CYBER_
CAPITALISM
From psychological warfare to military mobilization or how cybercapitalism prepares the western world for war
The economic and psychological warfare I describe in Tous soldats de la guerre psychologique (All Soldiers of Psychological Warfare) establishes a case for how these mechanisms serve as a prelude to full-scale military conflict. Unlike conventional warfare, which unfolds through direct armed confrontation, the total, fractal, and transversal war (la guerre totale-fractale-transversale) of cybercapitalism operates at a cognitive, affective, and economic level, transforming populations into both subjects and objects of war.This war is not waged between states in the traditional sense, but rather in, for, and against the population, with the objective of manufacturing the economic unconscious and fabricating consumable-consumerist-productivist subjectivities that can be enrolled into an indefinite and infinite war system. This transformation is driven by cybercapitalist psychological operations (PSYOP), which manufacture a permanent state of crisis while conditioning individuals into submission, hyper-vigilance, and participation in warlike economic structures. As a result, the Western world is not merely at risk of entering a military war—it is actively being prepared for one.
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Liviu Poenaru: Cybercapitalism Is the Greatest Danger To Modern Society
Since antiquity, the concept of the unconscious has fascinated thinkers, from Plato’s allegory of the cave to Freud’s psychoanalytic theories. However, despite extensive research in psychology and neuroscience, the economic unconscious (EU) remains an under-theorized and elusive construct. Poenaru argues that this blind spot exists because the EU is both omnipresent and strategically repressed. It manifests in individual and collective behaviors yet resists formal recognition as an academic discipline.
Capitalism has exploited this unconscious domain by reshaping the wiring of the human brain. Through targeted digital advertising and the manufacturing of digital addictions through our phones and devices, corporations manipulate desires and anxieties to maintain consumption and production cycles. This "invisible hand" of the economic unconscious governs behaviors and beliefs, often without individuals realizing their complicity in self-exploitation.
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Managing and designing curated lives
One of the defining features of cybercapitalism is the curation of personal identity for public consumption. Social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok encourage users to construct idealized versions of themselves, engaging in what Marwick (2013) terms "self-branding," wherein individuals market themselves as products within the digital economy. This process is not simply a matter of self-expression; it is deeply shaped by algorithmic forces that dictate visibility and engagement. Bucher (2017) highlights how these algorithms create feedback loops that push users toward specific forms of self-presentation, privileging content that aligns with platform incentives. The consequence is an environment where personal identity is increasingly commodified, and success is often measured in metrics such as likes, shares, and follower counts.
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Managing and designing curated lives
One of the defining features of cybercapitalism is the curation of personal identity for public consumption. Social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok encourage users to construct idealized versions of themselves, engaging in what Marwick (2013) terms "self-branding," wherein individuals market themselves as products within the digital economy. This process is not simply a matter of self-expression; it is deeply shaped by algorithmic forces that dictate visibility and engagement. Bucher (2017) highlights how these algorithms create feedback loops that push users toward specific forms of self-presentation, privileging content that aligns with platform incentives. The consequence is an environment where personal identity is increasingly commodified, and success is often measured in metrics such as likes, shares, and follower counts.
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Intellectual
Darkness
The future of knowledge itself could face the gravest consequences in this dystopian scenario. The democratization of knowledge promised by technology might give way to its corporatization and centralization. A few powerful entities could control access to vast knowledge repositories, leveraging proprietary algorithms to gatekeep information. Knowledge could become privatized, commodified, and weaponized, with critical discoveries, historical truths, and scientific advancements hidden behind paywalls or manipulated for corporate or political gain. In this world, intellectual exploration might no longer be a human right but a privilege reserved for elites.
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Furthermore, the integrity of knowledge could be eroded entirely. As generative AI and deepfakes blur the lines between fact and fiction, humanity might lose its ability to trust any source of information. The very concept of objective knowledge could disintegrate, replaced by competing "realities" tailored to individual preferences or agendas. Without a shared epistemological foundation, collective problem-solving and global cooperation could collapse. Humanity might retreat into intellectual isolation, each person or group trapped within their algorithmically curated "truths," incapable of engaging with alternative perspectives or building common understanding.
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Perhaps most chilling is the potential for a rupture in humanity’s relationship with knowledge as a pursuit of meaning. In this future, knowledge is no longer sought for its transformative potential or its role in fostering enlightenment but reduced to a mere commodity, consumed passively without critical engagement. The human capacity for curiosity, discovery, and wonder could wither under the weight of endless, meaningless data streams, leaving a hollow civilization bereft of purpose or vision.
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INFODEMIC AND DIGITAL PANDEMIC
Unfortunately, the WHO focuses solely on the effects of the infodemic on health and does not consider the uncontrollable effects of the invasion of images (the scopic nature of the infodemic) on health. We are no longer in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the crisis continues by all means. The amount of information available is so massive that people may struggle to discern what is relevant or reliable. The compulsive search for information is linked to anxiety, but also to the intentionally addictive nature of digital logic. This can lead to confusion, chaos, and decision paralysis.
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Brain Rot: A Reflection on the Cognitive Impact of the Digital Age
The Oxford University Press's selection of "brain rot" as the Word of the Year for 2024 is a poignant reflection of contemporary societal concerns regarding the pervasive influence of digital media on cognitive health. Defined as the deterioration of mental or intellectual faculties due to excessive consumption of trivial or unchallenging online content, the term encapsulates the anxieties surrounding the omnipresence of superficial digital stimuli.
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Bad is better. The Paradox of Negative Stimuli Preference and its Exploitation for the Spread of the Digital Pandemic
Our cognitive processes inherently prioritize the processing of negative stimuli (Baumeister, 2001; Soroka, Fournier, & Nir 2019), a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the media, particularly social networks. This predisposition, known as the negativity bias, means that humans are more likely to focus on and remember negative information over positive or neutral information. Evolutionarily, this bias may have helped humans survive by making them more alert to dangers and threats. However, in the modern context of constant digital media consumption, this bias can have detrimental effects (Garrett, 2009; Martínez-Cortés & Núñez-Gómez, 2020; Sunstein, 2017; Bessi & Ferrara, 2016; Guess, Nyhan, & Reifler 2018).
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