Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The concept of the saturated self ( Gergen 2001 [1991]) refers to the dramatic expansion in the range of relations (real, virtual, and imagined) in which the individual is increasingly engaged. This expansion is largely attributed to the accumulation of twentieth-century communication technologies, including (but not limited to) radio, television, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and cell phones. The resulting transformation in everyday life includes an expansion and complexifying of the individual's repertoire of “ways of being” (e.g., attitudes, values, opinions, moralities, styles of relating), a compounding of evaluative standards applied to the self, an infinite expansion of opportunity, and an expanding sea of obligations. One becomes multiphrenic . As a general orientation to life, the expansion in the range of realities, reasons, and moralities to which one is exposed leads to a consciousness of construction. Increasingly suspect are traditional claims to truth, objectivity, and reason. On the interpersonal level, the condition of saturation leads to a receding sense of authenticity, and a diminishing in the time and attention devoted to any particular relationship. The result is a loss of enduring emotional intensity and commitment. With social saturation, a major shift is also invited in the conception of the self. With increased immersion in and dependence on relationships, ... log in or subscribe to read full text