Communicative capitalism sublates boredom into a fascination mixed with dread

Evidence

The consequence is a strange kind of existential state, in which exhaustion bleeds into insomniac overstimulation (no matter how tired we are, there is still time for one more click) and enjoyment and anxiety co-exist (the urge to check emails, for instance, is both something we must do for work and a libidinal compulsion, a psychoanalytic drive that is never satisfied no matter how many messages we receive). The fact that the smartphone makes cyberspace available practically anywhere at anytime means that boredom (or at least the old style, “Fordist” boredom) has effectively been eliminated from social life. Yet boredom, like death, posed existential challenges that are far more easily deferred in the always-on cyberspatial environment. Ultimately, communicative capitalism does not vanquish boredom so much as it “sublates” it, seeming to destroy it only to preserve it in a new synthesis. The characteristic affective tonality for the insomniac drift of cyberspace, in which there is always one more click to make, one more update to check, combines fascination with boredom. We are bored even as we are fascinated, and the limitless distraction allows us to evade confronting death — even as death is closing in on us. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1634

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the established theme of silence/attention work and to the piece on constant information overload structurally undermining independent thought. — connects to: Capitalism neutralised boredom by demanding audience participation, not pacification — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1763; Communicative capitalism’s micro-enjoyments fragment attention into de-activating anxiety — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1824; Contemporary capitalist nihilism is a boring existential poverty — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2017 (+2 more)
• DEFINE: Defines the sublation of boredom in always-on cyberspace — boredom destroyed only to be preserved in a new synthesis of fascination.

Broader Connections

• Capitalism neutralised boredom by demanding audience participation, not pacification #contradicts (0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1763
• Communicative capitalism’s micro-enjoyments fragment attention into de-activating anxiety #expands (0.80) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1824
• Contemporary subjects move compulsively among the boring while never feeling bored #complicates (0.75) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1765
• Contemporary capitalist nihilism is a boring existential poverty #complicates (0.72) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2017