Burnout
In a series of brief essays, the South Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han explores some of the broad problems afflicting the contemporary, postindustrial world. An underlying question being: if there is so much abundance more easily produced than ever, why are so many people working so hard and so profoundly unhappy and unhealthy? At its core, the book examines how many people now live in a broad culture wherein they are both working themselves to death and amusing themselves to death.
A major source of people being frantic and unhappy stems from “an excess of stimuli, information, and impulses [that] radically changes the structure and economy of attention” (12). In order to “achieve,” people have to be constantly aware, flooded with stimuli that prevents true relaxation, boredom, reflection, or even analysis. Development, progress, refinement, and innovation require slow contemplation, reflection, and deep analysis, which cannot happen in a hyperactive and stimulated environment. The life of contemplation, a source of human ideas across eras and cultures, has been increasingly sidelined by a needlessly competitive, endless drive for achievement. People suffer under “the imperative to achieve: the new commandment of late-modern labor society” (10). The mechanisms of this drive, Han argues, are internalized, so there is no external authority pushing this agenda against whom people can rebel. Instead, a person is both slave and master (47). This situation is also dehumanizing in that it ignores or throws away essential human abilities like stopping and engaging in reflection. Han points out, “Machines cannot pause. Despite its enormous capacity for calculation, the computer is stupid insofar as it lacks the ability to delay” (22).
Vita Activa
The values and mindset of the achievement society run counter to a fulfilling life. Multitasking, for example, is regressive, having more in common with animals surviving in the wilderness than a fulfilling human life (12). Similarly, the “rise and grind” mentality is psychotic, an indoctrination where people strive for unreasonable and unattainable goals only to punish themselves when they fall short. Infinite growth and infinite wealth at personal and societal levels is not healthy nor real. As Han says, “It is an illusion to believe that being more active means being freer” (22). This flaw extends to everyone because of the proliferation of business and market-oriented thought across society. Such reductionistic thought hollows out human life because “the capitalist economy absolutizes survival. It is not concerned with the good life. It is sustained by the illusion that more capital produces more life, which means greater capacity for living” (50). Contemporary society has forgotten the words of the late Notorious B.I.G., “the more money we come across / the more problems we see.”
Contemporary Philosophy
This book makes a brief and excellent introduction to these ideas while fleshing out many with analysis touching on social sciences, neuroscience, and literature. Han does not lionize past societies or provide easy answers for how people should grapple with life in contemporary society. Efforts to engage in a slower life of contemplation would certainly be helpful. However, doing so requires someone to be aware of their surrounding life and society, and, to paraphrase an example from Socrates, it is difficult to recognize the shadows on the cave wall for what they are. In Han’s analysis, it certainly appears that most people living in contemporary cultures are enthralled, to one degree or another, to the ideals of the achievement society.
I Don't Understand German, No Matter What Language It's In.
Beyond Disciplinary Society
While the ideas of The Burnout Society are generally accessible, the book is deep and requires slow reading and contemplation. Some of this is by design, but it can also make a barrier for entry, even to people who would otherwise understand the author's points through their own experiences. Han makes some psychological and neuroscientific claims that have some support, but it remains entirely valid to question the fullness of his conclusions. For his many accomplishments, Han does not appear to have any medical or psychiatric training. Similarly, while his use of a specific German and philosophical vocabulary allows him a great degree of precision, it can be substantially less helpful to readers, even ones with a grounding in philosophy.
More Machine Than Man
The Burnout Society is a great book of early 21st century philosophy. It is worth reading to see someone of intelligence and consideration examine a problem that many people have likely felt without being able to put into words. Han also makes a strong case for how and why a life of contemplation has value for everyone.
Source
Han, Byung-Chul. The Burnout Society. Translated by Erik Butler, Stanford Briefs, 2015.
Notorious B.I.G., The. “Mo Money Mo Problems.” Life After Death, Bad Boy Records, 1997.
© 2025 Seth Tomko