Hunters, shepherds, critics. A utopia for the digital society

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Hunters, shepherds, critics. A utopia for the digital society is a non-fiction book published in 2018 by the German philosopher and publicist Richard David Precht . In it the author reflects on the perspectives of the digital revolution and, in view of future scenarios that appear threatening to him, outlines his vision of a life "in self-determined activity, without conditioning and monotony." (P. 9)

The introductory chapter, which calls up the social visions of Tommaso Campanella , Karl Marx and Oscar Wilde , among others , is followed by the first main part, The Revolution , in which Precht ends the conventional work and performance society in the course of a "great overstrain" by "the upheavals" on the basis of digital technology , robots and artificial intelligence . In the second main part, entitled Die Utopie , Precht develops strategies for a humane future under the conditions of digital automation. Since many existing forms of wage and gainful employment will be eliminated in the future, according to Precht, he advocates an unconditional basic income that should enable meaningful activity as a fully-fledged alternative form of work. (P. 124) For the future, which is based on lifelong individual further learning, more intrinsic motivation and an educational system that is adapted to the digital challenges and geared towards memory and judgment is needed. (P. 170)

A distinction should be made between the appreciable improvements and the facilitation of life through digital technology from the equally possible, but unacceptable, encroachments on the ethical orientation and freedom of people. (P. 218) Precht considers the protection of personal data and informational self-determination to be urgent tasks for the state and politics. He expresses doubts in his concluding observations under the heading Night Thoughts , especially with regard to the feasibility of his future project on a global scale. (P. 266)

Content accents

Signs of excessive stress

At the beginning of his remarks on the digital revolution, Precht emphasizes that the future does not come so much about people, but rather will be made by them. The basic question that arises is therefore not: “How will we live?” But rather: “How do we want to live?” (P. 15) For Precht, the urgency of dealing with this question arises from developments in the labor market: “Every activity, whose routines can be algorithmized can in principle be replaced. ”Millions of accountants, tax officials, administrative experts, lawyers, tax consultants, truck, bus and taxi drivers, bank employees, financial analysts and insurance agents could probably be eliminated. Former apprenticeships would be replaced by robots in the future . Countless services would only be done in self-service on the screen, for example booking trips, ordering clothes and books or making transfers. (P. 24)

According to Precht, everything can be traded via the platform capitalism without specialist personnel, from objects of all kinds to overnight stays, communication, transport, energy, financial transactions, nutrition, life counseling, finding a partner and having fun. The era of low-wage jobs in the digital revolution is also running out. Today's parcel deliveries could perhaps continue to equip drones for a while “until such activities are also robotized.” Even IT experts would likely be largely displaced by artificial intelligence. (P. 25) Even in the future - even where technically replaceable - Precht maintains activities or professions that should be accompanied by strong interpersonal affection, such as in the education and training sector, in care contexts and in the medical sector. (P. 27 f.)

Precht sees politics and society as ill-prepared for such prospects and the associated side effects and consequences. Modern European politics is “characterized by the renunciation of ethics in favor of tactical cleverness and the greatest flexibility.” Let technocrats rule who, without their own substantive goals, let things come to them through the mass media: “Financial crisis, debt crisis, spying affair, migration crisis. Didn't suspect anything of it, didn't know anything. ”It wasn't politicians who determined future living conditions in this way,“ but the visionaries and utopians of the digital revolution: Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. Germany’s politicians are strategic pygmies against these digital superpowers. ”(P. 52) For Precht, however, it is politically decisive“ to see the possibilities of digital technology not only from the perspective of economic competition, but also as an opportunity for a good model of society. [...] No economic logic produces a life worthy of human beings by itself. The democratization of life chances is a political task. "(P. 57)

Dystopia, retropia and utopia of the digital revolution

Of the three contrasting scenarios that Precht addresses as possible consequences of the digital revolution, only one seems worth striving for. In the pessimistic future draft for the year 2040, known as dystopia, young adults are controlled and cared for by their data acquisition program all day. “Our life can no longer fail at all. Google, Facebook and Co. have freed us from the dictatorship of freedom. ”(P. 59) A young guard of investors and speculators in data trading, whose consumption of energy and resources is driving the abolition of humanity, benefits from this. (P. 60 f.) China's “system for social trustworthiness” based on complete digital surveillance has been functioning unchallenged for two decades, and in other parts of the world only in a more subtle way. (P. 67) In a new set of basic values, “autonomy has been exchanged for convenience , Freedom against comfort and balance against happiness. The human image of the Enlightenment simply has no place in the brave new digital world of surveillance sensors and digital clouds. Why judgment when algorithms and those who own them know me better than I do myself? ”(P. 69) Behavioral manipulation on the basis of data processing determines everyday life and politics. (P. 71) The individual has the prospect of “reincarnation in the technosphere” through digital preservation of the brain. (P. 81)

On the other hand, as Precht explains in detail, the past dimension is also very important in individual experience. “After all, when we are old, what else are we than our own history?” Normally, people would appreciate “the solid ground of traditions, lore, habits and continuations” very much. But in an economic form "that delimits all space on our planet, uproots cultures in a hurry, replaces tradition with new things, divides flat societies into rich and poor and awakens needs and needs everywhere, such soul homes are irrelevant." (P. 83 f. ) The propagandists of digitization, according to Precht, take no account of traditional values, but urge you to hurry so that you don't miss the boat: "Digitization first - concerns second." (P. 84 f.) In contrast, many things are in the past, in the retropie, social currents seeking support. Their concerns are to be taken seriously and only grotesque in the case of excesses like Pegida . But in general, retropy is not a realistic option. "For in the history of mankind there is no voluntary going back, only a movement forward." (Pp. 89–92 and 97)

Consequently, for Precht the only sensible alternative to dystopia remains a future-oriented, development-open, humane utopia based on concrete visions, which is intended to provide orientation for political action. At the center of Precht's design is the avowed “man as the free designer of his life” (pp. 97 f. And 124)

Basic income as a basis for autonomy

Precht considers the prevailing high esteem for wage and gainful employment and their linkage to individual self-esteem to be out of date, as is the idea of ​​a possible social advancement through personal performance, which is the basis of the image of a performance society . Against this - in addition to the low-wage sector and discontinued branches of employment - the different distribution of hereditary masses speak. (Pp. 114–118)

In 2018, Precht sees an unconditional basic income of 1500 euros in Germany as the prerequisite for everyone to be able to live a free life on the basis of satisfied basic needs . A related voluntary additional income could ensure that nurses and geriatric nurses (unlike in the past) also have an adequate income. There is no longer any need to do monotonous and demoralizing work, most of which would soon be completely digitized anyway. (Pp. 144 f. And 149)

Human happiness does not depend on a growing gross domestic product (GDP), emphasizes Precht: “What contributes to happiness - mindfulness, respect, a culture of trust, self-affirmation, self-efficacy, the art of dealing with one's claims, not having an existential fear, a good one Environment, friends, etc. - has been well known since the days of the ancient Greeks. ”A growing GDP does not lead to more happiness in Germany. Rather, it is a driver of economic dynamism that has so far been associated with more energy consumption and resource exploitation , with constant climate change and more waste. (P. 152)

For Precht, a financial transaction tax is a suitable means of financing a basic income . This could also curb speculation at the expense of investments in the real economy. “A financial transaction tax makes the financial markets more stable and reduces gambling in the stock exchange casino. Losers are only extreme gamblers and nobody else. "(Pp. 133–135)

Education on humanity in digital change

An education system that is primarily geared towards labor markets does not suit people who, according to Precht, should become free designers of their lives in the future. On the one hand, even comprehensive education cannot prevent someone from being replaced by technology or falling out of the scheme of the future world of work. On the other hand, a high level of education and creativity was also needed by people who were temporarily or longer in paid employment. “To design your day freely, to volunteer for a cause, to make plans and to develop goals that nobody gives you - all these abilities distinguish the happier person without a job from the fobbed, useless feeling unhappy.” (P. 119 and 168)

Self-organization , self-responsibility and self-empowerment are the primary skills that Precht would like to see people trained to in the future. Self-determined interest or intrinsic motivation are of central importance for this. (Pp. 155 and 158) The usual school-based learning for grades has its equivalent in the post-school reward for professional work through money. "But to the same extent that widespread gainful employment is declining in the course of digitization, this conditioning loses its meaning." (P. 169) Lifelong learning , which will be essential in the future , also requires intrinsic motivation. It is also important to promote memory and not simply outsource it to machines. The less the memory reveals, the lower the potential for your own free combinations of thoughts. "If you want creativity, you have to train your memory." (P. 171)

In order to be happy in a world with less gainful employment, according to Precht, a lot of time and energy will have to be spent on self-cultivation and on the appropriate use of digital technology. (P. 172) As a result of this, improvements can be expected in many areas of a humane society of the future, urgently, for example, with regard to the more efficient use of energy and resources. (P. 218) Achieving informational self-determination should not be a matter for the individual alone. "The normal citizen can hardly defend himself when unknown third parties earn money with him, study his private and professional networks, observe where you are and create movement and personality profiles." Like the traffic infrastructure, the digital infrastructure is also part of Precht into the hands of the state, "which provides its citizens free of charge with what they need to inform, communicate and orientate themselves in the digital world." (p. 232 and 240)

Reception aspects

"From zero to number one, with a winged Marx phrase, exactly on the 200th birthday of the celebrated communist: the most recent utopia of a philosopher flew straight to the top of the bestseller, spot landing, and stayed there," Elisabeth von Thadden led her review in time one. Precht wants to propose a sensible draft of society to those who have not yet fallen into the “technical-fatalistic toleration rigidity”. It could be argued that the book offers nothing new, but Precht's refusal to throw in the towel has a winning effect.

For Claudia Mäder, the focus is on Precht's thesis that the threatening “mass unemployment” can be turned into something positive, in that after the discontinuation of wage labor, people have the opportunity to leave their existence as “homo mercatorius” behind and become “free Shaper of his life ”- on the condition of a social rethinking of the previous link between self-worth and wage work. Precht offers little new and "a lot of cheap" in countless other areas from mobility to medicine to data protection. "But even if you smile at his admonishing style and get annoyed at his apodictic alarmism: It doesn't hurt to follow the author on some of his lines of thought."

First and foremost, it is a wake-up call, and only in the second step a utopia, says Simone Miller in Deutschlandfunk Kultur . Precht makes it far too easy for himself with the horror scenario of general unemployment caused by digitization and the basic income solution. Mäder considers his serious thinking about digitization and its consequences to be right; however, they were not convinced by the proposal “all about basic income and digital capitalism”. It seems very questionable to her whether the abolition of the welfare state would be generally acceptable and whether, on the basis of the aforementioned basic income, everyone would actually have the same chances of realizing themselves freely. The success of the book is based on two abilities of Precht: “Thematically hit a nerve and write grippingly.” Everyone knows “that a lot will not go on as before”, but Realpolitik has hardly any ideas to offer. Precht, on the other hand, makes a concrete proposal and dares to do "what we should all trust each other again - to spin visions."

As is customary with him, Precht's utopia design is based on extensive and intensive research, the breadth and depth of which is impressive, according to kulturbuchtipps.de . The power of language with which this utopia is developed is also impressive, sometimes “almost a little too emphatic and eloquent”. With his book Precht does not want to “entertain, but shake up and initiate a long overdue, broad social and political debate.” It is a basic text “for an urgently pending fundamental discussion about the future in our country and in Europe.” There are many important questions that would be asked and answered "in this engagingly written and actionable book".

Johannes Pennekamp sums up Precht's reflection in FAZ.NET to the formula: “Because the machines are taking away work, more socialism is needed in capitalism. Or expressed in numbers: 1500 euros for everyone, regardless of what he or she earns - financed by a transaction tax. ”Pennekamp sees the study by Oxford researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osborne, cited by Precht as evidence of his concerns about the future of the labor market, through a study by the work sociologist Sabine Pfeiffer and questioned by the concerns of the economist Jens Südekum, for whom there is nothing to indicate future mass unemployment. Speculation and panic are inappropriate, says Pennekamp Südekum again and quotes him: "And I wonder who such great social plans are beneficial to whom if they are based on a very condensed empirical basis - no matter how eloquently they are presented."

expenditure

  • Hunters, shepherds, critics. A utopia for the digital society . Goldmann Verlag, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3-442-31501-7 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ "There is no positive future scenario for the digitization of our society. Of course, the big cities could become greener and more energy efficient. Medicine is gaining in precision. Older people get a smart robot as a domestic help and pet in one. And intelligent lighting adapts to us and lets everything appear in a beautiful light - but none of this is a social, political or economic vision. ”(P. 56)
  2. ↑ “The chance of growing well over a hundred in this accident-free life is great. All of our cells can be cloned in the Petri dish, and the 3D printer prints out new kidneys, a new liver or a new 'own' heart if necessary. "(Ibid., P. 59)
  3. ^ Elisabeth von Thadden : Criticize after eating. Richard David Precht simply refuses to throw in the towel. In: Die Zeit , May 24, 2018; accessed on May 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ Claudia Mäder: Turning away the end times. Richard David Precht wants to prevent digitization from dehumanizing our world. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , July 26, 2018; accessed on May 19, 2020.
  5. ↑ Simone Miller in conversation with Joachim Scholl: Richard David Prechts digital vision. Wrong way to paradise. In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur , July 26, 2018; accessed on May 19, 2020.
  6. ↑ culture book tips from May 28, 2018; accessed on May 19, 2020.
  7. ^ Johannes Pennekamp: Consequences of digitization. What am I working - and if so, for how much longer? In: FAZ.NET August 17, 2018; accessed on May 19, 2020.