The Real Horror of Severance? We’re Already Living It

Before we dive in, a quick note: I won’t be discussing specific plot points from Severance, but I will reference themes, terminology, and situations that might be considered mild spoilers. You don’t need to have watched the show to follow along, and even if you’re not caught up, you’ll be fine. That said, giving a spoiler warning is just the right thing to do in Nerd Culture.

Great science fiction has its foundation in building a world that is just feasible enough to be a potential reality, depending on the choices or fortunes of the present. It is either a realm of possibility or a warning against a dystopian future. And much of the focus of science fiction ultimately comes down to how people make a living.

That's why I've become one of the folks who have become obsessed with the show Severance, an Apple TV show in its second season that is one of the most intelligent and interesting things in pop culture at the moment.

For those unfamiliar with the show, its premise is powerfully simple yet unsettling: employees undergo a procedure that surgically separates their work and personal memories. Their "innie" - the work self - exists only within the office walls, while their "outie" lives blissfully unaware of what happens during working hours. It's an extreme solution to work-life balance that feels both insane and, somehow, not entirely far-fetched.

The show's genius lies not in its sci-fi premise but in how it mirrors our current reality. Many of us already practice a form of psychological severance - one that doesn't require surgical intervention but exacts its own hidden costs. We call it "masking," and it's become so normalized that we barely notice its presence in our professional lives.

The Quiet Exhaustion of Professional Masking

Masking goes beyond the simple act of maintaining professional behavior. It's the exhausting practice of suppressing fundamental aspects of our identity to fit norms in professional or public spaces. For neurodivergent individuals, it might mean hiding stimming behaviors or forcing uncomfortable eye contact. For others, it could be code-switching, dampening enthusiasm, or hiding aspects of their personal lives that don't fit the corporate mold.

Masking, in simple terms, is actively changing your behavior to cover up a part of yourself that might make you seem too different or incompatible with others.

The parallel to Severance's "innies" and "outies" is striking. While we haven't surgically divided our consciousness, many of us have created elaborate personas that we don at 9 AM and shed at 5 PM. The difference is that we remember everything - every moment of self-suppression, every carefully modulated response, every exhausting performance of "professionalism."

This also goes much deeper than just "being professional" at work or not bringing certain parts of ourselves to work (e.g. not discussing your weekend with co-workers) because it is rooted in navigating what ultimately is multiple core identities as opposed to simply allowing certain parts of one's primary sense of self to come through.

The Alienation Factor: More Than Just a Show

In Severance, alienation is literal - employees are surgically separated from their personal lives, existing as fragmented versions of themselves. However, the show merely amplifies what many professionals already experience: a growing detachment from their work, their colleagues, and even their own sense of identity.

Workplace alienation is not a new concept, but it has taken on new dimensions in today’s world - where digital tools, automation, and corporate structures shape the work experience. As we explore the layers of alienation, we must consider how technology exacerbates and, paradoxically, offers potential solutions to these problems.

1. Alienation from the Work Itself

One of the core tenets of alienation is the loss of autonomy and meaning in one’s job. Employees disengage when work feels disconnected from its impact or when bureaucratic processes overshadow creativity and agency.

• The "Bullshit Jobs" Hypothesis David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs: A Theory (Guardian article) argues that a significant portion of modern work is performative rather than productive. Many jobs exist not because they create value, but because of corporate inertia, unnecessary layers of management, or artificial tasks created to justify certain roles.
• Automation and Algorithmic Work With the rise of AI-driven decision-making, many professionals feel like they are merely administrators of algorithms, following rules set by impersonal systems rather than making meaningful contributions. Employees in fields like customer service, logistics, and even creative industries increasingly report a loss of control as software dictates their workflows.
• Data-Driven Job Performance Metrics?Workers in corporate jobs, particularly, can be subjected to?surveillance-style performance tracking - keystrokes monitored, time spent on tasks analyzed, and quotas imposed by algorithmic oversight. Instead of feeling like valued contributors, employees become data points, reducing job satisfaction and deepening feelings of detachment.

2. Alienation from Others

Despite the connectivity promised by technology, workplaces are experiencing a decline in meaningful interpersonal relationships.

• The Efficiency Paradox Digital communication tools like Slack, Zoom, and email have increased workplace efficiency, but at the cost of genuine human interaction. Quick messages replace in-person conversations, and virtual meetings often lack the informal, relationship-building moments that in-office work once provided. Even small talk can feel forced, leading to uneven expectations of urgency within meetings.
• The Remote Work Isolation Effect While remote work offers flexibility, studies indicate that it can weaken social bonds between colleagues. Employees report feeling disconnected from their teams, leading to lower engagement and loyalty to their employers. A Harvard Business Review study found that employees in fully remote roles were more likely to feel "invisible" and less recognized for their contributions.
• AI as a Workplace Gatekeeper Many professionals now interact more with AI-driven tools than with human colleagues. From HR software screening job applications to automated customer service bots, technology mediates more workplace interactions than ever, further removing the human element from work.

3. Alienation from the Self

Perhaps the most insidious form of alienation is the pressure to suppress one’s true identity in the workplace.

• Masking in the Digital Age As discussed earlier, employees - particularly those from marginalized backgrounds - often feel the need to mask their identities to conform to professional expectations. With remote work and hybrid meetings, this pressure now extends to virtual personas: curating the "perfect" LinkedIn presence, filtering emotions on Zoom calls, and managing how one appears in digital spaces.
• The Emotional Toll of Work Surveillance Constant digital monitoring, from productivity tracking software to AI-driven "sentiment analysis," forces workers to be perpetually self-conscious and performative in their roles. Emotional labor - such as navigating toxic positivity or parenting while working - erodes authenticity and contributes to burnout.
• The Burnout Factor The combination of meaningless tasks, digital disconnection, and forced persona management leads directly to increased burnout. Studies from the American Psychological Association (APA article) indicate that employees who feel emotionally disconnected from their work are twice as likely to experience burnout compared to those who find purpose in their jobs. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report (Gallup link) found that only 20% of employees feel truly engaged at work, with stress and disconnection at an all-time high.

Personal story time - I am generally a fan of "loud shirts," but I understand they aren't always appropriate. However, I was wearing one during the beginning stages of the pandemic with a large nonprofit we worked with and was told afterward by a project manager that the nonprofit leader on the call frowned upon the shirt being worn. It wasn't a public presentation, and we were all remote, yet I still felt pressure to change what I wore in subsequent calls to "keep things professional."

Reintegration: The Opposite of Severance

If Severance is a cautionary tale about the costs of disconnection, reintegration is the answer. Not just within the show’s narrative, where characters struggle to reclaim their full selves, but in our own workplaces, where artificial divisions between identity and labor shape how we move through the world.

Reintegration means rejecting the idea that professionalism and authenticity are at odds. It means questioning who defines professionalism in the first place, especially in spaces where certain parts of our culture have long dictated the norms of belonging. Severance doesn’t just explore alienation in the abstract. In recent episodes, it also serves as an allegory for the experience of Blackness in white corporate spaces, where self-expression is often policed, coded behavior is expected, and the full self is rarely welcome.

Unlike the characters at Lumon, we are not bound by a surgically imposed severance. We have the ability, though not always the permission, to integrate rather than separate. The challenge is in pushing against systems that demand we leave parts of ourselves behind. The goal is not to reject work or structure entirely but to redefine what it means to belong, to succeed, and to show up as a whole human being.

This isn't just about personal fulfillment. It’s about unlocking the full range of human creativity, collaboration, and potential. If we want to build better workplaces and better lives, we have to start by questioning the structures that tell us who we’re allowed to be.

Community: Seeing Each Other, Working Together

At its core, Severance isn’t just about work. It’s about what happens when the structures around us dictate who we are and how we relate to one another. The horror of Lumon isn’t just in its control over employees, but in how it severs connection - not just between one’s work self and personal self, but between people who might otherwise truly see and understand each other.

Identity is deeply personal, yet workplaces often reduce it to a set of expectations, rules, and roles. The key to moving forward isn’t just about individual self-expression, but about recognizing that we need each other. Work shouldn’t be about stripping away our humanity. It should be about fostering environments where people can connect, support one another, and build something meaningful together. As the Stanford Social Innovation Review outlined in this powerful piece on community:

First and foremost, community is not a place, a building, or an organization; nor is it an exchange of information over the Internet. Community is both a feeling and a set of relationships among people. People form and maintain communities to meet common needs.

This is what work should strive for too. Not just efficiency or productivity, but real, meaningful relationships that honor the full selves of the people within them.

Bridging the Disconnect: Technology as a Tool for Community

Technology has played a role in severing connection, but it also holds the potential to rebuild it. The same digital tools that have created distance can be used to foster stronger, more inclusive communities - if we design and use them with intention.

Instead of being mechanisms for surveillance and control, workplace technology can be a tool for transparency and trust. Platforms that prioritize genuine collaboration over productivity tracking can help people feel heard and valued, rather than just monitored. AI-driven systems don’t have to strip away autonomy; they can be designed to support workers in meaningful ways, whether by reducing repetitive tasks, improving accessibility, or creating more equitable hiring processes.

Most importantly, technology should be in service of human relationships, not a barrier to them. Remote work does not have to mean isolation if we create digital spaces where people can truly engage with one another. Virtual brainstorming spaces, asynchronous collaboration tools, and online learning communities can provide new ways for people to show up as their full selves—across geographies, backgrounds, and working styles.

When used thoughtfully, technology can help us build workplaces that don’t just function but feel like communities (not families!). It can reinforce the idea that we are more than our job descriptions, that our voices matter, and that work should connect us rather than divide us.

It's Our Choice

We are not built simply to work. We are built to create, to love, and to connect. The workplaces we shape should reflect that truth, making space for the complexity of human experience rather than flattening it. Unlike the employees of Lumon (for now?), we don’t have to accept a world where we are severed from ourselves or from each other. We can choose something better.

We can choose community.