The Burnout Society

Byung-Chul Han

Publication Year 2010
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Added 2025-12-01
Notes Brilliant, deeply insightful, book. It talks about a few ideas, rather than just burnout (the translated English title is not very good). The author says that depression is a result of excess of positivity, in contrast to existence of negativity. He also talks about a transition from the disciplinary society to the achievement society. Also, about profound boredom and vita contemplativa in contrast to vita activa. I was convinced of the ingeniousness behind it, and probably didn't understand it completely. > “Mourning occurs when an object with a strong libidinal cathexis goes missing. One who mourns is entirely with the beloved Other. The late-modern ego devotes the majority of libidinal energy to itself. The remaining libido is distributed and scattered among continually multiplying contacts and fleeting relationships.”