Unsuspecting travellers on the surface
Premise story I remember during a muggy summer while we were resting at the oratory, the priest of our village stopped by to tell us his beginnings with technology. He told us about how he started to use the computer learning the binary system. I remember how ridiculous it was in my “ digital native” eyes, even though I have a basic knowledge about how to use a computer I had no idea how to read the binary system and I never thought that I need to do it.
Our faith Beyond useless biographisms I wanted to present this brief episode because it sets up interesting thoughts. Thoughts that aren’t about the eternal debate on the problematic approach of the old generations to new technology. But reflections about the “faith”, not the religious faith but the trust that makes us type on the keyboard of our computers without having to take care to know its complex working. The same faith which allows us to use a car without knowing what a distributor is or any other part of the car and why it’s useful.
Historicity First of all this faith is an historical faith, in fact we need to trust those who lived before us. The people that have invested time and resources in the discovery and in the operation of objects, materials and much more that we use on a daily basis and that we take for granted. The failing of this trust it’s the absolute inability to act or even the impossibility of living. In my limited existence (in space and especially in time), it’s unthinkable that i can independently arrive to the adequate knowledge that i need to live beyond mere survival.
Clarifications Obviously it’s not thinkable that this faith fails all at once in an absolute way. This faith is something physiological, something structural to human. But it’s necessary to understand the ignorance under our acts. The irrationality that rule our existence; because at the end of the day it’s about recognizing our own limitation and accepting others needs.
Give and receive From here on the path forks. If I want to send a mail in time I don’t need to know how the binary system is involved in the computer programming that allows me to send the mail. Indeed if I had to program a computer from nothing I would lose an infinite amount of time for a task whose means and purposes are so disproportionate. On the other hand this matter doesn’t have to become cause of irresponsibility, we don’t have to accept an absolute and blind faith in the most empty sterility. But by the time that you become conscious of the problematic structure of reality, you have to take actions to progress in the same path that many people before us made this faith possible. We talked about recognizing the needs of others, in this sense we have to become the other to the humanity. The collettivity become the main point to parceled the knowledge work. Everyone in his own narrowness can only rely on others because of the impossibility of having an absolute knowledge of the reality.
Tragic twist If this can be a speech with a positive ending, an ending of universal fellowship. In reality is nothing more than a lot of roses that hide an abyss (in Saba’s words). In fact, all that proves us how much we are limited and how much is impossible for us to have a deep an authentic knowledge of the world. The world that is irreducible by our consciousness, as if there was an inescapable abyss between us and the outside world. And we are nothing more than travellers that walk unaware on the surface. Until, we look under the roses we are lying on and we realize that our entire existence is based on chaos. An absurd and irrational chaos that supports us. As Nietzsche said “ there are no beautiful surfaces without a terrible depth”.
Idea by Marco Gatti