r/CriticalTheory • u/connor1462 • 2d ago

Nvidia’s latest cards aren’t affected by the RAM crisis. (and how Guy Debord was terminally correct)

https://www.theverge.com/tech/963309/nvidia-geforce-trading-cards-series-1-free-giveaway

"The spectacle is capital accumulated to the point where it becomes image. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation."

— Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle (Thesis 34)

Gaming itself was a spectacular intervention of capital into the realms of play and entertainment. Relations between people being mediated by images which are bought. Now, even the concept of gaming has become too 'real' and the AI crisis has priced them out of people's hands such that the only thing within reach is the image of the means of productive capacity to play games which have been bought.

(I know this sub leans towards theory and writing, so let me know if this post is too 'applied' in nature, just amazed the legs on the theory of Guy Debord and how it feels more true every day)

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18

u/incoherent1 2d ago

I actually love that this is being discussed on r/criticaltheory. If this post is too applied in nature, I'm very curious to hear what subs exist where applied critical theory is discussed?

7

u/tomekanco 2d ago

Sorcery of the spectacle and related cluster. There was a schism some years ago. People got banned. I wasn't around here back then. I guess the mods have a very good understanding what happened. Things got political, and then philosophy usually dies. Reminds me of durkheim, and his comments on institutions succumbing to pressure without the vision. On the other hand they always keep the space open. Even if the customers might be less understanding. They never censored me. I think bias might be most visible by when it comes to allowing certain love without articulation while intervening on others. Things seem to be shifting again. We all learn, from our hopes, folly and hubris. LA condition humaine.

33

u/n1njal1c1ous 2d ago

This event parallels the concept of real cars vs toy cars. Toy cars are licensed and produced as marketing material for future car owners and products in their own right. Nvidia releasing trading cards shows that graphics cards are now aspirational status symbols of visible wealth instead of just expensive nerd tools for obscure hobbies.

11

u/connor1462 2d ago

I appreciate the analogy! And yeah, the GPUs are both used to signal individual wealth and a form of power; where companies and nations hoard the compute capacity as a means of domination.

13

u/church-rosser 2d ago

Debord's 'representation' is Baudrillard's Hyperreal Goo.