Communication establishes uniformity among men by isolating them

Evidence

When visitors meet on Sundays or holidays in restaurants whose menus and rooms are identical at the different price levels, they find that they have become increasingly similar with their increasing isolation. Communication establishes uniformity among men by isolating them. — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 197

Categorization

• DEFINE: The chapter’s punchline — a one-sentence summary of Adorno’s thesis about how mass communication engineers sameness through isolation.
• XREF: connects to: Modern communications media isolate men even as they connect them — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 197; Social systems reproduce through self-referential communication, not individual will — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 20; External danger and social isolation drive members toward group conformity. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4142 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Social systems reproduce through self-referential communication, not individual will #expands (0.82) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 20
• External danger and social isolation drive members toward group conformity. #exemplifies (0.75) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4142
• Stress, threat, and lack of information increase conformity to group norms #exemplifies (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 186