"You have to enjoy life!" The quest for intensity and photographic documentation of one's life

Maison Suger is pleased to host the seventh session of the seminar cycle "Accumulations and Accelerations: Computer Totalitarianism III", with Aude Vidal, essayist, anthropologist, and author of Égologie. Écologie, individualisme et course au bonheur, published by Le Monde à l'envers in 2023, and Pierrick Bourgault, photographer and author of No photo. Photographions moins pour vivre mieux !, Dunod 2018.

The individualization of society has been accompanied by the spread of a central aspect of capitalism among individuals, namely the requirement to make productive use of assets. This is why they are required to make their lives profitable, which involves several related imperatives: it is important to intensify life by multiplying experiences and sensations, particularly through speed; we are encouraged to enjoy exceptional moments, such as vacations, outings, and parties; Finally, taking photos of one's experiences not only allows one to appropriate them—with the effect that “memories that have become things impoverish memory as an emotional disposition” (Günther Anders)—but also to experience them through objects that are easy to multiply, creating illusions of experience.

Following the success of the first two years of the seminar, which focused on the all-encompassing influence of computing, a third cycle has been organised to explore new counter-truths. The promise of virtual communities can sometimes prove harmful to physical social relations. Remote working, far from promoting equality, tends to increase disparities. The mechanised school, often presented as virtuous, risks reducing education to mere conditioning. And the fantasy of the “augmented” human reinforces capitalist logics of accumulation and acceleration.

The seminar will also examine the threats posed by automated warfare and the mechanised rationalisation of medical care, which can obscure the environmental causes of many diseases. New techniques for manipulating texts, sounds and images are making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between true and false. Finally, the artificialisation of life fosters endless individualisation: isolated humans are caught in a race toward immediate technical pleasures and struggle to grasp collective issues.

Inspired by an interactive pedagogy, the seminar is free and open to all, particularly students and researchers in the humanities, law and philosophy.