The Age of the Adjective: An Analysis of Culture Through Writing

Fundacja Dobre Państwo • January 2, 2026 • 🇵🇱 Polski

Introduction

We live in an era that shies away from writing, yet we use the written word to describe it. This is the first paradox of post-literacy. New technologies for transferring experiences, such as VR or streaming media, are created by engineers with a "noun-based mindset," raised in a culture of definitions. However, they serve an "adjective-based mindset," for which the quality and intensity of experience are paramount. This article, based on Jacek Dukaj's concept, analyzes three cognitive regimes – oral, literate, and post-literate – and their impact on psychology, politics, and economics.

Mindset: A Determinant of the Oral and Post-Literate Eras

Each era is defined by a dominant mode of experience transfer, which shapes our cognitive apparatus, or mindset. In oral culture, a verb-based mindset prevailed, rooted in performance and rhythm. Knowledge had to be memorable, hence its event-driven nature. Writing introduced a noun-based mindset, enabling abstract, categorical thinking. The ability for deep reading became the foundation of science and the rule of law. Today, we are entering an era of an adjective-based mindset, where the key question becomes "what was it like?" rather than "what is it?".

Quality of Experience: Redefining Truth in Post-Literacy

In post-literate culture, digital media aim to bypass the symbolic layer and deliver direct experiences. Truthfulness ceases to be a matter of source verification and becomes the quality of the experience itself. Fiction experienced with sufficient intensity acquires the status of truth. Psychological mechanisms, such as the state of flow (absorption in activity) and neural coupling of brains, amplify this effect. Emotions, understood as cultural constructs, become programmable by platforms that manage our attention and suggest ready-made patterns of experience.

The Adjective Regime: Transforming Politics and Economy

The transition to an adjective regime profoundly changes institutions. In politics, deliberation based on arguments is replaced by pathocracy – the rule of collective affect (pathos), where emotional resonance is paramount. The economy focuses on the production of experiences, and global adaptation paths vary: from the Anglo-Saxon debate on declining literacy, through Russian analysis of cultural tools, to the Chinese model of advanced affect economy infrastructure. In this world, writing becomes a niche tool for precision: a formalizer in science, a tool for introspection, and an archivist of ideas.

Conclusion

Paradoxically, post-literate technologies are created using writing. To maintain sovereignty in this new era, we need civilizational bilingualism. Education must teach both deep concentration and conscious navigation in a world of stimuli. Law should protect us from automation, and interface design ethics should ensure user control. "Thought comes when it wants to," wrote Nietzsche. In the age of streams, one might add, "sometimes it comes because we pressed play." Humor and distance remain key tools for defense against pathos.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 'Age of the Adjective' and what are its main features?

The era of the adjective is a period of post-literate culture in which thinking is oriented toward the quality of experience, intensity, and immersion. It is characterized by a shift in emphasis from content to a shared sense of presence and subjective experiences.

What are the key differences between 'noun thought' and 'adjectival thought'?

Noun reasoning, typical of literate culture, relies on categories and abstract definitions. Adjectival reasoning, characteristic of the postliterate era, focuses on qualities of experience such as intensity, smoothness, and immersion, ignoring the source or nature of being.

How do the media influence our perception of truth and reality?

A change in the dominant medium, as McLuhan pointed out, alters the architecture of perception and social relations, and thus the definition of truth. In the era of the adjective, 'truth' becomes a quality of experience rather than a reference to facts, blurring the line between fact and fiction.

What are the psychological consequences of living in a digital-audiovisual culture?

Digital culture leads to a dilution of the self, which becomes a nexus of flows of experience, and identity a collection of adjectives. This also fosters neural interconnection of the brain, but can lead to pathocracy, where emotions dominate deliberation.

What educational challenges does post-literate culture pose?

Education must re-educate citizens to "practice healthy boredom" and equip them with the tools of metacognitive hygiene. The goal is to distinguish between when they are being programmed by algorithms and when they are consciously experiencing the world on their own.

What is 'transfer of experiences' and what does it mean in the era of the adjective?

Experience transfer is any technique for transferring another person's consciousness into one's own. In the age of the adjective, it seeks to completely bypass symbolic coding, emphasizing direct sensation and immersion, for example in VR, which is crucial for forming new experiences.