Technical rationalization hides who benefits from the machinery.

Evidence

It served to make the individuals incapable of seeing “behind” the machinery those who used it, those who profited from it, and those who paid for it. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 689

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Technological rationality erodes individual critical reason and produces mechanical conformity — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 23; The system’s usefulness claim masks that production serves profit not need; The profit motive becomes invisible second nature through its universalization — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 754 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Technical rationality makes irrational social control appear reasonable and rational #expands (0.88) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 124
• The system’s usefulness claim masks that production serves profit not need #expands (0.85)
• Technological rationality erodes individual critical reason and produces mechanical conformity #expands (0.82) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 23
• Technological rationality neutralizes guilt and conscience under reification #expands (0.80) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 346
• The profit motive becomes invisible second nature through its universalization #expands (0.78) — Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic…, 754
• User interfaces hide the material code that structures digital capitalism. #exemplifies (0.75) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 74
• Emerging technologies can obscure important social responsibilities. #exemplifies (0.72) — Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna, The AI Con- How to Fight Big Tech’s…, 431
• Culture industry commodities are useless yet disguise their uselessness as utility #exemplifies (0.72) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 836