The collision of science with the civilization of the scene – opinion

Some time ago, I received a small book by Vargas Llosa landscape civilization. I gave him a peek.

I was also introduced to a demonic little machine called the Eye Tracker, which records the movements of pupils on a computer. With that, we know where the pupil is focused. It sounds silly, but it opens the door to great discoveries.

These two memories flashed through my mind, simultaneously, when I attended an event discussing science and its applications. There were lectures in a hall, some demonstrations in small rooms and a lot of things on display. Everything is very dangerous.

However, I was surprised by the fanciful montage. In the maze of rooms and corridors, right at the entrance, LED panels painted arabesques on the walls and floor, to the deafening sound of modern music. We stomped on the figures who were moving on the ground. It was the psychedelic electronic version of “high” on LSD or ecstasy. Being something that suppresses cognitive functions, it doesn’t bode well for a scientific event.

Before we continue, let’s talk about Eye Tracker. As is known, the disciple obeys two masters. We can voluntarily ask her to look at the restaurant bill. But, in its daily work, it moves by instructions set by our brain, when we weren’t even sane man. Who knows, iguana cousins? Eye Tracker reveals very interesting things, but here we are left with one very simple discovery.

As an iguana, we really had a vision that provided invaluable services. However, the owners of the disciples more attentive to the movement were devoured by monsters less frequently. After all, if it moved, it could have sharp teeth. As a result of this natural selection, those whose pupils pursue the movement survived. And as the eye tracker confirms, our pupils are programmed to track everything that moves, wherever it is. And where is the pupil is the attention. It is an ancient form of life insurance.

As I sat in the hall, I realized the hard work that was ahead of me, because I had to free myself from paying attention to what was moving the whole time. It is also worth noting that there is no such junk as printed programming. Only on a website, they can be found on mobile.

In that place two worlds were truncated. My disciple wanted to embark on a movement feast. I, in the features of the arguments presented.

The lighting the lecturers received was pale and from above, revealing dark halos and shadows of the nose – resembling Hitler’s mustache. However, in the background, giant and well-lit clouds and stars, in perpetual motion. On the tape, at the height of the lecturers, he performed a performance with the names of several sponsors. The laser beams changed colors as they passed through the hall.

You can hardly see the lecturer’s face. To compensate, she appeared on a giant screen. But PowerPoint was at least 20 meters away from him. There was a choice: the lecturer or his PowerPoint. They both carry binoculars only.

As in these events, conversations and exhibitions became more and more attractive, resulting in the exchange of many ideas in the central hall. Therefore, the door was missing to prevent the sound of thousands of dialogues from competing with the speaker’s voice, sometimes not enough.

There were also simultaneous presentations in several corners. But although each speaker can be within a meter of his audience, without a microphone and headphones nothing can be heard.

I thought of Vargas Llosa’s little book. The chip fell! The rig of incandescent lights ran over what should have been a quiet discussion of ideas. We were in the civilization scene. The science event collides with the visual show. Those who tried to follow the lines found an enemy in the colorful liturgy. The pupils were attacked with red laser beams that turned green. The stars and clouds tried to attract the attention of the disciples. Same thing with the procession of icons. The movement and the scene buried the powerful ideas put forward by the lecturers.

There was a collision between two worlds, at the bottom of two contradictory universes. The organizers wanted to bring research developments to their guests. But whoever set up the event was completely immersed in the “civilization of the scene”, aided by music, and shouting at intervals. There has been a “shift of what the culture understands”. Where do the spoken, the remembered, and the written fit in, as George Steiner asks us? It didn’t fit, because the pictures came first, blurring the ideas. The word was subject to the image. Unfortunately for me, he won the show. Quoting Vargas Llosa, we lived the “reckless idea of ​​turning our natural inclination to enjoy into a higher benefit.”

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Masters, PhD, Education Researcher