Silence Is a Commons by Ivan Illich (1983)
10 months ago
- #communication
- #ecology
- #technology
- Ivan Illich discusses the encroachment of machines, particularly computers, on human communication and behavior, likening it to how fences and cars transformed pastures and streets.
- He warns that electronic devices force people to communicate on the machine's terms, filtering out aspects of culture that don't fit machine logic, leading to a degradation of human dignity and well-being.
- Illich highlights the political and ecological implications of transforming the environment from commons (shared, community-managed resources) to resources (commodities managed by markets or states).
- He draws parallels between historical enclosures of land and the modern enclosure of silence and communication by loudspeakers and computers, emphasizing the loss of communal autonomy.
- The speech calls for a new politics of self-limitation in communication to preserve human self-governance and resist the degradation of the commons into policed resources.