Surveillance capitalism may realize Skinner’s utopia in service of profit
Evidence
These two utopias reflect two distinct species of power, and each novel was intent on rescuing the future from the twentieth-century nightmare of the soul. Orwell was able to draw on the recent past, but Skinner imagined a future that he would not live long enough to enjoy. If surveillance capitalism and its instrumentarian power continue to flourish, then it is we who may see the Walden Two vision realized, as freedom falls to others’ knowledge—but now in the service of others’ wealth and power. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1188
Categorization
- BMF: Directly evokes Zamyatin’s ‘We’ — the engineered utopia where citizens lose individuality to a rational system — a text already in this reader’s library.
- SEED: Angle comparing Orwell’s totalitarian terror with Skinner’s soft behavioral engineering as the two candidate futures, and which one surveillance capitalism is actually building.
- XREF: connects to: Surveillance capitalism’s prediction imperative modifies behavior using secret means beyond awareness. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 612; Surveillance capitalists redirected behavioral economists’ nudges toward private profit rather than individual welfare. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 921; Ed-tech firms openly link behavioral conditioning to profit-making from user action. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 927 (+8 more)
Broader Connections
- Surveillance capitalism aims to produce guaranteed outcomes rather than impose behavioral norms
#expands(0.82) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 629 - Surveillance capitalism operates through Big Other to engineer behavior rather than souls
#expands(0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1196 - Surveillance capitalism moves from predicting behavior to actively shaping it in real time
#expands(0.78) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 481