Spiritual indifference phenomenon in the conditions of information and technological expansion

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of foreign and domestic concepts of the information society and the impact of information and technological expansion on the personality of a modern person. It is noted that worldwide informatization and technologization have determined new conditions of existence for humans. A person has become more well‐read, educated, and versatile, but at the same time there are changes in a person's worldview, in his moral values, which causes an aggravation of the problem of cultural, social and spiritual alienation. In modern society, human alienation manifests itself as spiritual indifference phenomenon, characterized by a state of passivity, self‐isolation, social detachment and moral indifference towards other people. The aim of this work is a socio‐philosophical analysis of the spiritual indifference phenomenon in the conditions of information and technological expansion. A set of comparative, phenomenological and dialectical methods was used, which made it possible to critically comprehend the research problem, trace the pattern of emergence of the phenomenon of spiritual indifference in the context of the expansion of information technology space and, to some extent, predict the consequences of the formation of spiritual indifference within the framework of public life. As a result, it was discovered that information and technological expansion actively reinforces the formation of the spiritual indifference phenomenon, since it creates new conditions of existence for a person, forcing him to spontaneously and repeatedly adapt to these conditions. In this regard, a person plunges into a state of stress, because he experiences tension from the transience of social processes, which leads to the fear of losing contact with the outside world. Electronic media and communications make it easier to establish relation to the outside world, but this is only an “appearance” of presence, since a person is in a state of loneliness and self‐absorption. He cannot directly satisfy the need for community, unity and intimacy through social interaction, since there is no live communication and joint activities aimed at ensuring the common good. As a result, a person involuntarily refocuses on the formation of his own good, which forces him to establish the formal nature of interactions, where there is cooperation, supported by the expediency of his own benefit. Such social ties exclude virtuous human behavior. Thus, in modern society a new type of personality is being formed, which strives for selfrealization through consumption, informatization and virtualization. This phenomenon marks the formation of the phenomenon of spiritual indifference, which is understood as indifference, passivity, self‐isolation, social detachment, moral indifference of a person towards others.

Keywords

• information society
• alienation
• spiritual indifference
• consumption
• informatization
• virtualization