Wolfgang
Fritz Haug: Formation of Human Beings
in the Times of the Internet of Things
(in: Das Argument. Zeitschrift für Philosophie
und Sozialwissenschaften, vol. 56, 2015, no. 1)
Starting point is the anthropological
insight that the biological substratum of our
species does not generate our historical
human essence, which comes to our
new born via postnatal humanisation. Assuming that, therefore, the formation of
human beings (>Menschenbildung<) means more than
enculturation and that, furthermore, it can been
done only through an active appropriation of extant possibilities by the individuals
themselves, we need to ask
how this human formation is being
revolutionized in the era of the
>internet of things<, which operates as a veritable anthropological break, given its permanent virtual connectivity. The digital revolution
could in principle create brilliant opportunities for qualified and creative
work, but in fact, under the conditions
of High-Tech Capitalism, it destroys innumerable
jobs and life perspectives. The historical task of self-change while at the
same time changing our circumstances requires a new pedagogy of
resistance that counters the mute power of hightech-devices and neoliberal cost-benefit-calculations
and strengthens self-determined forms of community.