XIV. The Four Pillars of Resonance: Being Affected, Self-Efficacy, Adaptive Transformation, and Uncontrollability

While Rosa rightly insists on the essentially anti-instrumentalist nature of resonance, his justification is fraught with difficulties. (1) There may be a noteworthy discrepancy between first-person and third-person accounts of resonance. (2) The pursuit of controllability via the mastering of certain techniques is not always antithetical but often conducive to the emergence of resonant experiences. (3) Some forms of adaptive transformation may make our relationship to the world less, rather than more, resonant and more, rather than less, alienating. (4) Arguably, it is possible to experience what may be described as ‘negative’ resonance.