What Makes us Postmodern?

[Music] what makes us post modern are our psychologies our attitudes our dispositions towards the world post-modern ones or are we simply still modern well to find out we have to return briefly to last week's question what is it that makes us modern the modern attitude was characterized by a belief in progress and improvement in self-reflection based on evidence but it was also defined by new time and space technologies like the clock like maps and measuring devices this allowed cooperation because they standardized the world and made it communicable to others but they also make the world more complex we have to specialize choose which path to follow and trust experts more than ever but i think one thing in particular typifies the modern attitude control the safety the lives of all his passengers depend on the skill and watchfulness of the locomotive engineer sociologist anthony goodens described living in the modern world as being more like being aboard a careering juggernaut rather than being in a carefully controlled and well-driven motorcar we can drive to some extent but the juggernaut also threatens to career out of control it might not even be in one piece the carriages wills drivers and desires of the passengers and the engineers all push and pull the juggernaut in different directions at different intensities and speeds but gideon still insisted that we live in a modern world not to postmodern one does that mean that someone really is still at the wheel in control [Music] okay first we should ask what we mean by control we might think of control as being free to decide what to do or as having the power to act to move things to command people objects or ideas to make plans and then carry them out throughout the medieval period it was kings and noblemen and to some extent the church that welded the most power that could command armies and make laws control was in the hands of the few after the enlightenment things became more complicated on the one hand control was democratized as more people participated in making decisions as capitalism developed businesses had more control over resources and workers an intellectual elite emerged that with the aids of developments like the printing press had control over ideas the people slowly claimed more power too the power to vote to protest to influence laws through activism or trade unions but above all it was the state that had ultimate authority through its monopoly on violence when pushed the state had the final say most obviously states controlled infrastructure some key industries like mining they controlled businesses and people through regulation and law to return to gideon's juggernaut metaphor states literally laid the tracks decided in what capacity they could be operated and in some cases actually ran the trains three things in particular have changed all this the fall of the soviet union the emergence of neo-liberalism and globalization all of these things have weakened state control and planning disempowered the role of intellectuals in making decisions and strengthened businesses and corporations globalization as we saw in the last video means that things on one side of the world the price of resources the shutting of a factory a wall street crash the eruption of a volcano has direct consequences for things on the other side of the world people are pushed and pulled around like puppets ash clouds seen here in a satellite photo from umet sat have disrupted air travel as flights were stopped across europe authorities have closed airspace over britain ireland and the nordic countries individuals and politicians have less control over these events a state regulator has less power in threatening taxation or regulation of a large company if they threaten to move their operations quickly and easily to another country prices and plans are determined by mining resource movement or an unpredictable war there are so many factors affecting one another that individuals and groups cannot possibly have command over all of them economies become unmanageable we become impotent there is no master blueprint no matter narrative sociologist klaus off writes that the dominant pattern might be described as releasing the breaks deregulation liberalization flexibility increased fluidity and facilitating transactions on financial real estate and labor markets easing the tax burden etc transnational corporations wield unprecedented levels of power they're able to influence events more than governments both at home and abroad and have larger budgets than almost every nation on earth as plans blueprints and metanarratives lose their legitimacy the state loses its legitimacy to do anything too grand old philosophers like counts marx or mill don't have any postmodern equivalents in influencing events we deregulate privatize and dismantle the last vestiges of decaying welfare states post-modern life is like driving a car in traffic the traffic depends not so much on one person's control but on a million unpredictable choices turn left slow down crash change direction change location pick up drop off speed limits regulation driving tests modern phenomena have some effect but ultimately the factors that make up the most impact to the ambiguous and unpredictable ones we could take self-driving cars as a literal representation of the juggernaut metaphor is anyone at the wheel the postmodern answer is no algorithms code mathematical modelling and stock market trends have taken control out of the hands of real people real flesh and physical brains decisions are no longer made in the town square or at council meetings or in boardrooms even but instead are manipulated and directed in cryptic corners of cyberspace but this process affects us personally every day too we no longer have one single map one single plan one single blueprints like the ordnance survey map but are bombarded with different maps different apps there's no universally recognized system we have a gps app a city mapper per tourist map a virtual mixed reality map the same goes for media outlets weather apps recipes photo apps messaging apps we're inundated with choices we become paralyzed by choice time becomes disjointed too simple work hours with an insight and an outside symbolized by the clocking in system become blurred we work from home more we work on holiday we work in coffee shops we work at family outings answering emails on our phones job security is more precarious as companies move their operations around family time holiday time work time they all overlap we're affected more and more by things outside our time zones halfway around the world modern media ordered us provided schedules a few choices the library organized books into schemas into categories now everything's on demand there is no categorization process we create our own we're the curators of our own experience i believe in this world to come i think it's going to be a pretty good world but i've been asked to tell you about television so i'll trim the philosophizing television is most certainly here to stay it's going to brighten the world of your home but more important to many of you it's going to create a lot of new jobs now none of us like crystal gazing so let's take a look at what is actually happening now what does this mean for our postmodern attitude in short we find it difficult to plan to organize to predict we are both more in control of some choices and less in control of others authority and guidance become less trustworthy we're no longer babysitted we're no longer guided by priests life is much more chaotic so what happened to advice to those who supposedly knew what they were doing the experts that we used to trust material progress which has given man so many new conveniences has at the same time speeded up the tempo of his life but with the acceleration of his existence has come a nervous tension which is the outstanding feature of our age [Music] dissatisfaction and boredom with the daily routines of life are increasingly apparent and no matter how streamlined the design of modern living everyday tasks in the 20th century are often regarded with distaste planning the future organizing people to build to produce to develop is most fundamentally a matter of communication effective communication with others requires of course a common language standardized measurements codes categories and agreeing to do things at specific times in in specific places the philosophers politicians and aristocrats of the enlightenment shared a loose vocabulary a set of assumptions and goals which meant an alliance between state intellectuals and capitalists was possible information and ideas were exchanged through a republic of letters philosophers helped the state design prisons work houses cities hospitals and gardens the philosopher jeremy bentham designed a prison for example mill was a member of parliament revolutionaries wanted to act out history based on marx's principles modern life was meant to fit together like a jigsaw this relationship has fractured in modern society tastes values designs and ideas are so broad diverse specialized and subject to quick change that agreement and consensus becomes seen impossible not right now don't feel like that we search for advice top 10 films best lasagna recipe must see tourist destinations whether to wear masks which car insurance only to find that no one agrees on anything one choice becomes as good as any other individuals are left wandering and searching on their own the sociologist zigman bauman famous for trying to understand post-modernity wrote one can learn how to express oneself as a modern liberated carefree woman or as a thoughtful reasonable caring housewife or as an up-and-coming ruthless and self-confident tycoon or as an easy-going likeable fellow or as an outdoor physically fit macho man or as a romantic dreamy and love-hungry creature or as any mixture of all or some of these no one can become an expert in anything though there's too much information ever more specialization is key you can no longer be a historian but must be a historian of children's fashion in vienna in the 1880s scientific findings change from week to week red wine is bad then good then bad but for different reasons masks are effective and they're not then they're effective again what does this mean for our postmodern attitude we don't know who to trust we have no guidance we're constantly searching we're wandering in the desert as bauman has put it we have more control and choice in many areas but no yardstick no criteria for making those choices does this lead to nihilism to paralysis to pessimism during the past 50 years all the arts have had to accept the triumph of the machine traditional forms of painting and sculpture have no function in our streamlined existence if they are to find a place in the civilization of the next half century the visual arts must effect a compromise with the machine terrible that could have been better that could be interpreted in a different way that's not clear enough i didn't mean to say that is the postmodern world inherently pessimistic does a lack of control a lack of legitimate advice and a lack of leadership lead to a despondent type of psychology when data can be interpreted in countless ways when any situation can lead to a variety of results when ideas beliefs and values can no longer be adopted rationally when there are no longer any guarantees of improvement to no more teleology no gold that we're moving towards no heaven no utopia no scientific solution to every problem every illness every malady where do we go from here science creates new risks for every problem it solves good intentions have unintended consequences nuclear power nuclear accidents nuclear waste fossil fuels global warming flooding lung disease plastic bottles litter the devastation of ecosystems hospitals superbugs cars road accidents biological chemical and nuclear weapons become a pervasive threat existentially hanging over all of our heads and science also created asbestos cement roofing which has made buildings safer and more durable this material available in many types and colors is not only attractive but fireproof too it was natural that the scientists would turn to asbestos for this is a remarkable mineral m2 the great success of asbestos combined with portland cement made it a natural choice in research for a better siding chernobyl the ozone layer aids terrorism mad cow disease all made worse because of globalization tragic events pandemics climate change financial bubbles have all become magnified where the enlightenment was characterized by optimism post-modernity might be said to be laced with pessimism it's demonstrated that no matter how much we try to order our lives our societies order our plans something always slips through the gaps biases prejudice the outsider the thing that doesn't quite fit into the plan all persist rather than universal global emancipation we regress into isolated nationalisms fear and anxiety [Music] values become contested marriage nation family work tradition nature they no longer mean what they used to mean they're used misused reinterpreted deconstructed and rejected they become empty shells take just one example marriage traditionally marriage was not about love but about economic necessity community care and reproduction love falling in love is a very modern idea modern marriage becomes about improvement joy adventure passion whilst some elements of traditionalism are retained for their usefulness the idea of building a life together is a very modern one planning improvement progress control frank is a businessman practical responsible sensible he thinks of things in terms of cause and effect as a modern he even thinks about marriage that way years ago the marriage deal worked if the husband was sober and brought home the paycheck every week the wife was faithful and produced a house full of children frank knows it doesn't quite work that way anymore under post-modernity though the value of marriage itself becomes questioned something to be discarded people want fewer or no children divorce rates skyrocket polyamory returns alternative lifestyles become popular in the same way work becomes the gig economy zero hour contracts as companies prioritize flexible employment quick turnover speeds the ability to flexibly move capital and operations as conditions change production is no longer about large scale forwardist factory lines but smaller swappable components and that includes people [Music] you take your choice each one is real one is possible order has come order and life together we've got the skill we found the way we built the cities all that we know about machines and soils and raw materials and human ways of living is waiting we can reproduce the pattern and better it a thousand times it's here the new city ready to serve a better age five four three two one fire as we become victims of unpredictability speed and pessimism philosophies like stoicism return we all become responsible for our own lives identity becomes difficult change becomes more normal than stability what does this mean for our postmodern attitude we live in an age of psychological extremes pessimism and excitement stoicism and utopianism scientific possibility and scientific risk we are it could be said schizophrenic [Music] each day as thousands of persons visit the chain stores in their neighborhoods their journey carries them past powerful messages advantageously placed on nearby poster panels so where are we going if there's no plan modernity means the planning and building of factories housing food medicines and products based on simple needs but for bowman post-modernity is defined less by production and more by consumption you're not what you do but what you consume we're defined by our music tastes the games we play global trends accessories clothes even health and fitness become personalized post-modernity is driven less by reason and more by desire by adverts that are designed to pull us in and activate a craving baumann writes that seductive impulses to be effective must be transmitted in all directions and addressed indiscriminately to everybody who will listen shopping malls las vegas disney world they all seem ordered on the outside but it's a facade designed to draw us in to encourage the short-term pursuit of pleasure with no real long-term goal news gets traction through click baits through appeals to emotion to shock and all we see the worst news because it's the most shocking and the best because it's the cutest or the most heartwarming and whatever's in between gets lost it's either isis or kittens politics is left to desires too we like big characters joke tellers with charisma and screen presence removed from politicians making plans based on their own ideas to politicians just being led by poland bauman writes that the consumption of political platforms and the making of decisions on controversial issues are guided by the advance consideration of the relative popularity of the intended move and careful calculation of the anticipated electoral gains and losses for the rest of us politics becomes a matter of campaign politics the goal has become fractured into divisible elements rather than any overall ideology or meta-narrative stopping a train line banning trucks from driving through a village campaigning for a new road micro level issues dominate again global issues and international projects disintegrate into nationalism isolation and local independence movements we're driven by issues that are personal to us that tug on our heartstrings by news that either makes us go ah or what does this mean for our postmodern attitude we're desensitized we've seen the funniest cat video and the worst possible atrocities we're led by our desires our emotions and the world is too yes we are still modern we still try to think logically and rationally and make plans but emotions and unpredictability have returned we have to go with our gut pursue what's most pleasurable and always be on the search for new tastes okay this all sounds quite negative difficulty in planning predicting a lack of control and trust schizophrenia less confidence in guidance more responsibility placed on our shoulders both to look after ourselves and to choose for ourselves we're seduced by drives by advertising emotions become as important as reason how can we possibly make sense of all this where are we heading bauman has written that history has become a playground of the contingent the unexpected the fortuitous the capricious the undetermined and the unpredictable for the moderns time had a definite progressive orientation towards bigger and better uh forwards and backwards a future and the past built in the middle of the 19th century leeds town hall has the word forward engraved in it the planners had no doubt which way forward was sartre the last philosopher of modernity was interested in building progressive orderly free and rational life projects baumann writes that instead the dominant sentiment now is the feeling of a new type of uncertainty not limited to one's own luck and talents but concerning as well the future shape of the world the right way of living in it and the criteria by which to judge the rights and wrongs of the way of living he likens being postmodern to being either a tourist or a vagabond always exploring and wandering looking around the next corner both digitally and physically we no longer have definitive guided tours or sacred destinations we're not pilgrims instead we're more like modern explorers searching our own subjective experience our own desires our own sense of place colonial explorers of our own minds maybe we're all nomads wandering searching deconstructing looking for meaning and belonging [Music] we hardly need to be reminded that we live in a world that is becoming more complicated and more crammed with information every day one description for this vast quantity of data on everything from the lifetime earning records of an individual to the beeps and pulses relayed to earth from a state satellite uses that overworked word explosion this time an information explosion the postmodern condition defies any single interpretation it's dizzying contradictory and by its nature difficult to pin down this has been one of many possible narratives and one that at times has maybe seemed pessimistic but post-modernity opens up as many avenues as it closes we might have no guides no priests less legitimate leadership but the still cage of certainty and oppressive authority becomes more difficult to justify and sustain itself too yes we're pushed and pulled around by emotion desire advertising and consumerism but those same drives are the ones that sustain the drive to create new values new ideas and new ways of living we're schizophrenic uncertain wandering yet the future is possibly more open than ever are we destined to balance the mentalities of modernity and postmodernity are we both modern and postmodern at the same time or are we just at the edge of a new horizon is something new about to make both attitudes out of obsolete and experiments such as these may come the major breakthroughs in men's ability to develop and control systems of increasing magnitude and thus the technology of automated data processing contributes to man's attempt to bring order out of the unknown extending the boundaries of human knowledge if you've enjoyed this exploration of modernity and post-modernity it's part of ongoing research for a post-modernity project looking at the history and the emergence of the concept an in-depth look at how it originated and the conditions that created it so if you want updates about that if you want to read about that if you want to join the conversation about that you can do so over at patreon and on discord and get your name in the credits and help me out making new videos thanks to all these people remember to hit like share subscribe thanks so much for watching i'll see you next time

Channel: Then & Now

Views: 111,402

Keywords: what makes us postmodern, postmodernism, postmodernity, zygmunt bauman, anthony giddens, psychology

Id: Wu1mR8mTGkE

Length: 30min 18sec (1818 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2021