Homo videns si a discovery by the Italian sociologist,
Giovanni Sartori. His book, Homo Videns: Teledirected Society, , and its
Italian version sold out in a few months. Sartori’s thesi, deserves our
attention. He argues that evolution has turned backward since the 1950s, since
homo sapiens is being dethroned by homo videns. The former is characterized by
a large brain, the ability to walk perfectly on two feet and work skillfully
with hands, the use of language, the fantastic development of culture, and
other aspects described by anthropologists. Sartori agrees with the philosopher
Ernst Cassirer (1874-1945) in affirming that humans are essentially
characterized by their symbolizing activity, “the ability to communicate by
means of articulated sounds and meaningful signals.”2 From this it can be
deduced that the human’s “thinking and knowing as a symbolizing being are built
in language and through language.”3 So it is that spoken and written language
are not only the base of culture but also the very essence of the nature of
homo sapiens.
With the appearance of
television in mid-century and the establishment of the television industry,
Sartori maintains, human development was interrupted and reversed, for image
perception began to replace abstract thinking. This process of involution was
accentuated with the coming of cybernetics in the 1980s and with the appearance
of the computer and multimedia technology. TV allows us to see at a distance
things that are real, but the PC shows us virtual or simulated reality. Thus,
seeing is privileged above speaking, the image is affirmed above the word. With
the prevalence of vision, the symbolizing creature becomes the seeing creature.
Sartori declares that he
doesn’t seek to attack TV as a means of communication (although he emphasizes
all its weaknesses) or the computer as an efficient information storage and
retrieval system. His concern is with our dependence upon them, which develops
when book culture is neglected. He argues that television impoverishes and
makes us “more credulous and naive”4 and inactive. It also atrophies the gift
for abstraction and understanding of problems, as it stimulates the concrete
thinking linked to the image on screen.
Images and concepts
One example that illustrates
this is the classification of words in categories such as denotation and
connotation. The first category includes words referring to observable things
such as book, table, house, dog, tree, etc.—words that denote or point to
specific objects or facts of which we have a mental image or representation.
They are the basis for concrete thinking. Other words refer to ideas, such as
nation, sovereignty, liberty, justice, etc. These expressions are not “visible,”
but rather are concepts linked to abstract mental processes. Abstract language
is responsible for the development of civilization and science over the
centuries—that which really characterizes the human species. Sartori suggests
that television “produces images and destroys concepts, and thus atrophies our
capacity for abstraction.”
At the core of his argument is
the “video-child.” Statistics suggest that TV has replaced the baby-sitter and
has become the child’s primary school (an entertaining and interesting school
as compared to the boring school in a building). Watching TV before learning to
read and write produces a negative mind-set for school learning. In addition,
undue early TV exposure engenders a phobia against school books and a tendency
to respond only to shows, strident music, and the sensational. Children are
dominated by impulse; they act before they think. TV, argues Sartori, “softens”
the brain.
Reading, on the other hand,
requires solitude, concentration, discriminating ability, appreciation for
conceptualization, and reasoning. Homo videns “tires of reading, prefers the
abbreviated flash of a synthetic image. It fascinates and seduces him. He
renounces to logical links, reasoned sequence and reflection. By contrast, he
yields to the immediate, heated, emotionally-involving impulse.”6 The TV addict
rejects persistent effort, tenacious action, and research—in effect, the
cultivation of one’s thoughts and actions.
One may think that these ideas
are exaggerated and open to debate. Sartori replies: Look at the parts of the
world where TV dominates, and what do you see? The dwindling of reading scores,
the scarcity of critical thinking, the growing difficulty students experience
in comprehension and composition. Logical reasoning on verbally postulated
premises is no longer there. Thinking becomes dependent on the images received.
This image-based thinking has
considerably increased with the introduction of the computer, the Internet, and
the surfing of cyberspace, expanding the ranks of homo videns. As in the case
of TV, the impact of the PC depends on the use made of it. Is it instrument,
entertainment, pastime, or does it become a drug, a mania? Generally speaking,
people who surf the Internet tend to passive dependence more than interactive,
productive work. One must recognize that the information superhighways of the
Internet not only transmit a great mass of useful information, but also a lot
of trash and foolishness. Furthermore, recent research reveals that surfing the
Internet increases the level of depression and loneliness.7
The culture of the spectacular
Homo videns dwells in the
world of the spectacular, dominated by the famous. From Tokyo to Buenos Aires,
from Moscow to Washington, from Paris to Kuwait, no matter how different the
situation or the culture, popularity dominates the market; the rating rules.
Why is success defined in almost the same way anywhere on the planet? How do we
get the impression that TV is the same everywhere? As we near the end of the
century, every country in the global village has converted society into an
audience, and the population into couch potatoes hypnotized by the magic of the
spectacular.
There are auditions, programs,
magazines, newspapers, and supplements—ever more bulky—devoted to informing about
and promoting the spectacular. Not long ago those supplements were published
only on weekends instead of every day. They contain entertainment, artistic
events, theater plays, movies, and the all-powerful TV programs, the stars that
shine in the splendid firmament of popularity. The entertainment industry sells
the products that are the fashion of the day. The market of notoriety absorbs
ever more and more time, structuring the values of homo videns.
The industry of the
spectacular is not only omnipresent, but omnipotent. It hoards, manages,
directs, or manipulates everything. The economy is dependent on the media. A
negative comment by some well-known journalist, whether or not he or she knows
anything about the stock market, can cause the fall of stock values and the
ruin of strong industries or business enterprises. Politics is also captive to
ratings. The media may give wide publicity to scandal, as in the impeachment of
Bill Clinton. Politicians must now be good TV actors if they want to get the votes.
Even the world of art, the intellectual and scientific world, are sensitive to
the opinion of the media. Everybody wants access to the wide stage of fame.
Often one sees people’s faces
behind someone being interviewed on TV, hands raised to capture the attention,
trying to get a piece of the action on the screen. In times past, people sought
to cut a low profile and dresses were designed to disguise the shape of the
body. But now fashion highlights the curves and the contours.
The law of the spectacular
that comes to the fore in homo videns, rules at every level. The main object is
to be an actor, to be seen, to pretend, to play a role, no matter what the
arena. Charisma, loquacity, the histrionic touch, the magic of collective
hypnotism constitute the key to success. The principal value is no longer
morality, holiness, unselfishness, intelligence, or art—but fame. The famous
who shine in the powerful spotlight of popularity can taste with satisfaction
the honey of glory. In previous times, one had to do something for the public
good, to discover, invent, or write something important. One no longer needs
excellence, intelligence, wisdom, or even money. It’s enough to have an
attractive figure, to seduce, make an impact, exhibit oneself on the stage of
the communications media.
Hollywood was the first to
discover the economic power that is built on fame, creating the celebrity
industry. The fascinating power of fame transforms almost anything into
something and moves fortunes. Models on the billboards, actors, singers, sports
celebrities—anyone in the “fame sphere”—has become the advertising endorsement
for consumer products. No matter the quality of the product, people will buy it
because Claudia Shiffer, Michael Jordan, or Bruce Willis uses it. Ultimately,
they themselves are the product. That’s why the famous are besieged. The TV
industry, journalists, photographers, pursue them without mercy, as in the case
of Princess Diana. Reporters write books about them, and industries are built
on the foundation of their fame.
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