F U Cn Rd Ths …

 

"I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter."

Thus wrote Blaise Pascal some time in the seventeenth century. But what's the point of a short letter? What's the fun of writing it? Isn't it more enjoyable to dawdle over your words for days; to spend free hours molding meaningful and memorable phrases, sentences, and paragraphs? Isn't the insouciant experience of composing in a relaxed manner worth far more than the time devoted to it?

And more important, where is the pleasure of waiting for such a treasure and reading it? It's so much better to receive a thick envelope and have a handful of papers to fondle, to read and re-read, to crumple and to flatten out again. Better to let your mind wander as you imagine the writer thinking about you and setting down his thoughts in a way designed to bring you pleasure.

But Blaise Pascal was a busy man. He lacked free time to sit back. He had a lot on his mind and little time to consider it all. Certainly there was no opportunity to say all that was on his mind concisely, to condense and clarify his thoughts.ⁱ So the letter was long. And what's wrong with that? Of course the letter may have been long but written hurriedly so that it lacked the poise and tranquility of a nonchalant dispatch. But long is better than short.

When I was in college and a major activity was taking notes, I used my own kind of shorthand code that allowed me to take down most of what I needed to remember while still listening to the lecturer – sort of. I guess all college students used to do that. Those who knew Speedwriting^® or shorthand – more likely Pitman or Greggⁱⁱ than older formsⁱⁱⁱ – would use that ability to record the material raised. The purpose of shorthand was to get down material quickly with the intent of writing it out more fully when time permitted. There were even machines available with which a transcriber could take down enough of a speaker's words to be able to reproduce a verbatim record – like the machines used to record legal testimony.

From there we moved to audio recordings which could be transcribed into more usable notes at a later time. More recently, with the advent of voice recognition technology, we have reached a point where a machine can listen to the lecture for us and produce written notes.^iv With all the technology available nowadays you don't even have to pay attention.^v

But the shorthand persisted. However it stopped being a communication that one addressed to himself – one which would be expanded at a later time. With recent movie titles,^vi texting and Tweeting, and with personal and want ads, private verbal shortcuts have been converted into external “communication.” “LOL” and “OMG,” among other such monstrosities, have found their way into the OED.^vii Orthography and grammar have no place in the twenty-first century. We live in the age of Facebook^®. Wisdom and style have fallen victim to inanity and speed. And everything has become fair game for Big Brother who can monitor most of our communications without our knowledge or concern. We don't even have to know much about spelling as long as we can get the first and last letters of words right, since it appears that people don't pay much attention to full words.^viii Speedy writing and reading are more important than intelligence and comprehension. More and more children have less and less understanding of the past and of the ideas once taught. When, for example, all they've ever encountered are digital clocks, it's easy to understand why the concepts of “clockwise” and “counter-clockwise” are not always fathomed.

Interestingly, however, although communications have become shorter and less informative, they have also become far more numerous. The streets^ix are filled with people either texting or chattering on their telephones. For many it's an addiction. Some people can't tolerate time when they're not in communication^x with someone else.^xi And the communications may be visual – photographs and videos. You Tube and television programs which invite videos cater to this form of narcissism and “documentation,” while the ease of photography with telephones and digital cameras, as well as the availability of computer memory into which the pictures can be put, never to be seen again. The action is more important than the content. And the speed more important than either.

We live in an age dedicated to instant gratification. We're always looking for shortcuts and for easier ways of doing things with no loss of rewards. That may mean plagiarism or the use of ready-made term papers, graphic novels, grade inflation, and “dumbing down” in general. In a way it's reminiscent of the “relevance” movement^xii that swept through educational facilities in the 1960's, and all the educational “improvements” foisted on us both in the past^xiii and at present. Whatever looks like it may make life easier and shorten the time necessary to complete a task must be good. If it doesn't work we'll find another untested method. And when that doesn't work we'll try another.^xiv

As for speed, the laconic popular songs of the past have been replaced by rapid-fire rap, and the clear and carefully enunciated radio advertisements have yielded to fast one with the hurried and unintelligible speech of the disclaimers that appear in announcements now heard. It's much like the fine print in contracts – present but of little value since it can't be understood.

But enough of the negative. Daylight Savings Time, designed to make better use of time, has surely been a boon to our society. And there's a lot to be said for bar codes and EZ Pass. The greatest benefit, however, has been in the proliferation of radio frequencies and especially increased “band width.” The sale of these frequencies by the government brings in a lot of money for the treasury.^xv And the greater the band width the faster we can download rap and You Tube videos.

What's not 2 lyk?

Next episode: “The Universal Scapegoat” –When all else fails, blame someone else.

i     Among other things he was a philosopher, so there were times when his thoughts were quite complex.

ii    Both lived in the nineteenth century.

iii    Shorthand dates back at least to the ancient Greece. Perhaps it existed before that but there is no good written record – in short- or longhand.

iv    It is, however, hard to ignore the reality that such systems are far less than perfect and there are times when the written (typed) record is indecipherable. At other times it is funny.

v     Which will give you more time for telephone calls and texting. Or sleeping late, if you can get a friend to take your electronics to the lecture.

vi    I suspect that movie producers consider them clever and good for the box office. Rather they are a concession to the worst aspects of modern “culture.”

vii    OK. I'm a hypocrite. That abbreviation I accept.

viii    http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/cambridge.asp

ix    And the homes.

x     “Contact” is probably a better word. Regarding it as “communication” is giving real communication a bad name.

xi    Compare them to hermits, monks, and others who prefer silence to sound, and who have no use for either telephones of text messages. Those of them who have children can employ the latest fad and teach the babies sign language so they don't have to talk to them.

xii    Why waste time on such unimportant subjects as math, science, and the classics. You'll never use them. It's better to devote your time in school to rock music, sexuality, protest movements and other practical matters.

xiii    The “New Math” and chisanbop spring to mind immediately. Learning to add and subtract are old hat. The multiplication tables should be folded up and put in the closet.

xiv    “Don't just stand there. Do something.” Unfortunately it doesn't matter what you do. It's more important that there be change than that the change be beneficial. Even harmful change sometimes seems to be preferable to leaving things as they are. “If it isn't broken, don't fix it.”

xv    And the sale of various electronic devices and the service contracts needed to run them make a fortune for service providers. I guess that's good for the economy.