Alpha-brains and Dream Bunkers: Phantasies of Technological Progress and Societal Catastrophe in the Age of Capitalist Realism
april 2017
In Mark Fisher’s 2007 book Capitalist Realism, he describes the titular concept as the inability to imagine economic and political alternatives to capitalism (Fisher, 6). Under ‘capitalist realism’ the sanctity of free and expanding markets is rendered so naturalized that we lose the ability to dream of a future without them. As such ‘capitalist realism’ evokes a way of thinking in which worldviews are cropped to exclude all modes of problem solving which are not conducive to the acceleration and growth of capital. In this essay I will begin to explore one category of thought which seems to have flourished under the epistemological restrictions of capitalist realism. Left with a perceived lack of political alternatives, individuals across the political spectrum have turned to technology in order to dream of alternative conceptions of the self and the world. I will look at various cultural phenomenon which concern themselves with the technological optimization of one’s body and its environment in order to attempt to identify the ideological implications of this way of thinking. First, I will examine the strange and sometimes contradictory politics of the popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, with an emphasis on Rogan’s preoccupation with “human optimization”. Then, I will look at the phenomenon of “Silicon Valley Survivalists” who use their immense wealth and technological resources to prepare themselves for possible large scale disasters. I will argue that these examples illustrate how dreams of technological progress are often wrapped up in notions of hegemonic masculinity, fantasies of fascistic control, and the perpetuation and acceleration of capitalism.
Before each episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan reads a series of sponsored advertisements. The brands and products featured in these ads change frequently, but the last promotion Rogan reads is always for for a company which he is invested in called Onnit. Rogan describes Onnit as a company dedicated to “total human optimization”. The Onnit website sells supplements and work out equipment, and features articles about “optimizing” one’s nutrition, fitness, and even sleep. Topics of recurring interest on Rogan’s podcast include, martial arts, hunting, health and fitness, psychedelic drugs, and science and technology. While his guests and subjects of interest are diverse, there is something decidedly masculine in the podcast’s tone and aesthetic. Rogan’s podcast displays a distinct appeal to white collar working men, lamenting the “unnatural” state of a post-fordist work which causes men to be stuffed into offices instead of being out in nature. This ambivalence towards technology for its role in shaping the current construction of informational labor is reconciled by an embrace of technologies which are meant to extend the capabilities of the body which informational work so often neglects. This preoccupation with the improvement of the body through technology and technically fine-tuned techniques allows for an acceptable relationship between men and technology in a world where the body has largely been excluded from this relationship. Emphasizing the technological enhancement of the physical body evokes the figure of the cyborg which Donna Haraway famously theorized as offering a model for destabilized forms of identity (Haraway, 6). However, in Warren Steele’s analysis of the cultural meaning of cyborg bodies, he challenges Haraway’s proposal of the cyborg’s subversive potential. Steele claims that while the cyborg may have theoretically transgressive potential, it has manifest in Western culture as a phallocentric, hegemonic ideal, perhaps best illustrated by Arnold Shwartzenegger in The Terminator (1984) (Steele, 61). Consequently, when fantasies of organic and technological integration and optimization manifest themselves in the culture, we should be suspicious of who’s fantasies they may represent.
One of Onnit’s most promoted products is a supplement called Alphabrain. Alphabrain is described as a “nootropic” designed to “support memory, focus, and processing speed”. The use of the term “alpha”, often used in relation to “alpha males” carries with it important connotations. Not only does the term reinforce the idea that in this context, technological optimization is a masculine project, it also points towards a common contradiction found in futurist though. The concept of the “alpha male” as the leader of the pack—the biggest and strongest—is appropriated from the social formations of animals. This points towards a larger trend in which technological progress is intertwined with romanticized ideals of getting back to nature and harnessing more primal instincts. This interplay between seemingly paradoxical interests can also be seen in Rogan’s podcast more generally. His obsession with hunting—bow hunting in particular—and hand to hand combat sports are in line with more traditional masculine ideals which largely reject technology as threatening to a masculinity which is rooted in no frills physicality. On the other hand, Rogan’s interest in gene modifying technologies like Crisper, stem cell research, and obscure forms of physical and mental therapy like cryotherapy and sensory depravation tanks represent an embrace of technology’s ability to enhance the capabilities of the body. Western masculinity has often struggled with the contradictory myths that technology is both emasculating—softening men by rendering the body more passive—and that technology is the domain of men, that men are the natural wielders of tools. The human optimization project is not the first to attempt to reconcile these feelings. In his book After the Future, Franco Berardi points out that both the Italian and Russian futurist movements harbored a similar affinity for modernity and machines, as well as archaic, wild, and more primal ways of living (Berardi, 29). Berardi also points out that in many cases, belief in a technologically driven future combined with a nostalgia for an archaic past, often harbors totalitarian tendencies (Berardi, 25).
It may seem alarmist or hyperbolic to claim that the preoccupation with human optimization displayed on Rogan’s podcast and by Onnit are necessarily fascist. But this does not mean that the dream of the technological optimization of all aspects of human life does not harbor fascistic characteristics which could be incredibly dangerous when taken to their logical conclusions. In his analysis of Filippo Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto Berardi notes that, “war and the contempt for women are the essential features of mobilization” (Berardi, 36). For Marinetti, war represented the full potential of society’s technological capabilities as well as the ability to reform, order, and mobilize society itself. Accordingly, there is something militaristic about the project of human optimization, especially in the context of the Rogan podcast. Rogan’s associations with marital arts and hunting frame his preoccupations with technological optimization as part of a process of armament, as if to prepare for some imaginary battle that may never come. The evidence suggests that in this context, optimization means being optimized for combat and survival under harsh conditions. Even the workout programs promoted on the Onnit website often emphasize functionality and combat practicality including heavy mace training and kettlebell techniques conceived of by Soviet special forces. Whether through technological enhancement or technique, the goals of human optimization revolve around demanding a machine like efficiency from the body.
In Susan Sontag’s essay, Fascinating Fascism, she connects spectacles of athletic, muscled, and flexible bodies to Nazi aesthetics (Sontag, 86). Sontag claims that bodily performance, and bodily sacrifice feature prominently in fascist aesthetics and that this is related to what an authoritarian regime demands of its subjects: productivity, efficiency, and sacrifice in the name of the State. In many ways the kind of human optimization preached by Rogan and promoted by Onnit places similar demands on the body. Alphabrain demands greater mental processing speed and focus. An Onnit melatonin supplement demands that sleep be conducted as efficiently as possible. Another supplement called New Mood is especially interesting in that it implies the technological treatment of emotional issues like depression, stress, or anxiety. But in these cases the valorization of the body and the demand placed on it are not in the service of the state or any explicit over-arching goal. Its efficiency for the sake of further efficiency—optimization for the sake of optimization. But If optimization means optimized masculinity, optimized combat, and optimized productivity then this form of human optimization remains in the service of status quo modes of power. The project of human optimization stems from a feeling that the body needs to be protected, ready, and defensive. This project of building an optimized and invulnerable body comes out of a political situation where the idea that politics could provide any such protection has been rendered bankrupt. The optimized body as envisioned by Onnit and The Joe Rogan Experience represents an ideal neoliberal subject. Emotional, nutritional, and physiological ailments are treated and protected against by technological solutions sold on the free market and purchased by individuals. The subtext of the human optimization project—the connections to hunting and fighting, and to genetic and pharmaceutical optimization—is a state of being in constant preparation for disaster. This subtext is rendered textual in the efforts of millionaire hedge-fund managers, and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who are doing just that.
On January 30th, 2017 The New Yorker published an article by Evan Osnos titled Doomsday Prep for the Super Rich. Osnos explores the relatively recent phenomenon of obscenely wealthy men who are preparing for the apocalypse. The article begins with an interview with Steve Huffman, co-founder of Reddit, explaining his choice to get laser eye surgery in order to better survive a possible societal collapse. Similar to the rhetoric of human optimization found in The Joe Rogan Experience many of these million, and billionaires emphasize “radical self-reliance”, the mobilization of advanced technology and massive amounts of cash in order to prepare for life in a potentially hostile environment (Osnos, 2017). Throughout the article Osnos posits explanations for why some of the richest and most powerful people in Western society would be so apparently afraid. One explanation is that those intimately involved in the tech culture of Silicon Valley are partial to extreme visions of the future, both utopic and dystopic. Another is that these men who have allegedly made their fortunes by accurately predicting future trends are seeing something that the rest of us do not. And as Osnos notes, “for some, it’s just “brogrammer” entertainment, a kind of real-world sci-fi, with gear” (Osnos, 2017). Though it is clear that some “preppers” are seriously concerned, this element of a fantastical appeal may be more relevant to what is happening in this cultural phenomenon than Osnos gives credit. Researched and written during and after the 2016 presidential election, the piece emphasizes spikes of interest in survivalism in times of political and social uncertainty. However, the focus on this may discourage Osnos from considering crucial questions regarding the political and ideological implications of the apocalyptic panic of the super rich. Much like the human optimization project, the trend of elite survivalists may function as a sustaining myth for hegemonic forces. In effect these fears surrounding the collapse of civilization as we know it function to perpetuate the aspects of that civilization which we know all too well: patriarchy, militarism, and ceaseless accumulation.
While reading Osnos interviews with the various ultra-wealthy men who are buying fortified underground bunkers, or stock piling weapons and ammunition it is hard not to detect a degree of fantasy. It may be useful to consider that deep down these interviewees may not be scared of the ideal of societal collapse so much as they are excited by it. There is some form of masculine, libertarian fantasy involved in learning to fire arrows to protect your family, or forming a militia with other ultra-rich preppers who were smart enough to be ready when the end came. Similar to the Italian futurists and the Rogan podcast’s version of human optimization, these Sillicon Valley survivalists also display both a fascination with the most advanced forms of technology, and a romanticism for more archaic forms like the bow and arrow. Almost all of these men’s fantasies about the end of the world seem to quickly accept the prospect of perpetual and all encompassing combat and despite their apparent paranoia, most are reasonably confident in their ability to flourish and even lead under these conditions. At the end of Stanley Kubrick’s, Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, the political and military elite discuss the prospect of moving a select portion of society into underground bunkers in the event of nuclear war. As they discuss it, the scenario transforms from insane, to rationalized, to attractive as they realize that the lack of rule of law and necessities of repopulation could be taken advantage of to create a misogynist society revolving around their own sexual desires. This scene, and the M.A.D. policies of the Cold War reveal something deeply unsettling about the way the powerful perceive catastrophe. To those who have accumulated the most resources and power prospects of disaster are often tied up with fantasies of a world purified of the weak or undesirable, and ruled by the men who are most technologically equipped.
In many ways the survivalist fantasy is a luxury not afforded to those who are least fortunate under current socio-economic conditions. Those who are working to survive day-to-day are less likely to spend time and money preparing for some unspecified collapse. Furthermore, the kinds of solutions and precautions that the wealthy come up with are telling of a technological mode of thinking which seems to dominate our politics. Osnos writes, “In private Facebook groups, wealthy survivalists swap tips on gas masks, bunkers, and locations safe from the effects of climate change.” (Osnos, 2017). The Silicon Valley survivalist thought process is unlimited in its ability to think of technological and logistical solutions and seemingly incapable of conceiving of meaningful political ones. The laser eye surgery and other pre-emptive procedures undertaken to prepare for the apocalypse take on an new political meaning in the context of a country in which access to such medical services is largely determined by one’s employment and financial status. Some of this kind of criticism is expressed in Osnos’ article. Some assert that philanthropic participation would be a more effective way to evade disaster than fortified bunkers or New Zealand retreats. But even these justified criticisms may be missing the ideological implications of this phenomenon. To pose meaningful political solutions to the problems which threaten the stability of our society the most—climate change, inequality—would mean challenging notions of individual competition and capitalist accumulation which the survivalist preoccupations of the rich implicitly naturalize and condone.
One venture capitalist told Osnos, “I’ll be candid: I’m stockpiling now on real estate to generate passive income but also to have havens to go to.” (Osnos, 2017). When asked about what all of the “preppers” he knew had in common, another interviewee responded, “Lots of money and resources.” (Osnos, 2017). At least for the rich, the threat or fear of societal collapse seems to encourage further hoarding and accumulation rather than incite a rethinking of the distribution of wealth and resources. Furthermore, while some like to fetishize primitive modes of technological survival such as outdoorsmanship and archery, others respond by purchasing lavish, luxury bunkers, designed to withstand a nuclear blast. In the article, Osnos, and one of the builders of such a facility describe it as follows,
“At a site conceived for the Soviet nuclear threat, Hall has erected a defense against the fears of a new era. “It’s true relaxation for the ultra-wealthy,” he said. “They can come out here, they know there are armed guards outside. The kids can run around.” (Osnos, 2017)
The facility is protected by armed guards who will “return fire if necessary” if those who did not purchase a luxury bunker suite attempt to get in during the panic of a disaster. Evil Paradises: Dreamworlds of Neoliberalism, is a collection of essays edited by Mike Davis and Daniel Bertrand Monk, aimed at examining the, “unprecedented spatial and moral secession of the wealthy from the rest of humanity” under neoliberal capitalism (Davis & Bertrand Monk, 4). The book outlines some of the most unbelievable spatial and architectural concentrations of wealth around the world, which are often in direct proximity so some of the poorest and most oppressed conditions. These locations are also often heavily secured and militarized. In a sense these luxury bunkers serve a similar function, justifying their fortification and militarization with the threat of societal chaos.
If the luxury survival bunker is to be understood as a technological fortification and separation of the rich from the poor, then the project of human optimization may be said to serve the same function at the level of physiology. Adhering to meticulously calculated nutrition and fitness plans and consuming vast amounts of supplements for the mind, body, and mood, the project of human optimization functions to forge a fortified and completely efficient bodily ideal, creating a biological separation between those who can afford such technological enhancement, and those who struggle to afford the means for basic nutritional necessities. The examples I have chosen are part of larger cross-political trends towards the technological infiltration of our collective political imaginations. They were chosen specifically for their lack of “overtly” political content. Rogan’s podcast displays a diverse array of political views and Rogan himself identifies as liberal despite the appearance of alt-right figures like Milo Yiannopolous on his program. The wealthy survivalists interviewed in Osnos’ article also harbor diverse political views from reluctant Trump voters, to philanthropic Democrats. Regardless of explicit party affiliation, the material interests of the rich seem to perpetuate a belief in technological progress which only functions to uphold and engrain the status quo. A critique of this techno-centric way of thinking can be extended to the colonial Martian ambitions of Elon Musk, or right wing neoreactionaries who hope to replace politics altogether with the holy rationality of Artificial Intelligence. Technological change without political, cultural, and social change can only function to accelerate and expand current modes of power. Towards the end of Johnathan Crary’s 24/7: Late-Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep, Crary outlines the necessity for a new dream divorced from further technical efficiency and accumulation,
“Now there is actually only one dream, superseding all others; it is of a shared world whose fate is not terminal, a world without billionaires, which has a future other than barbarism or the post-human, and in which history can take on other forms than reified nightmares of catastrophe.” (Crary, 128)
In a sense the Rogan followers obsessed with human optimization, and the survival fanatics of Wall Street and Silicon Valley cannot necessarily be blamed for this mode of thinking. They are products of a neoliberal order which has prioritized individual competition and survival over collective co-operation, and accumulation and growth over sustainability or equality. I do not mean to suggest that taking a supplement for better sleep or occasionally hypothesizing about what you would do at the end of the world is inherently detrimental or ideologically reprehensible. Instead I mean to identify that without a reconceptualization of political progress, dreams of technological progress are not only extremely limited in their capacity for meaningful change, they are also potentially dangerous.
Works Cited
Berardi, Franco. After the Future. Edinburgh: AK, 2011. Print.
Crary, Jonathan. 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. London: Verso, 2014. Print.
Davis, Mike, and Daniel Bertrand Monk. Evil Paradises: Dreamworlds of Neoliberalism. New York: New, 2008. Print.
Fisher, Mark. Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? Winchester, UK: Zero, 2010. Print.
Haraway, Donna Jeanne. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. N.p.: n.p., 2009. Print.
"Onnit Labs - Total Human Optimization." Onnit. N.p., n.d. Web. <https://www.onnit.com/>.
Osnos, Evan. "Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich." The New Yorker. The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2017. Web.
Steele, Warren Donald. "Body of Glass: Cybernetic Bodies and the Mirrored Self." University of Glasgow (2007): n. pag. Web.
Sontag, Susan. "Fascinating Fascism." Under the Sign of Saturn. N.p.: Picador, 2002. N. pag. Print.