CHAPTER THREE THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL MEN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ALIENATION .......... 26
3.1 Replication of Humans and Religion .................. 26
3.2 Fabrication of False Needs ............................. 29
3.3 Estrangement of Human Relationships .................... 33
CHAPTER FOUR ATTEMPTS TO BREAK THE CONTROL OF TECHNOLOGY ALIENATION ...................... 37
4.1 Love ............................. 37
4.2 Art ..................................... 40
CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION ................... 45
CHAPTER FOUR ATTEMPTS TO BREAK THE CONTROL OF TECHNOLOGY ALIENATION
4.1 Love
Freud’s theory of sex is a great inspiration to Marcuse. He believes that “the history of man is the history of his repression. Culture constrains not only his societal but also his biological existence, not only parts of the human being but his instinctual structure itself” (Marcuse, EC 12). In advanced capitalist societies, basic repression is intertwined with surplus repression. In order to survive, human beings gradually learn to repress their instinctive desires and obtain the resources they need through work. At the same time, in a society where egoism prevails, people act only in their own interests, disregarding others. There is a lot of aggression and violence between posthumans.
To achieve real freedom, Marcuse advocates establishing a civilization that is non-repressive and liberating the Eros of the human beings. Marcuse sublimates Freud’s sexual instincts to Eros. He believes that Eros is the essence of human nature. Marcuse makes a detailed comparison and distinction between sexuality and Eros. He points out that sexuality is a sexual impulse to possess the body of the opposite sex, involving the genitals. And the indulgence of sexuality can only make people obtain short-term happiness. Eros is the expansion and qualitative improvement of sexuality, which marks the expansion of pleasure from the genitals to every part of humans. It is love for the whole body. (Wang Fengcai 23).
CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION
Gibson is called a prophet since he successfully predicts future technology in his cyberpunk novels. He creates the term “cyberspace”, a space that is already present in people’s real lives. Although his imagery is not exactly the same as today’s Internet, it is very close. With the development of high-tech companies such as Google, Apple, Sony and artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT, people are closer than ever to the scenarios Gibson describes. Gibson, however, is not concerned with the creativity of the latest technology, but rather with its negative impact on society and humans. He chooses to use science fiction to warn people of the terrible effects of the rapid growth of technology on society.
Gibson not only predicts the new technologies people use today, but also the disruption to human society, and the alienation they will bring to human beings as well. In his cyberpunk novels, Gibson constructs a society controlled by technology, where economy, politics, and culture are all governed by technological rationality. The level of power acquired is determined by technology; the amount of wealth owned depends on the possession of advanced technology; art becomes a tool for making money, losing its negativity and criticism nature, and human beings are further subordinated to technology. Technology and the rapidly developing economy can satisfy humans’ false needs, resulting in their losing their rebellious spirit and turning into one-dimensional men. Meanwhile, people are dominated by profits and neglect the maintenance of their relationships. Although technology has greatly improved the lives of most people, h
