Byung-Chul Han, Korean philosopher: “The performance society produces depressives and failures”
The South Korean thinker warns that the pressure is no longer external, but that each person exploits themselves under the promise of success.
South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han has spent years trying to understand why so many people today feel drained, anxious, or perpetually “not enough”—even when, on paper, their lives seem perfectly fine. After studying the trend closely, he’s reached a striking conclusion: success has quietly turned into a nonstop obligation. And from that idea comes one of his most debated claims: “A performance-driven society produces burnout and failure.”
The pressure no longer comes from the outside
Han argues that the nature of pressure has changed dramatically. In the past, discipline came from external forces—bosses, institutions, rules that clearly defined what was allowed and what wasn’t. Today, the control is far more subtle.
People police themselves. They compare their lives to others, push themselves harder, and believe that constant self‑improvement is the path to freedom, fulfillment, or social approval.
This idea first appeared in his influential book The Burnout Society, where Han explains that modern exhaustion isn’t just physical—it’s existential. That’s where another of his most quoted lines comes from: “Depression is the illness of a society suffering from too much positivity.”
In other words, it’s not just an individual medical issue. It’s the predictable outcome of a culture that demands we always appear capable, upbeat, productive, and satisfied.
When achievement becomes a trap
In what Han calls the “achievement society,” everything seems to depend on personal effort. If you succeed, it’s your doing. If you fail, that’s on you too.
This mindset turns every setback into a personal flaw. And because a person’s worth is measured by output, slowing down feels like losing. The result is a constant sense of falling short—no matter how hard someone works.
Even those who hit their goals rarely feel relief. As soon as one milestone is reached, another appears. Continuous improvement becomes a race with no finish line. That pressure doesn’t stop during downtime either; people keep evaluating themselves, tracking progress, and comparing their lives to others.
Han’s counterproposal: embrace your limits
Against this relentless model, Han offers a surprisingly simple—yet culturally radical—solution: accept your limits.
That means valuing rest, acknowledging vulnerability, and recognizing that not everything in life can (or should) be optimized. For Han, slowing down isn’t quitting. It’s a way to protect your mental health in a culture that treats performance as the ultimate measure of human value.
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