Baudrillard equated media saturation with the schizophrenic loss of interiority

Evidence

In Madness and Civilisation, Foucault argues that the insane occupy the structural position vacated by the leper, while in The Ecstasy of Communication, Baudrillard describes “the state of terror proper to the schizophrenic: too great a proximity of everything, the unclean promiscuity of everything which touches, invests and penetrates without resistance, with no halo of private projection to protect him anymore”. Baudrillard is of course describing the schizophrenia of media systems which overwhelm all interiority. Television brings us voices from far away (and there’s always something on the other side…). For Baudrillard, there is an increasing flatness between media and the schizophrenic delirium in which they feature; psychotics often describe themselves as receivers for transmitted signal. And what is the hero of “Spectre Vs. Rector” if not another version of the “ESP medium of discord” that Smith sings of on “Psychic Dancehall”? — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1112

Categorization

• XREF: Psychotics’ self-description as receivers for transmitted signal connects directly back to Fisher’s wider theme of media-induced signal/reality breakdown and to the ‘voices from far away’ haunting elsewhere in the book. — connects to: Baudrillard’s 1987 account of schizophrenia predicted the smartphone-era subject — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1766; Videotexts present a ceaseless random interaction of narrative signals contesting mental compartmentalization — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 234; Mass media consumption can harm mental states and distort perceptions of reality — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 663 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Videotexts present a ceaseless random interaction of narrative signals contesting mental compartmentalization #expands (0.80) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 234
• Mass media consumption can harm mental states and distort perceptions of reality #corroborates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 663
• Content-indifferent sensation erodes judgement and drives catastrophic degeneration. #expands (0.75) — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, 257
• Writing in schizo-narration is simultaneously passive reception and active production of the scene. #expands (0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 325