Informatica Libera - Francesco Galgani's Blog

(Third Millennium Narcissus, December 21, 2021, go to the art gallery)

Words create reality, so good writing creates good reality.

The writing I'm referring to here is "exploratory": the human being is a wanderer, an explorer, a being who moves forward by trial and error. There are no "experts" in anything because every path of knowledge requires doubt and error. Intuition does not follow logical paths, as it arrives directly at its destination. Emotions and feelings push us in different directions; they make us fall, they make us stand up, they make us act. The human mind is the place of chaos, like a small universe that reflects the big universe: mind and universe are in the same way, or maybe they are the same thing.

We are a mystery and, above all, a plurality: there is no "single human being," there is no "person." There is no individuality detached from everything else.

Starting from these assumptions, I try to imagine some tips for good writing. I mean a writing habit that can help us answer two questions: "who we are?" and "how to live together?".

An old saying goes: «Three things we should ask ourselves before speaking. The first: "Are these words true?". The second: "Are they necessary?". The third: "Are they kind?". If they are true, necessary, and kind, they deserve to be spoken.». This saying is probably a short form of the Socrates' Triple Filter Test.

1. Reality or inclusiveness?

"Yesterday I saw a terrible scene: a big wolf-dog - but maybe it was a wolf - trying to bite a little girl. This one didn't dare to run away because she knew that the animal was much faster than her. To defend herself, she first gave it a sort of blanket, already in tatters, to bite on. Then, seeing that the wolf did not give up, she tried to distract it by throwing away the ball it was playing with: this happened two or three times. Finally, the little girl, terrified, while the other one was attacking the ball, hid behind a tree, but in vain... I don't know how it ended because I ran away to get help".

Or:

"Yesterday, I saw a delightful scene: a little girl playing with a wolf-dog that was bigger than her. They were trying to tear a tattered old blanket from each other, but I could see that the dog was pulling slowly so the little girl wouldn't fall. Then she started throwing a ball at it, and it would run to catch it: this happened two or three times until the little girl hid behind a tree, and the dog pretended for a while not to see her... At a certain distance, there was another child who wanted to play too, but someone must have called him back because at a certain point he ran away".

It's the same story, from two perspectives that are both legitimate.

Does "reality" exist, or are there as many realities as possible observers and points of view?

Wanting to affirm a particular reality while firmly denying all others is divisive. Division gives birth to fears, anxieties, weakness, arrogance, violence, disease. The division makes us stupid, and the union makes us smarter. The more we divide, the worse we live. It's like a group of friends making music together. Not even one concert would succeed if each musician played without considering all the others (and possible mutual mistakes).

Everything works well when we seek harmony, not a war to distinguish us from each other.

2. Necessity or creativity?

We human beings are creative and social. We need to dialogue to explore new paths and understand ourselves, and, above all, because we strongly need other human beings. Dialogue is not just an exchange of information: it is a mutual growth path. Writing is, first of all, a dialogue with oneself and, only afterward, with those who will read. In this way, we can also dialogue with people far away in time and space.

From this point of view, all motivations for starting a dialogue can be good, except two: "trying to convince someone of something" and "imposing one's will." In other words: persuasive communication is the only kind of communication that, instead of advancing us in awareness, blocks the human evolution of both the speaker and the listener. The disasters and falsehoods of advertising and political communication are examples of this.

Persuasive, self-centered communication is that one of wars and death.
Exploratory and open to one's mistakes communication is that one of life.

Just a reminder: Narcissus killed himself because he could only look at himself.

3. Kindness or empathy?

Can a termination letter be kind?
Can words of contempt for the choices and emotions of others be kind?
Is politically correct (but ethically corrupt) language kind?

Perhaps, more than choosing our words well, we should also put ourselves in others' shoes, not just our own. Performing a miracle is not about transforming the world but changing perspective.

(December 21, 2021)

(December 16, 2021, go to the art gallery)

Reality is dual and carries contradictory facts, news, feelings, opinions, and beliefs. Opposites coexist. Usually, we can manage the conflicting nature of existence simply by focusing ourselves, that is, by creating a personal reality in which everything is coherent: as long as basic needs are satisfied (money, social recognition, love and friendships, health and sex, sports and other interests, etc.) this trick can work. This precarious attitude does not require great responsibility: we can divide things into "white" and "black," "right" and "wrong," "true" and "false," and spend an entire life in ignorance but satisfied. This comfortable view of reality forces us to make enemies: the existence of the enemy, who is always in error, justifies our way of life, which will therefore be, more or less, always correct.

However, the current social context makes this fake comforting living increasingly tricky. In general: money is lacking; social recognition implies complete masochistic prostitution to the dictatorship of the moment; love is more precarious than a job; friendships in social networks are often fake; health has given way to the fear of death and the near-certainty of not receiving help in case of need; etc.

These challenges do not affect all people; however, there is a substantial existential discomfort for the majority, partly because people lack reference points.

The information that comes through TV and social media is, on the whole, completely unreliable: it is contradictory and often based on a faithful adherence to an ideology. The words of the politicians in charge and their helpers are mandates; their words are truths lowered from overhead that are contradictory because politicians deny themselves without a moment of remorse or admission of guilt.

We live in "cognitive dissonance," a state of confusion of the human mind that leads the individual and the masses to regress to previous stages of the evolution of the reason, which is the child one.

In other words, when we live in a situation that rationally is not sustainable and without a solution because of hopeless conflict, our mind regresses to a child state. We ideally put ourselves in the hands of parental authority, which will solve the problem. Symbolically, we give this parental authority to those who govern us because reality has lost all sense, and therefore we have no choice but to rely on someone.

We can choose who we prostitute ourselves to; for example, some suitable authorities might be: the prime minister of the moment, any religious leader, the head of some cult, an angel, a demon, a lover, an alien, the office manager, our executioner, etc. Anyway, we sell our souls, replacing our conscience with someone else's.

From this point of view, asking God for help is just as childish and dangerous as asking Satan for help.

The alternative is to reject all faiths except faith in ourselves. This choice is the most challenging since it requires a lot of awareness and, in any case, it can lead to martyrdom, abandonment, social exclusion, loss. However, the similar attracts the similar, so, in reality, we are never alone.

(December 18, 2021)

Scocca un lume e si spegne,

strusciano due pietre e scintillano in fulmine.

Natura sia che colpisce e ferisce,

natura sia che illumina e cattura.

Sempre vive in me, essere umano, il fulmine e il lume;

solo che l'equilibrio vanta del suo andare su e giù.

Il tempo segna e scolpisce le ferite.

In avanti sempre devo andare.

(Marta Pecci, 17 dicembre 2021, www.viverecondividere.net)