From television, that is, from the predominance of images, we moved, almost imperceptibly, to a “telegraphic culture” that dominates social networks and responds to the haste of a careless world. From e-mail – which forces us to be concise, but still somewhat reflexive – we came to Twitter, that abbreviation that tries to cover everything concisely and superficially. Thus language became a system of coded messages, which can range from destroying spelling to transforming logic. All in favor of the speed and anxiety of telling, transmitting, replicating and being a sui generis “subject of thought”.

The speed and brevity imposed by these tools correspond to the new nature of society and condition entire generations, who have become accustomed to a different way of relating, who have almost forgotten reading and talking face to face, and who demand, in everything, short and direct messages and “executive ” synthesis.

Brain tricks

Elon Musk admits there have been “a lot of mistakes” at Twitter since his purchase

Telegraphic culture encourages the belief that everything begins and ends on the Internet, that what is true is virtual, and that where there is no connection, nothing exists. Thus the world, politics, culture become uncertain fictions, visions distorted by haste. The network is a powerful instrument that organizes and determines the mentality of users.

(…) encourages the strengthening of the belief that everything begins and ends in the network … and that where there is no connection, nothing exists.

Technological and digital trends that will prevail in 2023

Technology is a revolution that changes many things. The current relationship undoubtedly has enormous advantages. There are no more borders or distances. Technology competes with families and is a powerful source of information, misinformation and opinions of children and grandchildren and is an important reference point for behavioral patterns. The network displaces the teacher, torpedoes the class, distracts the students and creates a parallel world in which the ideas and beliefs of societies that cannot find the necessary form or peace to understand what is happening are shipwrecked. The network imposes that unusual anonymity of people who are together without talking, distant and preoccupied beings, who reproduce in meetings, buses, streets and squares. More and more individuals are eager to connect, reply, message and keep up with the latest news. Or invent it.

Yuval Noah Harari writes: “Over the last few decades, there have been enormous advances in computational intelligence, but no progress in computational consciousness.” A key topic to think about is the powerful advancement of AI that is shaping culture, professions, and life.

Therefore, it is necessary to “think about networks”, look into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), recognize its advantages and risks, and assume that the economy, politics, family, school, university, induced by them, begin to run randomly and become part of the anxiety that is the essence of culture telegram. The problem is that neither people nor institutions are ready for such a marathon, and haste and improvisation are bad advisors. (OR)