surrogate activity

English

Etymology

Appears in psychological texts since early 20th century. Popularized in 1995 by Ted Kaczynski's Industrial Society and its Future.

Noun

surrogate activity (plural surrogate activities)

1. an unnecessary activity done solely for the sense of fulfillment that comes with having some goal to work towards.
   • 1932, Wiese, Leopold Von, Becker, Howard, Systematic sociology : on the basis of the beziehungslehre and gebildelehre‎^[1]:

     […] devotion to cults and sects that have no goal beyond that of giving “peace,” “health,” or “inspiration” to their members; aimless, restless movement such as rapid change of residence and “going for a ride just to be going’’, petty crime, useless shoplifting; and many other surreptitious or overt surrogate activities practiced by the segmental man.

   • 1995, Ted Kaczynski, “Industrial Society and its Future”, in The Washington Post‎^[2]:

     39. We use the term “surrogate activity” to designate an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work toward, or let us say, merely for the sake of the “fulfillment” that they get from pursuing the goal.

   • 2000, Wolter, Annette, The Parakeet Handbook‎^[3], →OCLC:

     But a parakeet living in captivity is by necessity deprived of natural life. The bird has to make do with human beings, confined living space, and surrogate activities.

   • 2017, DeMille, Nelson, author, The Gold Coast‎^[4], →OCLC:

     She continued, “Beyond midlife crisis, John, and male menopause, whatever that is, is the desire to simply be a man. I mean in the most basic biological sense, in a way no one wants to speak about in polite company. To fight a war, or knock somebody over the head, or some surrogate activity like hunting or building a log cabin or climbing a mountain.

   • 2023 July 23, Dennis Yuleman, The Tetralithic Era So We Shall Not Mourn A Paradise Lost‎^[5]:

     Many young men in the West are addicted to video games. They spend hours and hours hunched over in front of a screen and they spend tons of money to make those hours as “fun-filled” as possible. The truth of the matter is this: video games are a surrogate activity and playing them will NEVER give you the same rush as accomplishing something good in the real world.