#41- Gabriel Marcel on Avoiding The Loss Of Our Humanity
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This week, Scott and Karl read Chapters 1-3 of Gabriel Marcel\\u2019s Man Against Mass Society.
Mass society doesn\\u2019t just include people for Marcel, he also includes art, media, and technology. Marcel is concerned with human existence, or more specifically, with the quality of human life in relation to the transcendent.\\xa0
Written in 1952, Marcel\\u2019s discussion of these topics is remarkably contemporary. He believes we are in danger of losing our humanity and certain \\u201ctechniques of degradation\\u201d in modern systems are the root cause.
Scott and Karl talk in length of these dangers and the problems that lie with giving in to a spirit of abstractions. For Marcel, the problem with abstraction lies in the ability to fascinate, its tendency to draw us into thinking that the abstraction itself is the reality in which we move and relate with one another.\\xa0
In Karl\\u2019s own words, \\u201cif all you can get into your mind space is thin gruel, that\\u2019s all you can digest.\\u201d
How can we avoid flat, diluted access to the transcendent that leaves us all with the same dull experience?\\xa0
Tune in to this week\'s episode and let us know your thoughts!\\xa0
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