Episode #201 - Resistance, Love and the importance of Failure. (Zizek, Han)
Episode #201 - Resistance, Love, and the importance of Failure. (Zizek, Byung Chul Han)
This episode explores Slavoj Žižek’s idea that in a world where grand narratives have lost their power, most people fall into one of three paths: burnout and escapism, obsessive careerism, or trying to revive old traditions to find meaning. But Žižek hints at a fourth option—one where people deeply engage with something they truly care about, not to achieve it perfectly, but to fail at it meaningfully and continuously. Through examples like falling in love or pursuing a passion, he shows how real freedom comes from resisting surface-level, commodified experiences and instead embracing deeper, more transformative efforts. Žižek connects this to surplus enjoyment—how people often find meaning not in achieving goals but in the struggle itself, which can be exploited by society. Ultimately, he encourages listeners to take control of their desires, engage deeply with what matters to them, and live in ways that challenge the shallow structures of consumer life.
Further Reading:
Surplus-Enjoyment: A Guide for the Non-Perplexed, Slavoj Žižek (2022)
The Burnout Society, Byung-Chul Han (2015)
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl (2006)
See the full transcript here
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