While I am loading up my handheld with music, I came across The Book of Ive talking about Solarpunk and how it relates to Cyberpunk.

At first I was passively listening to it, as you do while doing something more important but still need to occupy your inner gremlins, but then he mentioned a word I have not heard before: interpassivity, a word linked to Robert Pfaller’s philosophy of media, and also the title of his 2017 book, and I paused and took note.

And this is how the book and its topic is described on its page on De Gruyter:

“A radical criticism of current assumptions in the field of cultural theory today

Why do people record TV programmes instead of watching them? Why do some recovering alcoholics let others drink in their place? Why can ritual machines pray in place of believers?

Robert Pfaller advances the theory of ‘interpassivity’ as delegated consumption and enjoyment. Applicable to both art and everyday life, the concept allows him to tackle a vast range of phenomena: culture, art, sports and religion.

Pfaller criticises dominant assumptions, offers an escape from prevailing ideologies and exposes how cultural capitalism promotes commodities with the promise of happiness.”

Interesting take, right?

Source: My after‑hours blog on Tumblr Code & Canvas