Hegel in a Wired Brain from Slavoj Zizek is another journey into the seemingly already wired brain of Zizek, though with a different meaning.

After seeing several videos and one talk in person where he presented many of these ideas over the past year or two, it is great to finally have the book to read. And it does not disappoint. His brain seems to work faster than he can sometimes articulate so his talks can often require multiple repetitions to catch all he is saying. Once you have connected all the dots he connects, he usually makes more sense than not. I don't always agree but I always appreciate the challenges he presents to my ways of thinking.

I'm not going to go on for paragraphs paraphrasing the book for you, that really serves little purpose since it is in the arguments he makes and not strictly the quotable phrases where the book has its value. His use of Hegel is enlightening even in places where I don't quite read Hegel the same way, but at no point do I think he crossed that line from a different understanding to an intentional misunderstanding to serve his argument.

Because Zizek touches on so many ideas and disciplines there are a multitude of ways into the text, and likely just as many takeaways. Certainly his references to singularity throughout and the concluding argument are the larger areas that everyone will takeaway. One area I was especially interested in was his discussion of internal and external communication. Whether having some type of direct connection between brains, between people, would actually bypass the limits of language. I tend to fall on the side that believes it won't make communication as clear as those who believe it will. Zizek highlights the strengths and drawbacks of positions while always making his own views readily apparent.

I highly recommend this for readers interested in where we are going with AI and direct connections whether through implants or some as yet unknown method. This will also be of interest to those with an interest in Hegel and philosophical thought in general. Both for the ideas presented and as an example of how to use a previous thinker's ideas to build upon. Zizek's writing is accessible and his explanations of how he is using Hegel, and others, does help to open the readership up to more readers. That said, some familiarity with Hegel at a minimum will enhance your understanding of the arguments. But for Zizek's big picture it isn't necessary to have a thorough understanding of Hegel. Much like those science books that have a lot of advanced math and theory but are presented in as jargon-free a manner as possible. Scientists get a lot from them but non-scientists can also make sense of the bigger arguments without fully grasping the nuances.

As a brief aside, there are several videos on YouTube where Zizek discusses these ideas and a search for Zizek Hegel in a Wired Brain should bring them up. They won't replace the book but they may help to make some ideas clearer, especially for those who like aural learning.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )