Rethinking the Digital with Yuk Hui
Yuk Hui questions simplistic views of technology, opening a debate on recursivity and its impact on digital society.
In a world shaped by technology, Yuk Hui emerges as a key philosopher for understanding the relationship between the digital and cultural evolution. Hui explores cybernetics and its impact on how we interpret and organize our reality. His work challenges traditional notions of technology, emphasizing the need to rethink the digital future from a philosophical and ontological perspective.
Hui situates himself within the tradition of the philosophy of technology, influenced by thinkers such as Gilbert Simondon and Martin Heidegger. His focus is on how digital systems not only transform technique but also alter the structure of our culture. Recursivity, a central concept in his work, is used to understand how technological systems are not merely tools but structures that feedback and condition our ways of existence.
Recursivity and Contingency
In his book *Recursivity and Contingency* (2022), Hui explores how cybernetic systems, unlike traditional machines, are capable of generating feedback loops that transform reality and, in turn, are transformed by it. This concept contrasts with the mechanistic view of modernity, proposing a new way of understanding the relationship between technology and organicity.
Hui approaches contingency as an opportunity to break with the linear narratives of technological progress. Rather than viewing technology as an inevitable destiny, he interprets it as a space of possibilities where culture and technique can evolve in multiple directions. According to Hui, digitality should not be understood as a mere extension of technique but as a fundamental transformation of human relations and knowledge.
Philosophy of Technology and Cybernetics
Following Simondon’s legacy, Hui argues that technology is an extension of human capabilities that must be integrated into a broader philosophy of cybernetics. Modern cybernetics, seen as a system of control and communication, becomes a means to rethink how technique interacts with life. Hui criticizes the tendency to view technology as neutral, emphasizing that its evolution is tied to specific political and cultural decisions.
Yuk Hui positions himself critically against the dynamics of digital capitalism and current technological policies, arguing that we cannot continue to uncritically accept decisions imposed by major tech corporations. For Hui, cybernetic philosophy is not only a theoretical framework but also a tool to rethink the infrastructures shaping our society.
Hui’s work proposes an ontological approach where technology is not an external object but an ongoing process of transforming reality. Through recursivity and contingency, his work aims to open paths for greater integration and understanding of the digital, beyond mere instrumentalization. In his view, technology becomes a space of ontological possibilities that redefines the human and the technical in new forms of coexistence.
Reflection on Technological Autonomy
Yuk Hui questions the notion of autonomy in digital systems, suggesting that we need to rethink our relationship with these systems to avoid humanity becoming subordinate to the logic of technological capital. Through a recursive approach, he seeks to de-absolutize the dominant view of digitality and advocates for a more dialogical and open relationship with technology.
Yuk Hui invites us to rethink technology not as a mere tool but as an ontological process that transforms and is transformed by culture. His work challenges simplistic perspectives, proposing a cybernetic philosophy that dialogues with multiple fields of knowledge to understand the complexity of the digital age. It is a call for a new kind of autonomy, where the digital becomes a space for openness and cultural transformation.
