Franco 'Bifo' Berardi's 'Futurabilità' Proposes Irony as Antidote to Online Hate

In 'Futurabilità', Franco 'Bifo' Berardi diagnoses a crisis of thought in the contemporary world, where irrationality and gratuitous hate dominate the infosphere. Published by Nero Editions in 2018, the book argues that identity resentment has replaced solidarity, and the proliferation of signs online has erased critical discrimination between truth and falsehood. Berardi identifies the meme as the basic unit of public discourse and proposes irony as a strategy to produce concepts for understanding the emerging world. He introduces the concept of 'futurabilità' as a multiplicity of possible futures already acting in the present, urging critical thinking to create space for new equilibria and shared values. The book critiques the Silicon Valley production model, where designers are isolated and controlled within a system of secrecy and data exploitation. Berardi calls for a long-term program to build a technical and social platform based on social utility and the autonomy of the general intellect. The volume is a dense 252-page essay that offers a necessary reading to comprehend the dark mechanisms dominating political and cultural debate.