Phatic Workshop

As if out of the blue I am forced to reconsider the pair of terms *sociopetal*: ( of a grouping of people ) arranged so that each can see and interact with the others and sociofugal : ( of a grouping of people ) arranged so that each can maintain some privacy from the others Because in my latest review (of Phatic Technologies) I wrote: If "phatic" is generally understood as an emphasis on sociality then forms of terminating communication (i.e. acts like leave-taking , parting and, on the Internet, blocking ) are naturally pushed out of the picture. For further research this necessitates a separate category of phatic investigation focused on unsociability, ungregariousness, avoidance, absence, shyness, social withdrawal, isolation, etc. which for classification purposes could be called minus-phatics (there is ample research in social sciences for this avenue). It just so happened that I had to look up the word psychedelic , which I knew to mean "mind manifes...

I was a bit concerned that maybe my etymological investigations had gone down the wrong path, but it looks like things are OK. From "The Sophist", Focus Philosophical Library, Brann, Kalkavage, and Salem (trans.).

I'm currently writing my "Review of phatic technologies" and some moments from the quotes you brought out from Baudrillard (1976) in the tactile and the digital are not unconnected with the issues of phatic technologies. We definitely need to develop our ideas about the social power aspects of phatic communion, i.e. how "staying in touch" has become a control mechanism. Hopefully papers on phatics will yield ways to approach this (thus far my expectations in that regard have been more than exceeded). It also suits me well because the topic of "regulation" is something I'm very keen on. In any case, Baudrillard's comments on the neutralization of content through the question/answer and stimulus/response form and how the cycles of meaning become infinitely shorter the cycles of this form can be tied in with the advent of the so-called "database culture" that Vincent Miller ("New Media, Networking and Phatic Culture", 2008...

From Jean Baudrillard, Symbolic Exchange and Death (1976), pp. 61, 63, 64-65, 67-68. I was reminded of this passage by something Rasmus wrote: " I'd like to convey that one of the prime characterstics of Phatica is that s/he is dedicated to taking over the field of communication. Most everything phatics has to do with can be, and is, elsewhere discussed with different terms. Phatica is constantly conquering foreign territory. " I replied: " I could also mention a critique from Baudrillard, who talked about how modern communication has become entirely tactical  -- similar root word to tactile -- and he would say that 'staying in touch' has morphed into a more sinister control mechanism. Not sure if we want to bring in this sort of philosophical polemic but if we do, I can dig it up. " Dig Up Her Bones by MoonsScythe It was a really tangential riff, but I'm glad that I brought it up now that I've read Rasmus's Review of John Laver...

I wonder if the most common words carry a significant phatic weight?