now deeply fascinated. Thank you for this.
I’m reading Ellul’s book at the moment and my random googling led me to this series. After watching five of the videos, I felt I had to post here to convey my gratitude. Ellul’s insights are powerful and profound; however his writing is dense and complex, and (probably necessarily) hard to follow. I have found this video commentary very useful - both for sorting out Ellul’s intended meanings and for considering my own interpretation and contextualization. Beyond that, Ellul’s diagnosis is rather dark and depressing; I have found the videos somehow make it a bit more bearable to think the implications through. Ellul emphasizes that awareness is necessary for any positive personal or collective action; thus, I take heart from knowing that others are likewise reading Ellul’s book and watching the videos and becoming *aware*. Thank you for your work producing and sharing these extraordinary videos :-)
As I read Ellul's book, "Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes," I could not help but notice that its release in 1968 (the year I graduated from high school), the content would have seemed overplayed for that time. Remarkably, Ellul’s research fits like a glove in today’s world.
Teaching philosophy of technology right now in Denver and I really appreciate coming across your videos. It is always a generous asked to put ones lectures online and I thank you.
OMG a series of video posts on Jacques Ellul and his absolutely stunning and prescient work "The Technological Soceity" published in 1954!!!! The book - which I only recently read - was for me a challenge, from the density of the ideas and translation from French. Similar to Christopher Lasch, Jacques had a unique and penetrating view on cultural aspects which holds true to this day, especially his ideas about the increasingly autonomous nature of technology and its degrading effects upon society. A must read for anybody interested in modern western culture.
All roads lead to Uncle Ted K. That guy was spot on with his predictions. Especially (and surprisingly) about the performative woke left. His methods were questionable but his predictions were spot on.
Willem Vanderberg, whom you mentioned around the 2:00 mark (edit: I'm pleasantly surprised you covered him more deeper into the lecture) as being influenced heavily by Ellul, was actually a professor of mine. I smiled to myself a bit when you said that because that's not an exaggeration. I sought out information on Ellul after recalling how much Vanderberg's classes from years back influenced my perception of engineering and society as a whole. He has a handful of books of his own on technology, technique, and society if you're ever looking for something along the vein of Ellul to read. They were way too dense for me back in my years as an engineering student, but I hope now I can tackle them bit by bit after this series. A preemptive deep thanks of gratitude for this video series.
very informative and smoothly delivered. Our sensorium is dramatically amplified through media. Ruthless individuals' powers are magnified, as well as community capabilities, for better or for worse. It's not even enough to "pay attention and keep track," as opposing forces leverage external data on servers communities can't hope to access. I don't know that the answers are, but it should help to communicate the situation in clear language to the majority.
I love to drive, and recently came back from driving a bit over 6,000 milles. The thought of self driving cars is a thought from hell for me. Although, if they do develop some decent ones, that are affordable by the time I won't be able to drive anymore, if I live that long, well, I guess that would be a good thing. Circumstance can certainly make a big difference.
There is a good quote from Jurassic park about technological society: John Hammond: I don't think you're giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody's ever done before... Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
I studied engineering and came to realise precisely this problem that engineers either completely ignored the societal impacts of their work or have a rosy technocratic view that considered only the immediate benefits. I couldn't stay in the profession so I decided to leave and study an arts degree instead. Unfortunately they didn't teach Ellul at the two universities I attended and judging by the courses of all the major unis I browsed in NZ, I don't think he is taught anywhere here. That's a real shame because the technocratic view of society whereby new technology is equated societal progress society is so widespread and needs to be more widely critiqued
Thanks for your videos! I was excited to see you reference Willem Vanderburg. After studying under Ellul, he has spent the rest of his career studying technique and teaching engineering students. He's written many books arguing that humans are a symbolic species, and that discipline based silos have stripped us of understanding contextual issues, effectively externalizing all costs associated with our techniques. He has also worked to develop strategies to overcome the limitations of these silos, such as preventive design approaches for engineers. However, he believes fundamentally the problem is one of our collective myth, as you've addressed in other videos. You should look up his stuff if you're interested! Keep up the great work :-)
Marshall McLuan elaborated on Ellul's philosophy by creating a more exact discourse on this issue/effect. Essentially, Ellul's points are rooted in MM's aphorism 'the medium is the message'. I wonder if the two men knew or even met each other?
When was "back in grad school?" I was introduced to this in the late '70's by my older brother... Read it for myself "in grad school." I am shocked by how much I have been influenced by his writing. I am now looking to revisit my old copy of "The Technological Society." In his bio you didn't mention that he is a prophet. This should be required reading. I too miss the "anarchist" thread.
Marcus Garvey was wrong. RazorBladeKandy was white. Chinweizu synthesized both their ideas but it was Rollo Tomassi who perfected them. His text The Rational Male currently has far more appeal than the myriad of black nationalist literature already in circulation. It so happens that he published it the same year Tommy Curry challenged the fantasy of male privilege, referring to being a black male as a death sentence . His The Man Not however was not the first text to address the shortcomings of fem-centric pan-africanism. Nor was his recent 'Decolonising the Intersection' despite highlighting his attempts to emphasise the role of misandry in black female thinking. Chinweizu (Anamtomy of female power) and Shahrazad Ali (The Black Mans Guide) also made similar efforts but it was George Subira (1992) who hit the mark . Unlike Chinweizu, Subira did not draw upon Esther Vilar's 1976 classic, The Manipulated Man. Unlike most disciplined minds, Subira was an original thinker and one of the first to advocate a programme of economic leadership. Most modern black rhetoricians can offer no such programme or agenda because they are largely victims of black female programming. Their minds were long domesticated meaning they are reduced to reproducing aimless echo chambers almost every time they talk. Neely Fuller (1957) was not hostage to such conditioning but his programme seems to have a key fault. Despite realising the incredible driving motivating force of sexual expression , he still managed to downplay it's role, especially how it compares to the larger logic of antiblackness and global white terror domination. Although Charles Mills (1997) did indirectly develop his ideas, he neglected to integrate the foundation his own work borrowed from, "The Sexual Contract." (1996) Neil Postman, like Jeff Schmidtt, was one of the few people capable of making sense of these divergent ideas (much like John Gatto and Jan Matthews were two of those rare individuals with the pieces of the puzzle.) Conventional panafrikanism doesn't even realise there is a jigsaw to be solved. It has a distorted conception of itself because it views the world through a damaged lens incapable of accountability and self-reflection. PanAfrikanism will not produce any quick results either because unlike Chinweizu, Subira and Curry, it still refuses the interrogate and recognise the role of women in sabotaging the afrikan agenda. Texts like Addicted to White work towards this, only, in this age of intersectional confusion and fragmented voices in the wind, it isn't necessary to silence this perspective; it is enough just to drown it out. Jacques Ellul and Guy Debord surely foresaw this tragic arrangement, when few others could. Men have been fooled, black and white. It is no longer a question of race-first but male first, if not black-male first at the very least. Men are going to have to muster the clarity and courage to challenge the corporate-feminine regime dominating their "emptied" lives. If anything is to be redeemed black thinkers will need to prioritise the black pill and realise that the fundamental question of what it means to be a woman is as urgent as the need to ask what it means to be white. Gwiz +447939642873 Omalone11@gmail.com Addendum: 1. Attention to a woman is like a blowjob to a man 2. When a man's contempt for women surpasses his lust for them, only then shall he become wise 3. Women think all men are the same - that is their strength. Men think all women are different - that is their weakness 4. A man's facade of strength is his biggest weakness; a woman's facade of weakness is her biggest strength 5. Men fake interest, women fake orgasms A. Women are not to be loved; they are to be handled B. Women are not complicated; they are complicating C. A man must value his time the same way women put premiums on their body D. Men struggle for physical dominance but women opt for social domination E. Men compete; women conspire
Language Mind and Nature, Hope of the World, The Culture Industry, The Trap, The Cultural Cold War, The Limits to Growth, The First Global Revolution, Psychological Warfare, Physical Control of the Mind, Straight and Crooked Thinking, Sovereign Individual, The Second Genesis, The Human Agenda,
That you to cherrin the book of Jacques Ellul he is my favrit oder ,j'ai lu plusieur llivres de lui ,l'homme et et l'argent et politique de Dieux ,politique de l'homme,contre les violent et plusieur.
Jacques Barzun's "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 years of Western Cultural History" tells of a dozen or so Western Civ THEMES, one of which is 'specialization,' which are played out in our time of decadence. Contrarily to the engineer's statement, I do not find the specialization of US healthcare as being anyhow performance based or efficacious. Doesn't work for me, works for medical billing and insurance fraud, as in Florida mandated HMO's which suck up all the federal dollars and provide zero service. Ortega y Gasset is a philosopher who called the Cartesian revelation played out, and we need a new revelation. Ortega also wrote about technique and explains it cogently.
Two things brought me here: The first is the Netflix documentary on the Unabomber. Ellul was a major philosophical influence. And then recently reading another book on the pressures of modern society, the opening chapter starts with a large quote by Ellul. I am now deeply fascinated. Thank you for this.
Same. All roads lead to Teddy K.
I’m reading Ellul’s book at the moment and my random googling led me to this series. After watching five of the videos, I felt I had to post here to convey my gratitude. Ellul’s insights are powerful and profound; however his writing is dense and complex, and (probably necessarily) hard to follow. I have found this video commentary very useful - both for sorting out Ellul’s intended meanings and for considering my own interpretation and contextualization. Beyond that, Ellul’s diagnosis is rather dark and depressing; I have found the videos somehow make it a bit more bearable to think the implications through. Ellul emphasizes that awareness is necessary for any positive personal or collective action; thus, I take heart from knowing that others are likewise reading Ellul’s book and watching the videos and becoming *aware*. Thank you for your work producing and sharing these extraordinary videos :-)
You're most welcome--glad you've found both Ellul and my channel!
Thank goodness we were all good with
In summery, what was his message? Thanks
It may be dark in itself but corelated with his other works is not.He was a christian and for him the solution doesn't come from this world.
Thanks for making slides and your kitty always chimes in to make sure we are not distracted by phone notifications.
As I read Ellul's book, "Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes," I could not help but notice that its release in 1968 (the year I graduated from high school), the content would have seemed overplayed for that time. Remarkably, Ellul’s research fits like a glove in today’s world.
I came in with no expectations and this was delightful
Teaching philosophy of technology right now in Denver and I really appreciate coming across your videos. It is always a generous asked to put ones lectures online and I thank you.
OMG a series of video posts on Jacques Ellul and his absolutely stunning and prescient work "The Technological Soceity" published in 1954!!!! The book - which I only recently read - was for me a challenge, from the density of the ideas and translation from French. Similar to Christopher Lasch, Jacques had a unique and penetrating view on cultural aspects which holds true to this day, especially his ideas about the increasingly autonomous nature of technology and its degrading effects upon society. A must read for anybody interested in modern western culture.
Thanks so much for this series on Ellul! A great companion to my own reading and research.
All roads lead to Uncle Ted K. That guy was spot on with his predictions. Especially (and surprisingly) about the performative woke left. His methods were questionable but his predictions were spot on.
forget about the mainstream ideologies they are all led by the same people look up bohemian grove
Willem Vanderberg, whom you mentioned around the 2:00 mark (edit: I'm pleasantly surprised you covered him more deeper into the lecture) as being influenced heavily by Ellul, was actually a professor of mine. I smiled to myself a bit when you said that because that's not an exaggeration. I sought out information on Ellul after recalling how much Vanderberg's classes from years back influenced my perception of engineering and society as a whole. He has a handful of books of his own on technology, technique, and society if you're ever looking for something along the vein of Ellul to read. They were way too dense for me back in my years as an engineering student, but I hope now I can tackle them bit by bit after this series.
A preemptive deep thanks of gratitude for this video series.
Thank you--I'm glad it's useful to you, and happy studies!
very informative and smoothly delivered. Our sensorium is dramatically amplified through media. Ruthless individuals' powers are magnified, as well as community capabilities, for better or for worse. It's not even enough to "pay attention and keep track," as opposing forces leverage external data on servers communities can't hope to access.
I don't know that the answers are, but it should help to communicate the situation in clear language to the majority.
Wow. How am I just now finding your channel.
I love to drive, and recently came back from driving a bit over 6,000 milles.
The thought of self driving cars is a thought from hell for me. Although, if they do develop some decent ones, that are affordable by the time I won't be able to drive anymore, if I live that long, well, I guess that would be a good thing. Circumstance can certainly make a big difference.
There is a good quote from Jurassic park about technological society:
John Hammond: I don't think you're giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody's ever done before...
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
I studied engineering and came to realise precisely this problem that engineers either completely ignored the societal impacts of their work or have a rosy technocratic view that considered only the immediate benefits. I couldn't stay in the profession so I decided to leave and study an arts degree instead. Unfortunately they didn't teach Ellul at the two universities I attended and judging by the courses of all the major unis I browsed in NZ, I don't think he is taught anywhere here. That's a real shame because the technocratic view of society whereby new technology is equated societal progress society is so widespread and needs to be more widely critiqued
Thanks for your videos! I was excited to see you reference Willem Vanderburg. After studying under Ellul, he has spent the rest of his career studying technique and teaching engineering students. He's written many books arguing that humans are a symbolic species, and that discipline based silos have stripped us of understanding contextual issues, effectively externalizing all costs associated with our techniques. He has also worked to develop strategies to overcome the limitations of these silos, such as preventive design approaches for engineers. However, he believes fundamentally the problem is one of our collective myth, as you've addressed in other videos. You should look up his stuff if you're interested! Keep up the great work :-)
Your cat also likes Jacques !!
Marshall McLuan elaborated on Ellul's philosophy by creating a more exact discourse on this issue/effect. Essentially, Ellul's points are rooted in MM's aphorism 'the medium is the message'. I wonder if the two men knew or even met each other?
This guys book on propaganda is the best I’ve read. Way beyond the outdated stuff Edward Bernays wrote about.
When was "back in grad school?" I was introduced to this in the late '70's by my older brother... Read it for myself "in grad school." I am shocked by how much I have been influenced by his writing. I am now looking to revisit my old copy of "The Technological Society."
In his bio you didn't mention that he is a prophet. This should be required reading. I too miss the "anarchist" thread.
Thank you.
love listening to u
any thought on The true believer by eric hoffer ?
Actually, that's on my reading list--and so all I can say is it comes highly recommended and I want to get to it soon!
Cheers for this
ONLINE UNTIL NOV 1ST !!! "...anger, fury, hatred, resentment, bitter discontent ... his motivator, his fuel, his driving force"
Loving it, thanks
Marcus Garvey was wrong. RazorBladeKandy was white. Chinweizu synthesized both their ideas but it was Rollo Tomassi who perfected them. His text The Rational Male currently has far more appeal than the myriad of black nationalist literature already in circulation. It so happens that he published it the same year Tommy Curry challenged the fantasy of male privilege, referring to being a black male as a death sentence .
His The Man Not however was not the first text to address the shortcomings of fem-centric pan-africanism. Nor was his recent 'Decolonising the Intersection' despite highlighting his attempts to emphasise the role of misandry in black female thinking. Chinweizu (Anamtomy of female power) and Shahrazad Ali (The Black Mans Guide) also made similar efforts but it was George Subira (1992) who hit the mark .
Unlike Chinweizu, Subira did not draw upon Esther Vilar's 1976 classic, The Manipulated Man. Unlike most disciplined minds, Subira was an original thinker and one of the first to advocate a programme of economic leadership. Most modern black rhetoricians can offer no such programme or agenda because they are largely victims of black female programming. Their minds were long domesticated meaning they are reduced to reproducing aimless echo chambers almost every time they talk.
Neely Fuller (1957) was not hostage to such conditioning but his programme seems to have a key fault. Despite realising the incredible driving motivating force of sexual expression , he still managed to downplay it's role, especially how it compares to the larger logic of antiblackness and global white terror domination. Although Charles Mills (1997) did indirectly develop his ideas, he neglected to integrate the foundation his own work borrowed from, "The Sexual Contract." (1996)
Neil Postman, like Jeff Schmidtt, was one of the few people capable of making sense of these divergent ideas (much like John Gatto and Jan Matthews were two of those rare individuals with the pieces of the puzzle.) Conventional panafrikanism doesn't even realise there is a jigsaw to be solved. It has a distorted conception of itself because it views the world through a damaged lens incapable of accountability and self-reflection.
PanAfrikanism will not produce any quick results either because unlike Chinweizu, Subira and Curry, it still refuses the interrogate and recognise the role of women in sabotaging the afrikan agenda. Texts like Addicted to White work towards this, only, in this age of intersectional confusion and fragmented voices in the wind, it isn't necessary to silence this perspective; it is enough just to drown it out. Jacques Ellul and Guy Debord surely foresaw this tragic arrangement, when few others could.
Men have been fooled, black and white. It is no longer a question of race-first but male first, if not black-male first at the very least. Men are going to have to muster the clarity and courage to challenge the corporate-feminine regime dominating their "emptied" lives. If anything is to be redeemed black thinkers will need to prioritise the black pill and realise that the fundamental question of what it means to be a woman is as urgent as the need to ask what it means to be white.
Gwiz
+447939642873
Omalone11@gmail.com
Addendum:
1. Attention to a woman is like a blowjob to a man
2. When a man's contempt for women surpasses his lust for them, only then shall he become wise
3. Women think all men are the same - that is their strength. Men think all women are different - that is their weakness
4. A man's facade of strength is his biggest weakness; a woman's facade of weakness is her biggest strength
5. Men fake interest, women fake orgasms
A. Women are not to be loved; they are to be handled
B. Women are not complicated; they are complicating
C. A man must value his time the same way women put premiums on their body
D. Men struggle for physical dominance but women opt for social domination
E. Men compete; women conspire
This is good!
Language Mind and Nature, Hope of the World, The Culture Industry, The Trap, The Cultural Cold War, The Limits to Growth, The First Global Revolution, Psychological Warfare, Physical Control of the Mind, Straight and Crooked Thinking, Sovereign Individual, The Second Genesis, The Human Agenda,
That you to cherrin the book of Jacques Ellul he is my favrit oder ,j'ai lu plusieur llivres de lui ,l'homme et et l'argent et politique de Dieux ,politique de l'homme,contre les violent et plusieur.
Where does Ellul say "think globally, act locally"
Patrick Geddes
I dream of having the freedom to NOT have to own a car.
In future people in self-driving cars watch UA-cam human driving cars.
Jacques Barzun's "From Dawn to Decadence: 500 years of Western Cultural History" tells of a dozen or
so Western Civ THEMES, one of which is 'specialization,' which are played out in our time of decadence.
Contrarily to the engineer's statement, I do not find the specialization of US healthcare as being anyhow
performance based or efficacious. Doesn't work for me, works for medical billing and insurance fraud,
as in Florida mandated HMO's which suck up all the federal dollars and provide zero service. Ortega y
Gasset is a philosopher who called the Cartesian revelation played out, and we need a new revelation.
Ortega also wrote about technique and explains it cogently.