> **🌱 Planted:** Wed 8 January 2025 --- > [!quote] > Technologies of the self, which permit individuals to effect by their own means or with the help of others a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immortality. [^1] [[Michele Foucault]] defined "technologies of the self" along with three other technologies as part of his broader inquiry into how people are shaped by power structures. Technologies of the self are the practices, strategies and techniques people use to actively improve, enhance, upgrade and transform themselves. These practices extend beyond setting simple rules of conduct where people seek to fundamentally transform their being to align their lives with certain values, societal ideals, or identity structures. If one takes any well-considered look at our modern world, these practices are impossible to miss: extreme diets coupled with unforgiving workout routines to optimise your macros and carve out your ninth ab, a rigid morning routine featuring cold showers and cognitive enhancing nootropics so you can hustle harder and make more money, or the obsessive tracking of health biometrics to the point where you know the effect, with precision, a single drink has on your heart rate variability. That, or [you're this guy](https://time.com/6315607/bryan-johnsons-quest-for-immortality/). These examples all share the same features; they're self-disciplinary, rigid and over the top—all in the relentless pursuit of self-optimisation and perfection. --- **➡️ Next:** [[Technologies of the self demonstrates the shift from disciplinary society to achievement society]] --- **See Also:** - If technologies of the self describes the practices, strategies and techniques people use to improve themselves, then [[Technology has led to the development of an inauthentic mode of attunement|Technological Attunement]] refers to the capacities and perceptions which enable this reality. [^1]: Technologies of the Self by Luther Martin, p. 18.