FROM POSTAL MAIL TO E-MAIL

EVER SINCE E-MAIL EXISTS MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED: FIRST OF ALL, THE PERCEPTION OF THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND, SECONDLY, ITS USE/MANAGEMENT; THEN THE WRITING MODES CHANGED, OUR CONCEPTION OF SPACE AND, FINALLY, ALSO THAT OF IMAGES. TO TELL THE TRUTH, OUR FEELINGS/SENSATIONS/EMOTIONS HAVE GRADUALLY CHANGED, ESPECIALLY WITH THE ARRIVAL OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND, IN PARTICULAR, WITH WATSAPP. NOW LET’S ANALYZE EVERYTHING IN DETAIL.

WHEN INTERNET AND ITS WONDERS WERE STILL A MIRAGE, THE LETTERS WERE WRITTEN BY HAND OR, AT MOST, WITH THE  TYPEWRITER, AND THEY WERE SENT BY ORDINARY MAIL (POSTAL MAIL). THOSE WERE THE TIMES OF POSTCARDS, STAMPS AND “PHYSICAL” ADDRESSES, THOSE WITHOUT “@” OR “POINTS”, BUT WITH STREETS, SQUARES, HOUSE NUMBERS AND SO ON. HANDWRITING REQUIRED US TO PURCHAIS MATERIALS SUCH AS, FOR EXAMPLE, DRAFT PAPER, LETTER PAPER, MAILING ENVELOPS, PENS AND – AS ALREADY MENTIONED – STAMPS. OF COURSE ALL THIS HAD COSTS THAT TODAY HAVE NOT BEEN CANCELED, BUT HAVE BECOME THE PREROGATIVE OF TELEPHONE OPERATORS. WRITING BY HAND MEANT HAVING TO CAREFULLY SELECT INFORMATIONS TO BE TRANSMITTED (LIVING WITH THE CONSTANT FEAR OF FORGETTING SOMETHING), HAVING TO ARM YOURSELF WITH PATIENCE TO WRITE BEAUTIFULLY (OTHERWISE THE RECIPIENT WOULD HAVE HAD TO WORK ON THE INTERPRETATION AS CHAMPOLLION DID WITH THE HIEROGLYPHICS), HAVING TO FIND TIME TO SHIP (A CLICK WAS NOT ENOUGH), WAIT FOR DELIVERY TIMES (BEARING IN MIND THE RISK, NOT SO REMOTE, THAT POSTAL ERRORS OCCURRED) ADDED TO THOSE THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE RECIPIENT TO READ, RESPOND AND SEND, IN TURN, AND TO THOSE OF THE POSTAL SERVICE. SELECTING INFORMATIONS MEANT PUTTING THOUGHTS IN ORDER, CLARIFYING IDEAS AND WRITING THEM CORRECTLY AND UNDERSTANDABLY WITH THE “GOOD FIRST” METHOD: SEND SOMETHING WRONG (WITH THE “T9” AND THE VARIOUS AUTOMATIC CORRECTORS/PROMTS TODAY THE RISK SHOULD BE AVERTED, OR ALMOST, BUT THE ERRORS ARE EQUALLY NUMEROUS IN OUR TEXTS), INCOMPLETE OR ABSTRUSE WOULD HAVE MADE IT IPOSSIBLE TO IMMEDIATELY CORRECT IT. PRECISELY FOR THIS REASON, BAD COPIES WERE OFTEN MADE... HANDWRITING WAS THEREFORE FUNDAMENTAL: IT ALLOWED TO TRANSMIT NOT ONLY EXPLICIT BUT ALSO IMPLICIT MESSAGES, SINCE - FROM A PERSON’S HANDWRITING – MANY THINGS CAN BE DEDUCED… NOT TO MENTION THE POSITIVE THRILL OF RECEIVING SOMETHING THAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN BY HAND! TODAY, WITH COMPUTER WRITING, WITH SMS, CHATS, E-MAIL AND – EVEN – VOICE MESSAGES AND VIDEO CALLS, WE HAVE STREAMLINED THIS PROCESS BY GAINING SOMETHING IN TERMS OF PRACTICALLY, BUT BY LOSING THE PATIENCE OF WAITING, THE ABILITY TO WROTE WELL BY HAND, THE ATTENTION IN SELECTING AND COMMUNICATING INFORMATIONS. WE CAN IMMEDIATELY CORRECT A MISTAKE, WE CAN INSTANTLY CORRECT A BADLY FORMULATED THOUGHT, WE CAN JUSTIFY OR COUNTER IN REAL TIME. ALL THIS IS BOTH A POSITIVE FACT (BECAUSE IT HAS SHORTENED THE TIMES AND DISTANCES, MODIFYING  PROBABLY – ALSO OUR BRAIN ACTIVITIES) AND A NEGATIVE FACT (AS IT HAS MADE US ALL “SLAVES” OF TECHNOLOGY AND SPEED). HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HAPPENED TO THINK OR BE ACCUSED: “YOU HAVE VIEWED, BUT HAVE NOT YET RESPONDED. WHY?” OR: “HE’S WRITING… TO WHO?” CONSTANTLY PERFORMING, ALWAYS CONNECTED, PERENNIALLY VICTIMS OF CONTROL (BOTH OF WHAT WE EXERCISE OVER OTHERS AND OF WHAT OTHERS EXERCISE OVER US). THE TREPIDATION, THE WAIT, THE ATTENTION TO DETAILS, THE HOPE OR – ON THE CONTRARY – THE DESPAIR THAT WAS FELT AT THE TIME OF THE LETTERS WERE SUPPLANTED BY ANXIETY, NERVOUSNESS, A SENSE OF IRRITATION AND THE LOST OF PRIVACY; WE MUST HAVE THE READY ANSWER, EVEN WHEN WE ARE IN THE BATHROOM, EVEN WHEN WE ARE IN THE BED, EVEN WHEN ARE SICK. DO WE SAVE TIME? YES AND NO. OR, RATHER, WE SAVE IT, BUT THEN WE WASTE IT IN USELESS CONVERSATIONS, IN MESSAGES WE COULD DO WITHOUT, IN DISPUTES THAT COULD BE AVOIDED. EVEN THE IMAGES, SYMBOLS AND EMOTICONS OF WHICH WE COSNTELLATE OUR WRITTEN SPEECHES HAVE DOUBLE SIGNIFICANCE: ON THE ONE HAND THEY HELP THE IMMEDIATELY OF EXPRESSION, BUT ON THE OTHER THEY TAKE AWAY THE EFFORT OF THINKING ABOUT THE MOST SUITABLE WORDS TO EXPRESS WHAT WE FEEL. THE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE VALUE OF AN INVENTION ALWAYS DEPENDS ON THE USE WE MAKE OF IT. IN THIS REGARD, IT IS GOOD THAT I SET OUT ANOTHER FACT: THE ZEROING OF TIME AND SPACE (WITH VIDEO CALLS WE CAN TALK TO OUR COUSIN IN AUSTRALIA WHILE COMFORTABLY SITTING ON THE SOFA OF OUR HOME, IN ITALY) HAS ALSO BROUGHT ABOUT A CHANGE IN OUR SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS. WE HAVE MORE AND MORE TIME, BUT LESS AND LESS TIME. WE ARE INCREASINGLY INTERCONNECTED, BUT INCREASINGLY HURRIED AND SUPERFICIAL IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS. MANY PEOPLE THINK: “WHY DO I HAVE TO GO OUT TO VISIT MY NEIGHBOR WHEN I CAN SIT COMFORTABLY ON MY ARMCHAIR, IN MY PAJAMAS, AND VIDEO CALL HIM?” THIS ATTITUDE IS CALLED “LAZINESS” AND IS VERY DANGEROUS BECAUSE IT IS ABLE TO SPREAD SNEAKILY AND QUICKLY. I CAN SEE MY  NEPHEW GROWING UP IN GERMANY AS IF HE WERE HERE IN ITALY, NEXT TO ME, WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT WEEKS TO RECEIVE A LETTER CONTAINING HIS PHOTOGRAPH, AND I NO LONGER NEED TO WORK WITH THE IMAGINATION TO REWORK THE IMAGES RELATED TO HIS FACE BECAUSE I SEE HIM GROW ALMOST “IN REAL TIME”. BUT NONE OF THIS CAN EVER REPLACE HUMAN CONTACT… TO BE ABLE TO SMELL THE PERFUME OF YOUR LOVED ONE, TO BE ABLE TO HUGGING IT, TO FEEL ITS WARMTH, IS PRICELESS… FOR THHESE REASONS I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THOSE WHO CLOSE THEMSELVES IN THE HOUSE AND GIVE UP MEETING THEIR FRIENDS SO EASILY: A FEW STEPS WOULD BE ENOUGH, SOMETIMES.

I’D LIKE TO ADD ANOTHER NOSTALGIC NOTE ON HANDWRITING: WHO REMEMBERS THE FAMOUS NOTES THAT WERE EXCHANGED BETWEEN THE SCHOOL DESKS? THE ENTHUSIASM OF WRITING ONE, WITH UNCERTAIN AND TREMBLING HANDWRITING, FOLDING AND PASSING IT TO THE NEIGHBOR NEXT TO PASS IT TO THE NEIGHBOR AND SO ON TO THE RECIPIENT; COMPLICITY OR EMBARASSMENT IN MEETING HIS GAZE, THE TREPIDATION FOR WAITING FOR THE ANSWER AND THE TERROR OF BEING DISCOVERED BY THE TEACHER. EMOTIONS THAT REMAINS INSIDE…