Scientific quantification of nature parallels society’s reduction of humans to abstract labor power.

Evidence

While science freed nature from inherent ends and stripped matter of all but quantifiable qualities, society freed men from the “natural” hierarchy of personal dependence and related them to each other in accordance with quantifiable qualities—namely, as units of abstract labor power, calculable in units of time. “By virtue of the rationalization of the modes of labor, the elimination of qualities is transferred from the universe of science to that of daily experience.” — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 583

Categorization

• XREF: The quantification-homology between science and labor links to Weber’s rationalization and to the reader’s attention-economy interests. — connects to: Industrial society reduces individuals to interchangeable species beings through conformist working conditions; Scientific rationality reduces individual life to statistical ratios; A scientific measure of power would destroy social reality’s substitutes — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 600 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Scientific rationalism becomes an instrument of social domination #corroborates (0.88) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 141
• The discourse of work and action reduces the human to a laboring animal. #corroborates (0.85) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 118
• Separating nature from value stripped humans of intrinsic worth too #corroborates (0.84) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 399
• A scientific measure of power would destroy social reality’s substitutes #expands (0.82) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 600
• Dominating nature chiefly becomes power over other humans #expands (0.80) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 703