Both totalitarian and instrumentarian power defied comprehension when new

Evidence

Most important is the fact that, like instrumentarianism, totalitarian power was also unprecedented. It literally defied human comprehension. There is much that we can learn from the struggles and missteps of scholars, journalists, and citizens as they found themselves overwhelmed by a force that they could neither fathom nor resist. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1122

Categorization

• QUESTION: The parallel between the two power forms’ incomprehensibility suggests a pattern worth probing: does unprecedented power always outrun human naming capacity?
• XREF: connects to: Totalitarianism’s novelty was so extreme it paralyzed even great minds — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1134; Totalitarian government differs categorically from dictatorship and tyranny; Totalitarianism eluded systematic study until war’s end because of its secrecy and deliberate fact-torsion — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1128 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Totalitarianism’s novelty was so extreme it paralyzed even great minds #exemplifies (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1134
• Totalitarian government differs categorically from dictatorship and tyranny #expands (0.70)