nolongerinbetween

Reiau sumar o tema anterioara. Spuneam ca exista trei grile de lectura, trei directii in care iti instalezi negotul cu cartile:

• in aval, in directia curentului, cand alegi lecturi care iti confirma si intaresc opiniile pe care le ai deja;
• in amonte, contra curentului, cand alegi lecturi care iti infirma pre-judecatile, iti chestioneaza si testeaza opiniile pe care le ai deja;
• la mijloc, in repaus, cand nu ai inca opinii formate si esti in cautarea lor.

Spuneam ca, experimentam ca cititori toate cele trei forme de abordare a lecturii, dar ca in ceea ce ma priveste, lectura de confirmare, lectura in aval, e forma privilegiata. Agenda de confirmare poate fi o forma de hubris, de aroganta intelectuala, poate fi o forma de obtuzime, de inchidere obstinata a mintii dar, la fel de bine, poate fi o forma de autoritate legitima a cunoasterii. Daca stii ca Holocaustul a avut loc, nu-ti pierzi timpul cu lucrari revizioniste sau negationiste, doar de dragul de a iesi din zona ta de confort si a merge contra curentului, for the sake of it. Nu orice lectura de infirmare isi merita prestigiul, asa cum nu orice lectura de confirmare e vinovata in sine. Dozajul sanatos al celor trei forme de lectura e diferit de la persoana la persoana. Propensiunea mea pentru confirmare poate fi legitima pentru mine si smintitoare pentru altul. Nu exista retete magice, universal valabile. In ce ma priveste insa, e un fapt ca ascendentul a fost mereu in aval, in biasul de confirmare. Opinia mi-a precedat lectura. Esenta a precedat existenta. Cel mai des, in lectura, sunt in cautarea teritoriului comun, al identicului, a ceea ce stiu deja. “Nu m-ai cauta daca nu m-ai fi gasit deja.“ (Blaise Pascal). “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one. “ (C.S. Lewis)

Now. Cand si cand dai peste cate un text pe care celalalt l-a scris … cu mana ta. Nu atat opinia comuna e surprinzatoare, cat suprapunerea fara rest a expresiei acelei opinii. Identitatea merge pana la nuante. Un exemplu recent de astfel de expresie fara rest, care frizeaza plagiarismul, l-am intalnit intr-o carte citita recent (Rules for ageing – Roger Rosenblatt) si pe care m-am hotarat sa-l impartasesc si aici. Si poate continui seria pe viitor…

Chapter 10:

Swine rules

1. A swine is not a swan. Over a lifetime, one will encounter several swine—true lowlifes—and one is sometimes tempted to treat them kindly under the theory that, if shown kindness, they will be less swinelike and, perhaps, even reform. (Much laughter here.) As in rule 3, this is the sort of o optimism that ought to be criminalized. A swine is a swine is a swine is a swine. He was almost certainly fully formed as a swine by age three, and he is not going to grow virtuous simply because you are burdened with hope. To be sure, there may be one swine in a billion who is susceptible to improvement, but why take chances? Even if you are wrong in one or two cases, you will still live longer, which I remind you, is your objective.

2. A swine is known to be a swine. You may feel that though you know a swine for what he is, others do not. You may think, therefore, that when the swine does you dirt behind your back, others will accept his swinish opinion.  Fear not. Everyone knows a swine to be a swine. He did not become famous by behaving swinishly toward you alone. You may turn your back with impunity.

3. When a swine sucks up. He is still a swine.

4. A swine is a swine all the time. While one might remember that a swine is not a swan, one is bound to forget that a swine is a swine all the time – either because he is not behaving swinishly toward you personally or because he appears to be in some temporarily unswinely state and bears all the outward signs of a decent human being. You know perfectly well that the swine is a swine. But he looks okay at the moment, so you let down your intelligence. You are so gulled that you might even do him a favor.

When you are tempted in this way, please recall the following joke my grandmother told me which, while not specifically about swine, does pertain to the laws of human consistency. A man on a visit to a lunatic asylum is suddenly approached by an inmate. The inmate calmly and politely asks the visitor if he may have a moment of his time. He explains carefully and in exquisitely rational detail why his incarceration in the asylum is a bureaucratic error, that someone has made a terrible mistake and that he—who is perfectly sane —has been wrongly condemned for 10 years. The visitor, who first wishes to free himself of the inmate, begins to listen sympathetically. And eventually he determines that the man is indeed sane and sound and a victim of somebody’s error.

“I will come back next Tuesday with the necessary papers for your release,” he tells the inmate.

“Excellent,” says the man, who then accompanies the visitor to the doorway, kicks him down the stairs, and calls out, “Don’t forget next Tuesday.”

(Rules for ageing – Roger Rosenblatt)