A Study Of Knowledge Payment In The Perspective Of Critical Theory Of Social Acceleration

In the era of information explosion,knowledge anxiety has become a prominent issue.At the same time,the acceleration cycle consisting of technology acceleration,social acceleration and life acceleration increases the uncertainty,and competition,the driving force of social acceleration,further aggravates knowledge anxiety together with the uncertainty brought by acceleration.As a result,knowledge payment,which is based on helping users simplify the steps of knowledge acquisition,has emerged.Through literature analysis,this paper first analyzes the causes and characteristics of knowledge anxiety in contemporary society from the perspective of media time by combining Critical Theory of Social Acceleration,then studies the audio-based knowledge payment product Vistopia,,explores the hidden logic of time through the development history of its parent brand Imaginist from paper books to video programs to audio products,and use it as a representative to critically analyze the paid knowledge products that ‘create’ knowledge anxiety.The first chapter analyzes natural time,clock time and media time,suggesting that although natural time,clock time and media time from telegraph to television have obvious tendency to accelerate and they are generally linear,while media time in the Internet era is point-like,characterized by fragmentation and disorder.Subsequently,based on Rosa’s Critical Theory of Social Acceleration,the three kinds of acceleration are discussed and the possibility of deceleration is focused on.This chapter proposes that knowledge anxiety is ephemeral and reflexive,and may bring about value futility.In discussing the causes of knowledge anxiety,the view of ‘the end of narrative’ put forward by Byung-chul Han is considered together with ‘uncertainty’ as the subjective and deep-rooted causes of knowledge anxiety in Internet time.The second chapter takes the audio knowledge payment product Vistopia as the case study object and composes the changes in the form of knowledge payment,suggesting that video programs and audio programs are limited by the media time in the Internet era,and that although the ‘common knowledge’ characteristic of humanities and social science programs is compatible with the ‘concomitant’ nature of audio programs,the auditory culture represented by audio programs does not provide much time for users to engage in deep thinking and rational reflection required by humanities and social science,thus forming a paradox.This chapter also reviews spoken,printed,visual,and auditory cultures,highlighting the inability of visual and auditory cultures in accelerated societies to form a coherent narrative of social life,ways of thinking,and knowledge systems in ‘bad time’.Chapter 3 analyzes the logic of marketization behind knowledge payment with the help of Baudrillard’s La société de consommation,pointing out that Vistopia is not an independent product,but a complete chain of implied meanings,and the symbolic value plays a fundamental role behind this chain of meanings.It also analyzes the knowledge carnival,pointing out that it seems to promote the popularization of knowledge,but what is really sold is not knowledge but attention,and combines the critical theory of social acceleration with Baudrillard’s ‘acceleration of the death of commodities in consumption’,pointing out that in order to grab attention but real knowledge,like classics,needs to stand the test of time,so knowledge that has been removed from time value is no longer real knowledge.The reason why knowledge payment has a place is that it conforms to the logic of consumption control in consumer society,but because it sells commodities rather than real knowledge,it cannot relieve consumers’ knowledge anxiety.Chapter 4 of this paper offers three suggestions for alleviating knowledge anxiety:get the body involved,get the neighborhood back,and resonate with the world.Knowledge anxiety is a common phenomenon in modern society,and to alleviate it,we should not expect to get real knowledge from knowledge payment,but we can treat it as a bridge to real knowledge.But the acceleration here is not a linear acceleration,but a multi-dimensional acceleration;it is not a confinement of thinking in a small square of knowledge payment,but a richness of life experience,a resonance through‘polyphonic dialogue’,an open relationship between people and the world,a complete connection between the past and the future.It is a complete narrative that connects the past and the future,and a spiritual completion that is harvested through contemplation.