Surveillance capitalism aims to author people rather than destroy them
Evidence
In the future that the surveillance capitalism prepares for us, my will and yours threaten the flow of surveillance revenues. Its aim is not to destroy us but simply to author us and to profit from that authorship. Such means have been imagined in the past, but only now are they feasible. Such means have been rejected in the past, but only now have they been allowed to root. We are ensnared without awareness, shorn of meaningful alternatives for withdrawal, resistance, or protection. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1062
Categorization
- XREF: The ‘author us and profit from that authorship’ frame resonates with the coercion-vs-conditioning distinction from earlier chapters and with broader critiques of predictive control. — connects to: Industrial society’s liberties themselves capture populations as a captive audience — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2582; Surveillance capitalism has destroyed the vision of body data serving intimacy — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 772; Surveillance capitalism exploits the human hunger for recognition — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 797 (+14 more)
Broader Connections
- Surveillance capitalism operates through Big Other to engineer behavior rather than souls
#expands(0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1196 - Surveillance capitalism threatens human sovereignty over life and authorship of experience
#complicates(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1650 - Surveillance capitalism aims to dominate human nature rather than external nature.
#expands(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1633