De-realization and Infra-humanization

In this chapter, we suggest that our enforced interactions with digital technologies impose a series of adjustments that (a) induce a de-realization of our experience of everyday life, and (b) facilitate the infra-humanization of those with whom we interact through those technologies. De-realization is induced by temporal disorganization, ephemerality, spatial detachment, sensory incongruity, impairment in our capacity for information-processing and reality-testing, and personalization. Infra-humanization is prompted by the unique aspects of digital interactions, the condition of permanent surveillance, and increasing interactions with non-human agents. De-realization and infra-humanization mutually influence each other, produce significant transformations in the human experience, and present severe risks.