By JEAN PIERRE CHAUVIN*
The electronic age has enhanced the over-dimensioned perception of individuals, which has resulted, among other symptoms, in the proliferation of narcissistic texts
“He was like a rooster who thought the sun would come up to hear him crow”
(George Eliot, Adam bede.
Twenty-one years ago, Cortez Publishing published Literature and communication in the electronic age, by Fábio Lucas: a dense and airy essay that deserves to be circulated even more among teachers, students and (pseudo)writers in general. One of the most relevant diagnoses concerned the disproportion between the volume of written production and the (in)ability to read. As the author pointed out, the electronic age has enhanced the oversized perception of individuals, which has resulted, among other symptoms, in the proliferation of texts of a narcissistic nature.
It seems relevant to begin this reflection by referring to the excellent book by Fábio Lucas because it may be related to a behavior that is not restricted to the youngest. In a similar way to the disproportion between writing (almost always about oneself) and reading (about others), the world of digital multiplatforms seems to have infected a large part of internet users – and this does not only affect teenagers or young adults.
It is now accepted, among various thinkers, sociologists, psychologists and scholars of human behavior, that our level of anxiety and dispersion is much greater than it was two decades ago, also due to the exaggerated and uncritical use of communication channels. streaming, social networks, messaging apps, etc.
Of course, I am not authorized to offer clinical diagnoses, since I have no training in medicine or psychology. However, observing the behavior and speech of numerous people over the past twenty or thirty years leads me to suspect that one of the effects of the combination of anxiety, depression, and narcissism is the overwhelming need that some individuals have to talk (about themselves) and, at the same time, their manifest inability to listen to anything that does not concern themselves.
When I say “inability to listen”, I am not suggesting that (more or less) digital citizens should study psychology and practice “analytical listening”: it would be extremely irresponsible to do so. What is being said is that there is a growing need for redundant talkers to practice their listening skills. Paying attention to “your” listener is part of a learning process that allows you to act in a more supportive and less egocentric way. It is, essentially, a form of respect.
It may seem difficult for excessive talkers to listen to others, or even more so, to perceive the reactions of “their” listener to what they say. Perhaps this happens because listeners are often mistaken for beings devoid of protagonism and their own discourse, destined to function as mere receptacles for other people’s stories (often told and repeated incessantly). loop).
Now, attentive and effective listening demands some dose of altruism and sensitivity. What seems to be at stake in the speaker who is incapable of listening seems to be the incompetence in the movement of leaving himself; the assumption that “his” doubts, narratives and difficulties are greater (and more important) than the time, space, pains and issues of the other.
It remains to be seen whether this text, which aims to stimulate the perception of others, will be read by people who cannot hear. I suspect not.
*Jean Pierre Chauvin Professor of Brazilian Culture and Literature at the School of Communication and Arts at USP. Author, among other books by Seven Speeches: essays on discursive typologies. [https://amzn.to/4bMj39i]
the earth is round there is thanks to our readers and supporters.
Help us keep this idea going.
CONTRIBUTE
