The Enclosure of the Human Psyche

Welcome to the Convivial Society, a newsletter about technology and culture. Before getting on to the usual business I wanted to note that a few days ago I was more than a little surprised to discover that I had been included in Vox’s Future Perfect 50, a list of “innovators, thinkers, and changemakers working to make the future a better place.” Being on the same list with Billie Eilish and Christopher Nolan was not something I ever anticipated, but the real honor was sharing the list with the likes of Shannon Vallor and Deb Chachra. I even got a flattering illustrated portrait with all the grey taken out of my beard. But I mention this chiefly to say thank you to you. This week in the U.S. we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. In that spirit, let me express my thanks to you for reading and supporting my work. I’m deeply grateful, and I’m quite certain any plaudits I earn flow from the generosity of my readers.

In this installment, I offer you a historical analogy that I hope will be of some use to you as you think about and try to make sense of the social and personal consequences of digitization.

Cheers,
Michael

If you were to ask me something like “What’s the most urgent task before us?” or “What counsel do you have to offer in this cultural moment?” I would say this:

Resist the enclosure of the human psyche.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m sure there are other necessary and urgent tasks. But this would be my contribution to the conversation. I would be offering not only an imperative to pursue, but also, and perhaps more importantly, an analogy to clarify and interpret the techno-economic forces at play in a digitized society. Such analogies or concepts can be useful. They can crystalize a certain understanding of the world and catalyze action and resolve. They can be a rallying cry.

In any case, I’ll say it again: resist the enclosure of the human psyche.

Some of you may immediately intuit the force of the analogy, but I suspect it needs a little unpacking.

Here’s the short version: I’m drawing an analogy between a historical development known as the enclosure of the commons and the condition of the human psyche in the context of a digitized society. The enclosure of the commons is the name given to the ...