Po tem prepričanju razumskost in zaznava nista več temelj subjektivnosti in čuti niso več orodje, s katerim bi racionalni subjekt lahko gospodoval nad svojim okoljem; ravno nasprotno, subjektnost se formira v reakciji na dražljaje, ki v telo vstopajo skozi čutila. »Bitka«, ki se bije znotraj čutil, je zdaj bistveno drugačne narave kot pred tem. Čeprav ostajajo točka stika med subjektom in njegovim okoljem, čutila nimajo več funkcije vmesnika, ki ločuje subjekt od zunanjega sveta, s čimer bi premerjal in nadzoroval realnost. Namesto tega so zdaj razumljena kot »kanal« oziroma vrata, ki so neprestano na stežaj odprta, skozi katera zunanji svet vstopa v telo v obliki dražljaja. Zdi se, da se ravnotežje v borbi za prevlado med subjektom in zunanjim svetom dokončno preveša v korist zadnjega. […] Ker subjekti niso več zmožni organizacije in predvidevanja lastnih zaznav in ker jim pozornost vedno znova odvračajo čutni vtisi, zmorejo doseči nove ali višje vpoglede. Glede na ta pogled na stvar je raztresenost sestavni del pozornosti, ki je razumljena kot dialektični proces. Kakorkoli, subjekt, ki doseže te nove vpoglede, ni isti subjekt, ki ga je predpostavilo razsvetljenstvo in ki si je pridobil vpogled s pomočjo nadzorovanega motrenja in racionalnostjo. Moderni subjekt si pridobi vpogled, medtem ko je podložen mehanskemu procesu, nehote in po naključju.
Ernst van Alphen: Configurations of Self: Modernism and Distraction. V: Astradur Eysteinsson & Vivian Liska (eds.): Modernism. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company 2007; str. 342–344
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According to this view, rationalism and cognition are no longer the foundation
of subjectivity and the senses are no longer the instruments by which the
rational subject can dominate its environment; on the contrary, subjecthood is
formed in reaction to stimuli that penetrate the body by way of the senses. The
“battle” that is thus waged through the senses is of a fundamentally different
nature than it was before. While remaining the point of contact between the
subject and its surroundings, the senses no longer function as an interface
separating the subject from the outside world, thus enabling it to survey and
control reality. Instead, the senses are now conceived of as a “channel,” or door
that is continually ajar, through which the outside world penetrates the body
in the form of stimuli. The balance in the power struggle between the subject
and the outside world would now seem to tip decisively towards the latter. […]
Because subjects are no longer capable of organizing and anticipating their own
perceptions, and because they are distracted by discontinuous sensory
impressions, they become capable of attaining new or higher insights. According
to this notion of things, distraction is an element of attention, seen as
dialectic process. The subject who gets these new insights is, however, not the
same subject as the one proposed by the Enlightenment who acquired insight by
means of controlled observation and rationality. The subject of modernity
acquires insight while being subjected to a mechanical process, unintendedly
and accidentally.
* V priloženem videoposnetku uporabnika rcvsilva1 kultna skupina Kraftwerk v živo izvaja komad The Man Machine (v Wolfsburgu aprila 2009).
