Project Vision 21

After more than 20 years of writing these weekly columns, accumulating hundreds of thousands of poorly stacked words in search of meaning, I have no shortage of topics or ideas about what I would like to share. But it is becoming increasingly clear to me that language is becoming more and more insufficient to express myself. And I am not the only one who feels and lives this new reality.

For so long (centuries, perhaps millennia) we have considered language as a mere tool, as a kind of pointer, to indicate what we want to say that, in doing so, we have disconnected language from both our inner reality and our outer reality, assuming that one and the other exist (and not necessarily as “interior” or “exterior”).
 

Obviously, I'm not an expert in language (or in anything else). But it is undeniable to me that language (at least those languages commonly used and deeply intertwined with current socio-politics) increasingly has the aspect of a tool for creating limiting realities than for expanding consciousness.
 

The incessant creation of superficial, banal, irrelevant, and even dangerous content, but with a very high level of consumption, only generates the appearance of available information and, consequently, the appearance of knowledge (thus perpetuating ignorance) and the appearance of entertainment ( thus perpetuating not thinking).
 

And before anyone assumes that I am excluding myself from what was said in the previous paragraph, or that I am standing on the metaphorical marble column and writing from there, nothing could be further from reality. In today's world it is (almost) impossible to free oneself from receiving and consuming, mostly unwantedly, a constant avalanche of nonsense.
 

In this context, it is (almost) useless to try to formulate a point of view with the desire to share it so that, through dialogue, an even deeper and more comprehensive point of view emerges. It all comes down to “That's your opinion” or “I already saw that in a movie” or “What video did you see it in?”
 

The words are said or written, but they are empty. They are mere sounds or lines, but there is no longer a mind (a soul?) that serves as a source of inspiration for them to generate inspiration. In fact, so empty are our words and so meaningless our language, that even artificial intelligence can generate the appearance of saying something, even though nothing is said.
 

Why then continue writing? Wouldn't it be better to give a suggestion to artificial intelligence so that in seconds it can write what we cannot, do not want, or dare to write? The problem, to be clear, is not artificial intelligence, but us by delegating a deeply human element to a non-human entity.
 

Why do I continue writing? Perhaps because of a feeling of nostalgia (literally, the pain of not being able to return). Maybe I don't want to forget to write. Perhaps, to take care of my mind and soul between the letters, to read reality between the lines.