The Burnout Society

Everything and anything from this man is worth a look. I am now on the 4th book.

It gets 4 stars because its ideas are valuable, and I think they’re worth examining. It’s dense, and it has some prerequisites that make it less accessible to the average viewer. I’d suggest knowing some basic Hegel and Freud beforehand, but everything else is pretty accessible to a quick google/ Wikipedia search. I’ll probably reread it again, since it applies to me so much.

Crazy insightful. Very short but really difficult read if you're (like me) not fluent in psychology and philosophy (Nietzsche, Freud; ego/id/ego-ideal/etc).Han's greatest insight - we are have moved from a disciplinary society to an achievement society.Disciplinary society= should; commandments and prohibitions; authority; under God; gratificationAchievement society= can; absolute freedom; self rule; depressionOne of his most fascinating points (I don't have any reason to believe Han is a Christian): God is not just the source of "punishment and condemnation, but also the [source] of gratification".The follower of God knows that if he labors to conform to His standards and "accepts pain for morality, may be entirely certain of gratification. There is no threat of a crisis of gratification occurring, for God does not deceive: He is trustworthy."Conversely - the modern achiever, in pursuing pleasure and freedom faces a crisis of gratification."It is impossible to reward oneself or to acknowledge oneself. For Kant, God represents the instance of gratification: He rewards and acknowledges moral accomplishment. Because the structure of gratification has been disturbed, the achievement-subject feels compelled to perform more and more." One's work is never done.There is no one to say you have completed your labor: "Well done good and faithful servant…enter into the JOY of your master.""the feeling of having achieved a goal never occurs"Thus-Depression is THE ultimate expression of the achievement society."Depression is the sickness of a society that suffers from excessive positivity. It reflects a humanity waging war on itself.""the society of achievement is generating excessive tiredness and exhaustion.""Today’s achievement-subject deems itself free when in fact it is bound""The achievement-subject… is lord and master of itself.However, the disappearance of domination does not entail freedom.[He is enslaved] to the free constraint of maximizing achievement."

Han is a mastermind. In a short volume he calls into question the worlds of Foucault and Boudrillard in a way that few other philosophers have in much longer works. His identification of the violence of the same, the neurological age, and the death of discipline will inform thinking for years to come.

I order this book because a quote from it was given in a video I was watching. This book is a very dense read. From the beginning chapter I felt like there were books that should have been read as prerequisites to this book. There were terms used that covered entire philosophies that I was not familiar with. I struggled up to page 16 and threw in the towel. I admit defeat. The book is only 52 pages long, excluding the reference section. This is a very specialized book and I didn't have the appropriate background to understand it. It is definitely a scholarly work that I'm not educated enough to fully grasp the concepts. It's been a long time since a book has made me feel uneducated.

More people should review this guy and his ideas. I think the prevalence of mental illness has a lot to do with the constant pressure. We’re all feeling existentially. Who has the time to search within? Who has the time to get in touch with our spiritualness? His message to slow down to attract different kinds of people and experiences. Sit in the negative part of life. Rich ideas that couldn’t be more relevant.

The book is good, the author is very smart with profound thoughts and brings really unique takes on our modern society.What’s driving me crazy and making it a very slow read is the amount of citations and German words in brackets. It feels dry, almost like reading a textbook for a school paper. I’m not interested in comparing the English translation to the original in German, so PLEASE spare me from encountering in every other sentence German words or phrases in brackets, it cuts the flow and I’m constantly going back to re read so I can focus.Other than this major nuisance, I like the book. I’m almost at the point where I’m going to white out those brackets and references and citations so I can have a clean flowing read.

It's refreshing to read a modern philosopher's take on the modern world. So many philosophy discussions are based on centuries-old works that you have to stretch to apply to the modern age. A short book, but not a quick or easy read, but definitely worthwhile digging into.