Infocracy was the final straw for me. As you noted, the redundancy of his texts — oscillating and self-referencing tautologically to the same five or six ideas, over and over and over again, but with slightly new, cool and detached window dressing — got old. I still adore Agony of Eros and Expulsion of the Other, though.
I do want to clarify, though: Han’s brevity shouldn’t be so criticized. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Terseness is characteristically German. It’s fitting. But inasmuch as Han’s brevity implicates his substance — yeah, I’m on the same page with that.
Scathing. "His books are an oasis of boredom in a desert of horror."
The last thing we need is more dystopian hopelessness. The imbeciles who run the panopticon don't have the faintest idea what to do next, so they just do things that will hurt people they despise. This makes them feel like they are doing something about problems they don't understand, cannot fix, and in most cases which they created themselves, or which are imaginary. That does not feel long-term stable to me. On the other side of the inevitable bonfire of this garbage pile lies ... something else. It might even be good. It might be good if we think about what it might be. An oasis of boredom is at best a temporary rest stop, not a place to stay for long, and provides little guidance for the post-dystopian world.
BTW this essay was good enough to make me a paid subscriber, despite my desperately limited cash. Pat yourself on the back.
Psychopolitics hit a deeply depressing nail squarely on the head the head, but it is optimistic book in the most profound sense. It provides possible solutions from a an honest appraisal. There is true, nutritious hope in that book.
Infocracy was the final straw for me. As you noted, the redundancy of his texts — oscillating and self-referencing tautologically to the same five or six ideas, over and over and over again, but with slightly new, cool and detached window dressing — got old. I still adore Agony of Eros and Expulsion of the Other, though.
I do want to clarify, though: Han’s brevity shouldn’t be so criticized. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Terseness is characteristically German. It’s fitting. But inasmuch as Han’s brevity implicates his substance — yeah, I’m on the same page with that.
Scathing. "His books are an oasis of boredom in a desert of horror."
The last thing we need is more dystopian hopelessness. The imbeciles who run the panopticon don't have the faintest idea what to do next, so they just do things that will hurt people they despise. This makes them feel like they are doing something about problems they don't understand, cannot fix, and in most cases which they created themselves, or which are imaginary. That does not feel long-term stable to me. On the other side of the inevitable bonfire of this garbage pile lies ... something else. It might even be good. It might be good if we think about what it might be. An oasis of boredom is at best a temporary rest stop, not a place to stay for long, and provides little guidance for the post-dystopian world.
BTW this essay was good enough to make me a paid subscriber, despite my desperately limited cash. Pat yourself on the back.
Thank you. We're grateful. Will aim to keep the quality high.
Psychopolitics hit a deeply depressing nail squarely on the head the head, but it is optimistic book in the most profound sense. It provides possible solutions from a an honest appraisal. There is true, nutritious hope in that book.
Trash. The author fails to understand Han’s argument that runs through his books which is the expulsion of the other. This critique is embarrassing.