From: jimruttshow8596
Defining Psychotechnology
A psychotechnology is analogous to a physical tool, but instead of altering the physical world, it is designed to fit and enhance human cognition [01:16:21]. It is an externally generated, socially generated way of organizing and communicating information processing [01:16:52]. Key characteristics of a psychotechnology include its standardization, ease of internalization, wide dissemination, and its ability to enhance cognition across multiple domains [01:17:00]. The term draws inspiration from Vygotsky’s idea of a cultural tool, which alters how people make meaning [01:16:01].
Psychotechnologies and Early Human Development
During the Upper Paleolithic Transition, roughly 65,000 years ago, significant psycho-technologies emerged:
- Fully symbolic and recursive language [01:11:48]
- Non-ambiguous representational art [01:11:54]
- Music [01:11:59]
- Calendars [01:12:14]
- Long-range projectile weapons [01:12:21]
Shamanism as a Psychotechnology
Shamanism is considered a set of psycho-technologies, socially transmissible practices aimed at altering attention and salience landscaping [01:17:28]. This alteration impacts various problem domains for the individual [01:17:39]. These practices often involve inducing altered states of consciousness, which are believed to enhance cognitive flexibility [01:13:35]. The cave paintings from the Upper Paleolithic are interpreted by some as religious artifacts intended to induce altered states of consciousness through torturous journeys into caves, darkness, and the flickering of flames on carved figures [01:12:44].
Modern mindfulness practices are seen as analogous to what shamans were doing, as they also involve socially transmissible practices for altering attention [01:17:49].
The Axial Age and Cognitive Shifts
The Axial Age, following the Bronze Age collapse (around 1200 BCE), saw the emergence of new psychotechnologies that profoundly altered cognition [00:53:35]. These were:
- Alphabetic literacy [00:53:46]
- Numeracy [00:53:50]
- Coinage [00:53:52]
These abstract symbol systems and the logical rigor they required were internalized into human metacognition, leading to what is called “second-order thinking” [00:54:17]. This enhanced metacognition allowed for:
- Critical self-awareness: Noticing more pervasive errors and patterns of self-deception [00:54:53].
- Realization of the double-edged sword of meaning-making: Understanding how the mind can be a source of self-deception but also self-transcendence [00:55:09].
- Emergence of the “two-worlds mythology”: A pervasive model where an “everyday world” of self-deception and violence is contrasted with a “real world” of enlightenment and reduced suffering [00:55:36]. This bifurcation model is central to many Axial Age religions and philosophies, like Taoism, Judaism, and Platonism [00:56:17].
Philosophy and Psychotechnologies
The emergence of philosophy in the Western sense (e.g., pre-Socratics, Plato) was enabled by these new psychotechnologies [00:57:05].
The Socratic Revolution
Socrates’s emphasis on “know thy self” [01:33:23] was not about autobiography but about understanding the “machinery of the self” and directing one’s “selfing” (turning the self into a verb) towards wisdom and virtue [01:35:17]. Socrates sought truths that were both disclosed in transformation and afforded further transformation, distinguishing this quest for wisdom from mere factual knowledge provided by natural philosophers [01:36:41].
Rhetoric and Bullshitting
The Sophists invented rhetoric [01:37:34], a psychotechnology that became problematic in Socrates’s view. Rhetoric makes things highly salient and promises transformation, but it is often disconnected from truth or facts [01:38:05]. This can lead to pervasive individual and group acts of self-deception [01:39:51].
Frankfurt’s concept of “bullshitting” is relevant here: one cannot lie to oneself (as belief isn’t an act), but one can “bullshit” oneself by selectively directing attention to make certain things salient, regardless of their truth [01:41:00]. This process, fueled by the complex relationship between attention and salience, allows for a vicious cycle of self-deception [01:43:06].
Modern Context
Modern social media platforms are discussed as modern psychotechnologies that can exacerbate the problem of self-deception [01:44:09]. They are designed to grab and hold attention with unrealistic or “pseudo-perfection” images, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and body dysmorphia [01:44:50]. This phenomenon is amplified by the “availability bias,” where recently encountered information is more likely to influence thought [01:46:19]. The pervasive increase of “bullshit” in contemporary culture is also noted as a concerning trend related to these psychotechnologies [01:47:05].
The Kairos of Psychotechnology
The current societal state, marked by a meaning crisis, may represent a “Kairos” [01:21:46] — a critical turning point where the profound cognitive and cultural instability allows for significant societal redirection [01:24:39]. Understanding the historical role and function of psychotechnologies is crucial for navigating this moment and wisely applying these tools for positive transformation [01:24:55].