Our Excruciating Modernity

On expression

It is not for nothing that words have changed the world. 

Language is the melody of the mind, and though it has been performed for millennia, the song has ended and been replaced by a new form of sound that is comparable to abbreviated shrieks. There is a lethargy in the verbal and written utterances of Man that has led him to pronounce rudimentary vulgarities into the ears of those who are not listening in an atmosphere permeated with the incessant hissing of vicious twisted tongues. I have attributed this persistent incident, the downfall of worthy language, to the newly developed workings of a compelling and common impatience as described in the essay on the fourth media. In the Modern world, easiness has developed, or in other words, there has been a rise in the ease of navigation of life, may it be in transportation, travel, consumption or the accessibility to goods, services and even love. It is from this modern ease that a multifaceted urge for instantaneous completeness has stemmed, and on the dark side of this desire resides a fatal detail: the loss of patience for complexity. Therefore, the refinement, the consequent beauty of intricacy, that have been present in Man's architecture and food, in his clothing and language, have been forsaken by the Modern world and their positions taken by, undoubtedly, expeditious, but, in truth, rigid, shallow and spiritually crushing mechanics, which, in the case of Man's expression, can be called the modern language of hasty abbreviation that have led only to ambiguous vulgarity adopted by the youth and, despairingly often, their parents. As a society, we must once again find the appeal of expression. Now, imagine a world in which Man graciously expresses all he has ever wanted to share but couldn't due to his lack of fluency and linguistic variety, consider a society in which the listeners are doing just that, listening, consciously, all in an environment whose purpose is to enhance communication. Ponder the worth of such a world, one in which the utterances of Man, through the power they draw from their emotional, linguistic and psychological accuracy, paint a layered, complete and intelligible, picture of his reality, whose perceptive insights are currently lost amidst the currents of unappreciative hastiness. 

Et Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis

The scourge of triviality has affected expression by erasing any hints of significance that may have been present in our verbal interactions and thrusting in its place hearsay, mockery and pettiness. Valuable contributions, well-articulated trains of thought and even simple engagement, even if not particularly common, have now been completely eradicated due to Modern Man's perverse preferences, which are the very same that led and continue to lead him into idleness, and incite him to tune into the insidious broadcast of matters that do not matter. To these matters, he has accorded excessive importance, and in so doing, has amplified their relevance and strengthened their grip on his time, tongue, and mind. Along with Modern Man's meaningless murmurs has come constant insincerity, fruit of his fear of social stillness, of absolute silence. He has filled the gaps, those in which a terrifying discomfort has settled, with gauchitude and hollow words that embody the lies of inauthenticity. It is high time that Man listens to silence.