New Media and the Loss of Individual Sovereignty

Manahari Adhikari ^{1 *}

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Abstract

This articleexploresthe impactof new media on authentic existence. It argues that technologyhas reshaped humanity in inconceivable ways,but it is taking away individual sovereignty by facilitating and enhancing power for regimes both democratic and dictatorial.With its design andsophistication thatmakeit possibleto listen in on, record, and funnelcontent produced inthe digital realm to locations of power,new media may lead contemporary society towards an era of centralized control and coercion. The likelihoodof new media beingusedas an instrument of power, a devicefor monitoring themasses, begets an atmosphere of fear, which compromises cognitive habits, inhibitsthe capacity to engage society on a critical level,and givesbirth to a culture of singularity. Withour ontology reconstituted by the technological and with our growing reliance on new media,we are losing our authenticity assovereign individuals.

Keywords

(in) authentic existence identity monkey mind singularity subjectivity technoregime and techno-totalitarianism

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.