Overview

What if the greatest threat to freedom wasn't control--but suggestion? In Hypnocracy, Jianwei Xun explores a new regime of power that operates not through coercion, but through the subtle manipulation of consciousness. Drawing from philosophy, media theory, and real-world experiments like the Berlin Experiment, Xun argues that we now live in a state of lucid sleep--where perception is shaped by algorithms, attention is monetized, and critical thought dissolves into endless suggestion. Figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk are not exceptions, but archetypes of this system, hypnotizing the public through crisis, spectacle, and contradiction. From algorithmic intimacy to the illusion of action, from infinite presents to the absorption of dissent, Hypnocracy maps how digital capitalism induces a functional trance that feels like freedom. Artificial intelligence, rather than illuminating truth, generates plausible fictions that deepen the spell. Yet resistance is still possible--not through awakening, but by learning to remain lucid inside the dream. This is a survival manual for our hypnotized age.

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9781997701194

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Jianwei Xun is a Hong Kong-born cultural analyst and philosopher whose work bridges the worlds of media, narrative theory, and philosophy.

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