Published: Thu 25 February 2016
By Joseph Reagle
In social .
tags: social lifehack
I argue that life hacking is a type of self-help reflective the
present moment. How should I refer to this mindset and moment? I have a
number of terms available to me. Foucault famously spoke of
episteme , the conditions of discourse by which knowledge claims
are considered acceptable. His “archeology” of the classic, renaissance,
and modern ages sought to uncover these conditions.
Other cultural theorists sometimes speak of periodization.
Life hacking no doubt exemplifies some of the of the contemporary
episteme, especially the focus on efficiency and quantification, but it
is otherwise too broad. Life hacking is a subculture, albeit one growing
in influence. More commonplace words include zeitgeist and
milieu . Zeitgeist refers to the spirit of a period, and it is
too broad as well. Milieu means a “person’s social environment,” but
life hacking touches on a person’s character too. Hence, I use the word
ethos , which Oxford defines as “The characteristic spirit of a
culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and
aspirations.” It also traces its origins to the Greek ēthos ,
meaning “nature” and “disposition.” Hence ethos
captures the more local, community, aspect of life hacking, its
aspirations, and the often geeky disposition of its practitioners.
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