Hungry Ghosts in the Machine: Digital Capitalism and the Search for Self

by Mike Watson

Hungry Ghosts in the Digital Capitalism and the Search for Self examines the ways in which social and other digital media utilize nostalgia to heighten anxiety, depression and alienation while offering fleeting cures which only ultimately lead to a cycle of longing and, at most, only temporary satiation. It is argued that wellbeing and spiritual practice freed of the compulsive aspect of social media use might form a useful role in a wider socialist movement. Digital era addiction, psychedelics, AI and memes meet Adorno, Deleuze, Fisher, Maté, Roderick, Sontag, Zizek, The Beatles and Metallica in Watson's characteristically cornucopian dive into the ills of 21st century living and dying. 

93 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2024

Reviews

[Cristobal Benavides · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need to find a healthier way to confront the reality of my mortality than by rotting my brain staring at that damn phone.

[marta · Rating 2 out of 5]

it has some interesting ideas, but, to me, it is not marxist at all to base your text on some hypothesis/statements that are not proven anywhere in the text (and I have many doubts on) such as: "Whether compulsively smoking, vaping, watching porn or checking Instagram for numerical coincidences, we collectively seek something to temporarily assuage both the traumas of our individual and collective histories and the anxiety induced by the uncertainty of existence itself." or "We are all collectively and individually seeking something to dull the pain of our childhood and dampen the horror of collective history."

what do you mean? are you basing your theory on addiction to social media on the fact that we all have childhood traumas and fear death? is that really believable? what facts are you basing that on?

to me is subestimating one of the real issues, if not the main one, the capitalist need to keep you hooked and addicted to something that as a society we are forced to have on and with us 24/7, with its exploitation of our natural responses to the spikes of dopamine, seratonin... and many other neurobiological mechanisms used against ourselves.

as an analogy, if we know sugar is biologically addicting, and society forced us to have a bar of chocolate always with us, and people constantly ate it in front of you, used it for almost everything, etc. wouldn't it be extremely easy (and almost impossible not to) to fall into being addicted to chocolate? the cause would be a childhood trauma or fear of death? or the societal need to have that addicting chocolate bar constantly available to us?

[Christina T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling, timely, and accessible (read: jargon-free) analysis of how digital capitalism hijacks nostalgia, how social media become addictive, and how all this affects mental health and leads to alienation. The well-picked examples ranging from pop culture, Instagram influencers, memes, rock and metal music, support the thought-provoking arguments. At the same time, Watson engages with ''troubling'' thinkers like Adorno and Nietzsche in a way that is interesting, not daunting, graspable and actually cool. For that reason, I'd recommend the book to (my) cultural studies students as a way to introduce theory that would otherwise make them despair.

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was confronting.

Mike Watson takes us at the heart of the endless consumerism cycle that is doom scrolling and breaks down our need for nostalgia and comfort as a form of temporary soothing against the inevitability of suffering and death. We're all guilty of doing it, all of our brains have been colonized by this endlessly renewable content (I hate that word so much) machine that we're all participating in and it's crucial to understand what the hell it's doing to us if we want to eventually step out.

It's short, sometimes it delves into stuff you're already heard before, but it's a red pill moment nonetheless.

[Samara Kern · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful. read in one sitting.

[Ibrahim Conteh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Timely. Now it’s time to touch grass and stop sending memes 😉