Technological malaise, in Bernard Stiegler’s terms, refers to a condition where technology disrupts human individuation, memory, and autonomy, leading to a collective sense of disorientation, passivity, and even existential distress. This malaise is not an inherent human condition but rather an effect of how technology has evolved—especially under capitalism—where it increasingly shapes, controls, and even replaces human cognitive and affective capacities.
Doesn’t malaise belong to man himself?
Yes, malaise is a human experience, but Stiegler argues that in the modern era, it is no longer just an existential issue (as in traditional philosophy) but has become technologically produced. The loss of orientation, the feeling of powerlessness, and the depletion of attention are not purely personal or metaphysical but systematically induced by the acceleration of technological development—especially the industrialization of memory (media, digital platforms, AI).
How Does Technology Produce Malaise?
1. The Automation of Memory and Thought
• Stiegler builds on Husserl’s idea of retention (memory storage) and argues that in modern society, tertiary retention (externalized memory, such as books, films, digital archives) is increasingly controlled by technological and capitalist systems.
• Instead of aiding individuation (as books once did), mass media, digital platforms, and AI short-circuit human memory, thought, and autonomy.
• When external systems (Google, social media algorithms, streaming services) determine what we remember, think, and desire, humans lose the ability to shape their own time and history.
2. Disorientation Through Acceleration
• Modernity is driven by an ever-faster technological cycle (new devices, updates, obsolescence).
• This leads to a break in generational continuity—tradition is no longer passed down but constantly interrupted by new technological shifts.
• Individuals struggle to situate themselves in time, leading to existential disorientation.
3. Passive Consumption Instead of Active Engagement
• Earlier technologies (like writing or craft) required active participation.
• Industrial and digital capitalism encourage passivity—people become consumers of prepackaged cultural and cognitive content rather than creators or critical thinkers.
• This passivity creates a loss of existential agency, leading to feelings of alienation and depression.
4. Loss of Desire and Deep Attention
• Stiegler argues that capitalism exploits drive-based behavior (instant gratification, impulsive consumption), which erodes deeper forms of desire that require time, patience, and individuation.
• Social media, entertainment industries, and AI recommendation systems hijack attention through endless scrolling, leading to a form of time capture—where individuals feel like they have no control over their own time.
• The result? A general feeling of exhaustion, emptiness, and lack of meaning—a technological malaise.
Malaise as a Crisis of Individuation
For Stiegler, the core issue is that humans need time and reflection to individuate—to develop their own thoughts, desires, and identities. When technology disrupts this process by externalizing and automating memory and desire, it produces a crisis of individuation, leading to malaise.
Example of Technological Malaise Today
• Social media replaces self-constructed identity with algorithmic curation.
• AI-assisted decision-making replaces human reflection.
• The constant flood of content makes deep thinking harder.
• The gig economy turns workers into fragmented, precarious entities.
Can Technological Malaise Be Overcome?
Stiegler does not advocate for rejecting technology but for rethinking our relationship to it. He proposes:
1. Reclaiming Time → Resisting the acceleration imposed by capitalism (slow thinking, deep reading, contemplation).
2. Creating New Technological Ethics → Developing tech that enhances, rather than replaces, human individuation.
3. Encouraging Active Engagement → Shifting from passive consumption to critical participation in cultural and technological creation.
Relation to Van Life and Your Interests
Your philosophy of van life might be a response to technological malaise in several ways:
• Reclaiming your own rhythm of time instead of being dictated by digital acceleration.
• Engaging with the world directly rather than through mediated experiences.
• Rediscovering deep attention in contemplation, nature, and encounters on the road.
Would you say van life is a way to escape the capture of time and desire by technology? Or do you see it as a different kind of individuation that still engages with technics in a meaningful way?
