The nuances are gone. And the slow and rhythmic flow of old conversations. The “yes, but…” Precision in sentences to settle and point out disagreements. Now we explain ourselves without embellishments, to the point and in an impoverished and direct language, succinct, schematic and anemic. Digital. Anorexic. As we are conditioned by all kinds of emergencies, we go from white to black without giving any opportunity to the multiple gradations of gray. What would have become of Velázquez without his highly nuanced blue-grey-green skies! Or of the poetic description of nature.
Social networks can, in their abuse, put an end to the practice of nuance, and of doubt, creating a purely functional communication, effective yes, but sad and boring. The pen has been replaced by the keyboard and the screen, new times and another vital and emotional rhythm. Yes, watercolor has been replaced by tar. The word by onomatopoeia and the emoticon. The grimace of disapproval as a response to debate and dialogue. And screaming. The serious and sensitive controversy over the quackery of a new language (?) rough, functional and concise, created for the communication of speed. contemporary language. Will the nuance also be a matter of time? Are we already facing the new youth culture of haste? And not so young. But it could be: many young people hope to stand out and work as a youtuber or influencer. Listen to them how they express themselves. Without Google we are nobody. Or little.
It seems that we are not here to “waste time”, everything is radicalized and that is why we speak and write as if we were launching slogans, slogans or sweet memory telegrams –remember?–, more or less the tom-tom of our ancestors. Moving through the extremes not only entails ideological chaos, populism and an unreason that could only end up qualifying well. With the cadence of a conversation to the rhythm marked and punctuated by spelling signs. With the soft pause of the commas, with the invitation to continue of the ellipses. Or the interest in knowing what the question marks indicate. Wisdom is under the skin of words. Where the nuances.
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