“In reality a cycle of manipulation
and retroactive need is unifying the system ever more tightly. What is not
mentioned is that the basis on which technology is gaining power over society
is the power of those whose economic position in society is strongest.
Technical rationality today is the rationality of domination. It is the
compulsive character of a society alienated from itself” (54).”
I found this passage of the Horkheimer and Adorno reading
“The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” to be really
interesting. This idea that technology is a dominating figure in our society and
that companies manipulate us into getting products that we don’t really need is
a significant aspect of our culture today. This relates to similar topics that
we have previously discussed in class, for example in the Habermas reading and
the idea of “the cult of the new” (99). With our society constantly changing,
new technologies, clothes, social media, footwear, etc. generate fanaticism in
everyone in their attempt to get the “latest” of everything. They are fixated
on keeping up with the new material, regardless of price tags. The fanaticism
of the public “unifies the system” and encourages them to keep advancing in
their products. As the products improve, it influences us to obtain them so
that we can improve as well. As described in the reading, products such as the
Apple Iphones and Ipads all function the same for everyone and yet we buy them
under the misconstrued belief that the differences in colors or versions sets
us apart from everyone else. In reality, it makes us all the same.
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