Tell me what you see, what you feel. Teach me to see with your eyes.
With our mutations and evolutions we have developed language(s). With language, we have learned to express what we see, what we sense, what we wish. With language, we draw maps for others to follow. With language, we construct our universe.
In Dante's time, people wrote in Latin. The official communication, especially for literate people, was Latin. He chose to write in Italian, thus elevating street language to a new status. That simple declaration allowed many more people to read his work, to expand their understanding of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell.
We have seen a similar movement in our life time. Blogging. (I know, this is quite a stretch. Indulge me.) Blogging has become the official communication among friends and strangers, along with twitter, facebook, email, texting, mobile, and indie music. Not a day passes that we don't get on the web and talk to someone, share recipes, products, pictures, poetry, household remedies. We can't stop talking. We need it as much as oxigen.
In Dante's time, during a major pestilence that killed more people than most wars, minds worried about the afterlife. Daily life provided minimum subtinance without Faith and belief in an afterlife.
Today, I consulted with Web/Md before breakfast, with my Associations' representative in another state before I had my second cup of coffee, left a text message for my son in California, reached my pharmacist with a stroke, and my investment adviser in Geneva with one click. I have one device that allows me to do many tasks no matter where I sit or stand. Instant news/chatter/information has shrink-wrapped my universe and yours.
In a few minutes, Canada, Australia, England, Africa, Philippines, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France, as well as the rest of this nation will receive my blog and talk back to me. I don't worry about disturbing anybody's life. We come and go, sleep and eat at different times. But, we can reach each other all the time.
Columbus had no idea!
So, this was a stretch, I admit.
Set me straight, won't you. Talk me down. Or, just talk to me.
63 comments:
It is incredible to be able to communicate, in an instant, with far corners of the globe. I consult with my colleagues in the forensic nursing field to stay updated on my profession, and, like you, talk to friends, blog, keep up with the latest medical updates on sites such as WebMD and the Mayo Clinic, get new free ringtones on playcofijukebox, figure out what to cook for dinner via all sorts of wonderful recipe sites, plan my vacations through hundreds of tourist boards sites and travel sources, and relax with medication websites. It is so amazing to have these sources readily available, most of them at no cost whatsoever.
And to think, this old gal did not want to start using a computer and fought tooth and nail against the classes the hospital insisted we take. Oh, my word!
sometimes i wonder what the next evolution of communication will be. i am sure in earlier ages they never would have concieved what we are able to do now...i just wonder what is beyond our imaginations currently.
It seems a stretch now, now that for so many of us it's become part of our daily life, sometimes even mundane. But even just a few decades ago it would have seemed like...well like the stuff of science fiction, I suppose.
we will just focus on who we want to receive our thought and then our thought and they will receive it...
it may take awhile. first we have to believe it is possible.
much love
I know my dear departed Mom would have been amazed by the cell phone, computers, and web cams. I, too, wonder what is out there in the future that we would be amazed to see!
With language, you said, we define our universe. That's a striking statement.
I define myself each day in the poems I write, stretching the limits of my language. In today's post, I defined a fear and a victory over it, in my own tongue.
I define myself each day in the conversations I have with others, the comments and posts made and read.
I'm glad Dante established a trend of writing in the native tongue, the language of the populace.
Thanks for a thoughtful morning read.
Rosaria I love the post and I love the picture. Fantastic.
xoxo
This was a fabulous post. And, yes, blogging is very much the language of the day, just like Latin was way back when, only to the 100th power. Amazing, isn't it?
Indeed, Rosaria, when I retired 15 years ago I had never touched a PC. I had much less foreseen that one day I would blog with people in Rome or in Oregon. I did not even dream that on a quiet Sunday afternoon the whole family including daughter in law and grand children would sit in front of a web cam in my study room to chat live with my son in Oulu, Finland, for a conference.
I had to kickstart myself to produce my own blog...and I enjoy it pretty much.
As for the future, yes telpathy may be in the offing...but we will have to learn to use our whole brain and remove lots of cobwebs before we achieve it. Maybe my grand or great grand children will do it.
Actually I don't think this is a stretch - I think it's a brilliant post. I agree with you that something extraordinary has happened in the last ten years, since blogging and other social networks became viable for many people.
This is one of the first coherent explanations of the phenomena that I've read.
Talk you down? Maybe someone in Iceland or South Africa or Japan can do that for you. Me? I'm on board with your vision. Oh yeah!
That photo is GORGEOUS. Dante to blogging – I like it! The internet does indeed make our world smaller, brings your coast closer to mine. Terrific post!
I was only telling a 12 year old son of a friend two hours ago about how life was like when I was his age with no mobiles, computers twitter.
I love the small worldness of being here.
xx
I think you made a brilliant point!
Goodness gracious me - you are most certainly a girl after my own heart! You'll notice, I even take the language thing to extremes, as I avoid photos on my blog. I do truly want people to experience exactly what I see through my eyes - providing they can read English , of course. That is the only drawback!
I love that photo.
We have never had better means of communication than we have today!
I kicked against using a computer for ages and I am so glad that I was persuaded to take up blogging.
Goodness knows what is ahead in our grandchildren's old age! The mind boggles....... where will it all go next!
Nuts in May
You're not delirious, you've made a good point. Internet has brought communication to the masses everywhere in the world.
Gorgeous image,
love the mind-stretching thoughts!
I remember an uncle who was carrying in his car a phone the size of a shoe box, only heavier. The first "cell" phone I ever laid eyes on. ;-)
That is weird. Bloggy-weird, I guess. It was interesting about Dante bringing street-language to popularity. Just like blogging, that was perceptive!
yes language is important and imagination also.
One persons language can stimulate the imagination of another... it can send communication onto greater heights if the receiver of language has a healthy imagination.
It is imagination that has created what we have today... the internet, and not language alone.
Nothing works alone... we are all connected to absolutely everything and each other :)
x Ribbon
ps...
great photo and it I didn't know better I would say that it is New Zealand :)
My family and friends are all over the world. I remember when a letter from New Zealand was a major event... now I know what my cousins a world away are doing every day, but I couldn't tell you what my brother, right down the road, has going on (but I don't like him much, so I'm not sure that counts ;).
I say my computer is my lifeline. There are times when I feel tied to it but for the most part? I wouldn't want to live without it.
You always amazes me with your years of experienc in writing and education that you ar still accepting and humble of your impact you have on fellow bloggers.
Communication is the reality of life. We communicate regardless but it the manner in which we do it that counts. I personally have been a great believer in non verbal communication and have spent much of my professional career promoting the skill. Good and intelligent people possess the basic skill of verbal and non verbal communication.
First off, I love what you've attacked here, stretch or not. It's a hell of a dialogue you've opened.
But then I consider this, we still know what Dante said, but what will remain of significance of what any of us says? I look at blogging as the democratization of word and I am glad for it, how else could my small voice be heard, but do we lose value being inundated with words that have little meaning. That's not to say there is no meaning in what everyone has to say, but significance is the key. Here we are with this platform to do as you say, reach around the world before breakfast, and yet I wonder how we are significantly shaping our world now and our future? Unfortunately we are diluting it, I think, watering us all down, clammering about, a bunch of hungry birds.
So negative. Eeks. What happened to me? I just wonder this, Rosario, with such power, why aren't we affecting swifter and more positive change? Why are the significant voices not rising to the top but instead it is the marketable ones that soar?
And so it is.
Tell me. These are questions I come away with that I'm squirming with. I'm hoping you have answers to tame my wild spirit tonight.
loving you as always,
erin
What a great post! The internet has really revolutionized global communication and I could not imagine life without it, either. It is a wonderful thing to be able to communicate with so many people in a day. We will surely evolve quicker, with this advantage.
Hi
Thank for reading my blog, the writing is really the way i write i wish it wasn't ,
I think it's a blessing and a curse, all these forms of communication. I suppose it's all in the way we use (or abuse)it.
Not so much a stretch for me. Recently, I went for 3 days with no internet access. It was similar to not breathing.
Hi folks, thanks for talking to me/with me.
As expected, we mostly agree here. Is it because we are just genteel? We are walking in somebody's house and act respectfully,leaving gifts of kindness.
We tip-toe around, keeping our discourse light and airy. Don't you sometimes wish you could grab a good bone and gnaw hard?
I appreciate a good bone. My husband, whose reputation has preceded his appearance here, really enjoys a good discussion. He'd jump in and point out that the Guttenberg press did more to promote reading and writing and general communication than anything else. He'd point out that most people in Dante's time didn't know how to read or write. Most people got their stories in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, from the traveling rag vendors or the occasional leader in the town square bombasting some cause and agitating the masses.
We have this marvelous outlet and we just visit.
As Erin pointed out, the chatter will drown everything important that might come out of this. In Dante's time, or Shakespeare's the state supported artists. Those who survived were the voice of their age.
What are we doing with our power? Erin, that's the question of the day.
Al Gore, after his stolen election concentrated on a more important issue, educating the world on Global Warming.
When Obama ran for president, he used the internet to reach young people.
My point is that the tool is there. And it can be used for BIG things. And the voices of true talent can still be heard by some circles.
We need to focus on what we can do with such power.
Thanks, Erin.
We need to think about this.
p.s.
I do appreciate everybody's comments.
I got carried away by a good argument. Forgive me for ignoring the rest of you good folks.
Until they start charging for using the internet, we can browse contentedly. I did notice that advertisers are knocking at our doors.
Oh, what a fabulous post. Blogging as the great democratizer--and yes,as erin points out--in some ways the great diluter or distractor from serious thought/words. And yet I know so many who can be poets with a camera, or write a stirring essay that must be pondered three times before a comment is dared...I would like to recommend three wonderful blogs to you (perhaps you know them already), in alphabetical order:
Ripple Effects by Arti http://rippleeffects.wordpress.com
synch-ro-ni-zing by Ruth http://ruthie822.blogspot.com
The Task at Hand
http://shoreacres.wordpress.com
Each different, each thoughtful, and each with something to say. I hope you enjoy reading them! I do.
i have a love/hate with this instant communcation. love blogs/facebook/the net, since it never DEMANDS attention, whereas cellphones and text messages have a habit of being in the face, and that i find a bit inconvenient... until i discovered the 'off' button, heee heee heee
Peace And a wish to be there.
The world is now so small you can hear a stranger whisper. :)
As soon as we discovered how to make instant soup the world went down an unchangeable track.
It is what it is and that is cool.
With such incredibly easy tools of communication, I am still amazed how often miscommunication and non-communication are still persistent problems.
Blogging has also hurried the demise of newspapers, magazines, etc which I find annoying as there are no journalistic restraints.
However the advent of commentators has blurred journalism as many do not discern between hard news and opinion.
I thought the computer was the greatest thing of my generation, but I suppose I would refine it to the technology and miniaturization of chips continue to lead us into new innovative areas like PDAs, iPhones, cameras, TV and who knows what is next???
Personally, I can't wait to see what is next in technology and am kind of envious of the really young because they'll witness so much more than I.
Not a stretch at all. I often feel that the internet is the next stage of human evolution...kind of the aggregate soul of the human race -- spiritual, intellectual, sexual -- the whole gamut of the soul.
I love this idea -- that blogging, like Italian, has become the language of the people. It still amazes me to see that while I have been sleeping people from around the world have been reading my words. It's a comforting feeling really, knowing that we think of each other, even as we sleep.
Reveda for sure is talking to you......or she will, the day she will come to know of your blessings and love for her!
Alok
(her dad)
Amazing, isn't it?
But so many people in my age bracket don't want to learn- don't know ( and I guess don't care) what they're missing.
(I'm in my 70's- Shhhhh.)
The internet is truly miraculous!!! What a privilege to be alive during such a time as this!!! Love your photo!!! It's stunning!! ~Janine XO
I connected to you through another blog. I used to think about the concept of time of markets being open and how people needed to operate on different time schedules based on things like the NYSE things have changed and changed that as well.
You have a brilliant way of using words .... but you knew that already.
Best regards
I don't think it's a stretch at all. More like progress for better or worse. What I wonder is "what's next" because I NEVER thought we'd be where we are today with technology at our fingertips.
Thanks for sharing your words.
xo
I hear ya, Rosaria :)
Dante would be shocked. But I hear ya :)
I am here, Rosaria, late as usual, but I am here [this at least proves I'm not writing to get hits lol]. Allow then this mummy to play with history a bit.
We know nothing about Stonehenge people or about who invented fire. But from the day writing was invented in Mesopotamia we know all, or enough, of what has happened. Writing was the miracle, more than the Internet I think. Of course printing was a great thing also. In 50 years after this invention [between 1450-1500 AD 40,000 books were already produced and catalogued]more books were produced than those created during the previous 2000 years! But printing had only boosted what writing had produced from the 4th millennium BC onwards.
Napoleon kept Caesar’s De Bello Gallico (or Homer’s Iliad) on his bedside table and became every day a better soldier. I’m a simple man but I get inspiration from a woman from Oregon or from my Indian bloggers in Mumbai, all of them thousands of miles away! What I mean is that huge hard disks, web-server farms or Internet instant communication are only a consequence of the Big Thing, writing.
As for Dante, I see you have a label for him. I'd like to travel in the Divine Comedy again (I used to teach Dante for disadvantaged pupils) and write down notes on my blogs on it. Thanks for the inspiration Rosaria.
Great photo - and of course I love reading about Dante and blogging in the same breath! I love the phenomenon of modern communication, although sometimes I tend to feel the need for a slight break, which never lasts too long!
I love where your thoughts take you! I enjoyed reading this!
Have a good weekend.
xoxoxo
It is that which keeps me posting on the blog when I might otherwise be using valuable time unsuccessfully hawking my poems poems round the publishing houses. I think I probably reach more people through the blog than I would even if I had a manuscript accepted for printing.
Wow, not a stretch at all, Lakeviewer! The electronic technology age has certainly changed how we communicate so drastically that I can hardly remember not having all these gadgets. What's fun for me to remember is that we got along fine without them, just as we get along fine with them, too. We're so adaptable as humans.
Loved your post.
Communication is something not limited to a human being...I find this exciting. Enjoyed your Sunday Roast.
Sandi
Great Sunday Roast over at Eddie's.
Really glad he rescued you from Cyberspace so that we could get to know more about you.
Nuts in May
When you're right you're right!
Of course there aren't many bloggers like Dante. But some are exceptional.
Found you through the Roast. Great post. One day, we'll be writing that in the old days we used to blog.
Columbus had no idea indeed. Thank GOD Al Gore followed in his footsteps and invented the internet!!
{wink}
Oh, I am laughing so much - not because your post isn't wonderful, but because I was writing about "the rest of the story" over at my place.
My new post includes the story of a Liberian blogger who utilizes - are you ready? - chalk and a chalkboard! You'll love it.
Thanks again for stopping by. I wouldn't have found you otherwise!
There is so much I absolutely love about this post. And on a side note I am mightily impressed that you have a financial advisor in Geneva...
It is totally amazing and i LOVE it.xx
Thanks for jumping in the waters with me. I do indeed have advisers all over the place. The one who is now in Geneva is also my travel adviser. Go figure!
I'm making connections right now, new people from all walks of life, adding spice and substance to our conversation.
Now, if only my exercises could be done so easily.
Very impressive post Rosaria and you are correct in that people can come and go as they please without interference. One thing I read between your dialogue with Erin was, "...but what will remain of significance of what any of us says?" Maybe a large portion of what we do say here may fall by the wayside. But, I believe that there are and have been words of encouragement that meant something to the individual that it was intended. And that will leave an imprint on somebody's heart that would never have been otherwise. This internet has made the world a lot more accessible. It has personally allowed me to visit, through words and photos, other people's backyards that I know I will never see for myself. And like this post, it's...PRICELESS!
"So, this was a stretch, I admit"
I don't think so. This media is a welcome change from seeing kids/adults buried in video games, TV, not conversing. If they learn via words typed, better than nothing. Also, what a vehicle to find camaraderie and bring people together in common causes. I relish the written word - save old letters, tie them with ribbons. I worry that all the thoughts I send out via email or blogging will never be recorded. Most of it will need not be, but there are those nuggets. Just like in my boring handwritten journals - once in a while - a nugget.
Communication - if this is how we do it now, I'm thankful there is still a way. Seems in spite of technology, people will seek a way to connect.
Blogging is an amzing way of keeping in touch, reaching out, and keeping a journal of sorts. I can't talk you down, but I can join you!
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