Technocognition
Operational Mechanisms
🦠 Necrocene
🔮 Sustainability Theorems
A cross-domain analysis of Political, Economic, Cultural, and Ecological theories.
Political Theory
Surveillance State
Economic Theory
Automated Extraction
Cultural Theory
Attention Algorithm
Ecological Theory
Techno-Utopia Escapism
The Digital Layer: Using technology to shape thought and behavior at scale.
📑 Observations
Establishing a triage containing observations of social experience.
🪞 Self-Enquiry
Do the tools of the Surveillance State and Automated Extraction feel like an inevitable price for connection, or am I actively practicing Techno-Utopia Escapism to avoid confronting their corrosive effects on my Attention Algorithm and autonomy?
🩺 Diagnosis Questions
1. Does technology increase surveillance and control?
2. Are algorithms designed to manipulate behavior?
3. Is tech innovation focused on escapism over solution-making?
Related Variables
- Screen time and addiction rates
- Data privacy breaches
- Tech solutionism vs. real-world impact
"Our sophisticated systems help us precisely target terrorists while minimizing collateral damage."
🩻 Targeted Organ
The Eyes
Capacity for Attention & Perception
🧾 Rationale
To control the narrative through high-tech surveillance and information warfare.
💉 Extraction/Cultivation
AI targeting systems; social media manipulation; killing journalists; controlling internet access.
😷 Defense/Propagation
Convenience & Connection: Framing digital control as necessary for security.
❌ Tetrad Analysis
- Object of Perception: Human Attention
- ENHANCES: Behavioral manipulation; data extraction; personalized control; scale of influence
- OBSOLESCES: Privacy; autonomy; deep focus; independent judgment
- RETRIEVES: Village gossip and social surveillance at planetary scale
- REVERSES INTO: Cognitive fragmentation, attention deficit, and epistemic chaos
📝 Partial Diagnosis
Cognitive Parasites: Technology is deployed to extract attention, data, and energy, creating addiction and escapism while avoiding real problems.
⚗️ Research Repository
🔮 Engagement Circle
🧊 Life Course
🎓 Case Study
TikTok Algorithm and Attention Extraction (2016-present)
TikTok's "For You" page algorithm demonstrates technocognition through surveillance state data collection, automated extraction of attention and behavioral data, algorithmic manipulation of consciousness, and techno-utopian promises of creative expression masking exploitation.
Sources: MIT Technology Review Analysis | Georgetown Law Privacy Report | Pew Research Social Media Study
📚 Literature
"The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" by Shoshana Zuboff (2019)
Zuboff's comprehensive analysis of how technology companies extract behavioral data for profit, creating new forms of surveillance and control while promising technological liberation.
